Source: NIWA – National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
Researchers studying through NIWA’s Te Kūwaha Graduate Internship Programme and its Māori Environmental Research team Te Kūwaha are contributing vital research to NIWA’s marine biosecurity programme.
Tekiteora Rolleston-Gabel (Tūhoe, Ngāti Kahu and Ngāi Te Rangi) is a double graduate in ecology and Te Reo Māori from the University of Waikato.
She is based at NIWA’s Hamilton office and was one of the first interns of the Te Kūwaha Graduate Internship Programme (2019-20), established by NIWA’s Māori Environmental Research team, Te Kūwaha.
She returned to university to study for a Master of Science degree, having developed a research project with the support of NIWA’s Chief Science Advisor, Marine Biodiversity and Biosecurity, Graeme Inglis, Biosecurity Scientist Henry Lane and the Te Kūwaha team.
It involved conducting a health baseline survey for tuatua in Northland and Bay of Plenty regions, to better understand the parasites and pathogens occurring in tuatua.
This study of tuatua was the first of its kind in New Zealand and it can help benchmark causes of future shellfish die-off events.
It is part of a wider goal of installing effective and meaningful monitoring of New Zealand’s native shellfish.
Samples from Northland were processed at Northland Aquaculture Centre lab and samples from the Bay of Plenty were processed at NIWA’s Hamilton lab.
“Tuatua live in the intertidal zone, so it wasn’t difficult to gather samples, by hand, to process at the lab,” Tekiteora said.
Under a microscope, she was able to determine the prevalence of pathogens and parasites and investigate their effect on tuatua condition.
Her survey results showed overall, except for one site, tuatua were found at high densities and appeared to be healthy as indicated by little tissue condition.
The survey did find intracellular bacteria present at all sites sampled.
It was recommended that further investigations be made to identify and characterise pathogens and parasites, assess tuatua susceptibility to infections, and determine the effects of inter-site variability.
Tekiteora said marine disease research is becoming more important because disease frequency and intensity is changing prompted by changes in local and global environmental climates.
Histopathology surveys are a useful tool in identifying pathogens and parasites, assessing tissue condition, and monitoring the development of possible diseases.
“I hope this assessment will help address a knowledge gap on tuatua and demonstrate the usefulness of histopathological surveys in a New Zealand context.”
“I also hope it will contribute to future research on aquatic diseases.”
Tekiteora submitted the research for her master’s degree in 2022 and continues to work as an environmental researcher with Te Kūwaha and NIWA’s marine biosecurity programme.
Biosecurity surveillance
Jessie Scarrott (Ngāti Hako, Ngāti Tara Tokonui rātou ko, Ngāti Māhanga) was part of the third intake of the Te Kūwaha Graduate Internship Programme (2021-22) and she is based at NIWA’s Auckland office.
She graduated with a BSc in Ecology and Zoology at Massey University before beginning her one-year internship in November 2021.
She is completing a PgDipSci at the University of Auckland and is about to start an MSc in 2023 using a research programme she developed with guidance from researchers Graeme Inglis, Erica Williams, Wendy Nelson and Irene Middleton at NIWA.
Jessie was able to experience a variety of science research and field work during her internship.
She catalogued species for NIWA’s national invertebrate collection in Wellington and helped map seafloor habitats that inform estimates of carbon sequestration in estuarine environments.
But her interest in marine science was piqued when she joined NIWA’s biosecurity surveillance team to survey upper North Island ports for invasive marine pests.
Her work will help develop an identification guide on introduced species in North Island ports and harbours.
“I was involved in the fieldwork aspect for the port surveys, to monitor invasive species and whether they have spread.
“Part of that work involved crab trapping, mainly looking for Asian paddle crabs.”
Asian paddle crabs compete with native crabs for food and space, they eat important shellfish species and can carry diseases with affect commercial shellfish fisheries.
“I learned how one exotic species can have a major impact outside their native habitat, it can dominate and change the whole landscape.
“Being part of this type of research has really highlighted the importance of marine biosecurity and that’s where I want to focus research for my master’s degree.”
During her internship, Jessie had become aware of NIWA’s work on identification of an invasive seaweed called Caulerpa, discovered at Aotea Great Barrier Island in 2021.
“I had to write a paper on an invasive species of my choosing, so I decided it would be on Caulerpa, and then I realised it would also make a good research project for my master’s degree.”
Jessie will have expert researchers from NIWA to help with her study on Caulerpa.
“I want to learn as much as I can about Caulerpa and partner with mana whenua to develop my research around biosecurity and te ao Māori,” Jessie said.
“They will guide the research direction, based on their objectives, considering they are kaitiaki. I can provide my knowledge and capabilities to see how we can work together to achieve those objectives.”
