Marine Scientist receives Association for Women in the Sciences award
Thursday, 10 October 2019 11:16am
Marine Science Professor Abby Smith has been named the 2019 recipient of the Miriam Dell Award for Excellence in Science Mentoring.
Climate change comes at a cost for iconic pāua
Friday, 4 October 2019 10:18am
The pāua, New Zealand’s most famous shellfish, lauded globally for its iconic multi-coloured shell, is under threat with climate change, new research reveals.
Otago hosting 10th International Penguin Conference
Tuesday, 20 August 2019 4:50pm
The biology, ecology, heath and behaviour of penguins will be discussed by the world’s leading researchers at a conference hosted by the University of Otago this month.
Colossal Squid Dissection
Next week our student Tyler Northern will be helping to dissect a Colossal squid with NIWA at Te Papa (the second specimen ever found intact!),
The dissection will take place at 11am on Tuesday the 16th of September and will be streamed live on this link :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Yz_57uadUQ
Te Papa also have a blog with more details on the dissection : http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2014/09/05/colossal-squid-live/
International Progammes
Invasive Bryozoan and Ascidian Recruitment and Growth Experiment – iBARGE
Otago researchers join international study examining the fouling communities of ports and harbours.
Department of Marine Science researchers have joined iBARGE, the Invasive Bryozoan and Ascidian Recruitment and Growth Experiment. iBARGE aims to examine the richness and growth rates of fouling communities, groups of marine organisms that grow on the undersides of boats, docks, and aquaculture equipment. In many locations, fouling communities are dominated by invasive species which can overgrow native species including commercially important organisms like oysters and mussels. The iBARGE program compares the growth rates of invasive species between locations on three different continents (the east and west coasts of North America, the UK, and NZ), using photographs taken on a weekly basis. Settlement panels – PVC squares – have been deployed in the northern hemisphere’s spring and summer and were deployed this week in Otago Harbour for the austral spring and summer. Analysis of the data collected will allow scientists to understand how growth rates vary with water temperature and location.
Read more and see examples of the fouling community at http://ibargeprogram.wordpress.com/
