Minister Mucks in with Future Scientists

Hon Peter Hodgson, Minister of Science, Research and Technology, visited the University of Otago's NZ Marine Studies Centre at Portobello, Dunedin, on Friday August 1st 2008 to meet some of NZ's future science leaders.

Top high school students from across southern NZ were immersed in marine science research at the NZ Marine Studies Centre this winter as part of the Ministry of Education's Talent Development Initiative. These Year 10 students had the opportunity to present their research to the Minister and discuss their finding with him.

The Minister challenged the students with his questions and rolled up his sleeves and dissected dogfish sharks as part of a study to determine the effect of age, sex and location on the sharks' diet.

He helped them to measure the ph of seawater as part of their investigation into ocean acidification and the potential role of seaweed in absorbing C02.

The Minister took his turn with the cockle crusher, a student invention, used in one study to determine if young cockles are more vulnerable to damage during harvesting.

He was also interested in the turn over rate of sea stars. This is used in a study to determine suitable bioindicators for measuring the health of the environment.

Helen Milne (Queens High, Dunedin) (far left) and Turoa Gallagher (Northern Southland College, Lumsden) (to right of P Hodgeson) participated in the Year 10 Gifted and Talented Programme at the NZ Marine Studies Centre in 2006.

They came back last year for a Yr 11 Deep Thought Programme, a marine science expedition on the University's Research Vessel, Polaris II, and have recently been selected, along with their mentor, PhD canidate, Daniel Leduc, (far right) to represent NZ at the APEC Future Scientist Conference in Korea on August 20-24.

These students were busy preparing their presentation for the Korea conference when Hon Peter Hodgson, Minister of Science, Research and Technology, visited on 2/8/08. They enjoyed the opportunity to discuss their research and share their excitement of the upcoming APEC conference with him.