Source: Environmental Protection Authority
Six speakers from outside the EPA and more than 20 staff presented at five sessions aimed at inspiring new ideas, debate and action.
“The symposium is a terrific opportunity for everyone at the EPA to learn about the exciting stuff that other scientists and other groups are doing to progress science and mātauranga throughout Aotearoa New Zealand,” says EPA Chief Scientist Chris Hill.
“It’s also a forum for our people to share their specialist areas of inquiry and get some feedback.
“Science and mātauranga are the foundations of the EPA. It’s essential that all our people keep up with research and new thinking in our work protecting people and the environment now and into the future.”
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton gave the keynote address with a reminder about the importance of environmental reporting and a call for better data collection.
It follows the release of his report – Environmental reporting, research and investment: Do we know if we’re making a difference? – which makes recommendations to ensure that the effectiveness of work to protect and improve our environment can be measured.
Dr Ainsley Simpson, the CEO of the Infrastructure Sustainability Council, headlined a sustainability session with success stories of infrastructure projects that have embedded sustainability.
For a session about taonga of Aotearoa, two Rotorua visitors shared how mātauranga and science are helping to eradicate lakebed weeds. William Anaru, Operations Manager, Te Arawa Lakes Trust Biosecurity and Jobs for Nature, and Judy Howe-Wiperi, Uwhi Kaitakawaenga, Te Roopu Raranga ki Rotorua, spoke about their taonga – the kākahi (freshwater mussels), toitoi (bullies) and other animals and plants in and around their lakes. They also spoke about the uwhi, or harakeke mats, being used to suppress invasive weeds on the beds of lakes in their region.
Dr Natalie Plank, a physicist at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington and MacDiarmid Institute, kickstarted a session on the intersection and distinction between science fact and fiction.
The final session stretched our thinking into the future, looking at new technologies and new approaches to solving global problems.
Dr Grant Norbury, wildlife ecologist at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, shared research into new ways of managing the impacts of introduced predators, including non-lethal methods that mess with predators’ minds, such as using prey odour to habituate predators to non-rewarded food.
