From left, Hadley Muller and Tobia Dale holding some of the 'Pepeketua of Aotearoa' booklets and posters. The online version of these resources went live on Monday are available from the NZFrogs website nzfrogs.org
A year's worth of work came to fruition for two Otago Master of Science students when a new bilingual resource they spearheaded went live on the NZFrogs website this month.
Tobia Dale and Hadley Muller, both based in the Department of Zoology, helped to create ‘Pepeketua of Aotearoa’ a series of educational booklets and posters that aims to engage, educate and communicate years of scientific research to a wide age range.
Tobia says it was incredibly satisfying to see the project – which was funded through the Unlocking Curious Minds Contestable Fund - completed and available for the public.
“The set of bilingual, visually engaging resources contains four booklets each focusing on a different concept relating to native frogs. For example, the Hamilton’s frog booklet explores the impacts of human arrival and mammalian predators,” she says.
Each booklet has an accompanying poster which summarises the key concepts of the booklet, while two special topic posters, titled ‘What makes our Pepeketua special?’ and ‘Protecting our Pepeketua’ aim to provide a broader introduction to native frogs.
Hadley says it was important the resources were available in Te Reo Māori and English, to make them “as accessible as possible” within Aotearoa New Zealand.
The NZFrogs website was set up by the late Professor Phil Bishop in 2007 to increase public awareness of native frogs in Aotearoa and share research updates from his lab group.
Tobia’s involvement with the website started after Phil died in 2021, when she approached Phil’s wife, Debbie, volunteering to “refresh” the website.
“I thought the website was a valuable resource that needed a refresh and update to attract more visitors,” she says.
However, it soon became apparent that the workload to refresh a website was more than Tobia and Debbie could tackle alone which is when Hadley joined in. The trio spent 2023 learning how to build a website and established NZFrogs as a charity. In 2024 ecology student Becca Barnett and zoology alumni Dr Luke Easton were also brought onboard to help out.
The four booklets and one of the posters that make up 'Pepeketua of Aotearoa', a recently released free resource designed to teach people about Aotearoa's native frogs.
Tobia says she, Hadley and Debbie worked with an “incredible group of people” to bring ‘Pepeketua of Aotearoa’ to life.
“We are incredibly proud of how these resources have turned out, and appreciate the support we’ve had.”
Luke provided scientific expertise, while fellow student Oscar Thomas assisted with wildlife photography. Illustrator Sarah Greig provided illustrations, Te Ngaru Wehi did all of the translating from English to Te Reo, while graphic designer Lucy Arnold made the whole project look polished.
Physical copies of ‘Pepeketua of Aotearoa’ are being sent to schools, iwi, environmental educators and local libraries around the country, and anyone can download a free copy from nzfrogs.org
Tobia’s masters research is focusing on the potential distributions of Leiopelma and Hochstetter’s frog movement ecology, while Hadley is focusing on conservation genetics to explore how populations of Leiopelma are related to each other.
For Tobia, frogs and their life history have always been fascinating.
“I think it was when I started learning about how unique Leiopelma are that I really got hooked and knew pretty early on that I’d like to study them. They’re (native frogs) also a little bit cute.”
Hadley likes the idea of making a difference for the “underdog” as Leiopelma are often overlooked.
“By studying Leiopelma I can make a real difference to their conservation.
“Working in New Zealand herpetology is also enjoyable because it is a relatively small field. It’s a really enjoyable space to develop research skills and feel supported by other scientists.”