FEATURES
The forgotten pandemic
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 188, Jul/Aug 2024
A vicious strain of myrtle rust is burning through our bush. Dozens of native species—and the ecosystems they support—are at risk. Scientists think we have three, maybe four years before the biggest pōhutukawa start to fall. They’re racing to find a way to stop the rust—and to save seeds from plants we stand to lose forever.
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 180, Mar/Apr 2023
In the Antarctic summer of 1972, four young scientists set off on a trimaran from Cape Bird for a quick outing on a clear day. They would spend the next five days stranded at sea, jumping between ice floes that shattered and sank beneath them, risking their lives with every leap.
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 184, Nov/Dec 2023
The bittern’s eerie, booming call sounds like a lament, a tangi ringing across the marshes. Now, the birds themselves are in trouble.
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 183, Sep/Oct 2023
Once upon a time, raucous, stinking colonies of seabirds blanketed huge areas of Aotearoa’s mainland, each burrow and poo and eggshell helping fuel the forests. Those birds are gone now—but a new modelling tool gives a fascinating glimpse of what once was.
BBC Future, 16 December 2023
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 181, May/Jun 2023
Fifteen years ago, a crisis loomed for search and rescue. Two-thirds of volunteers were men over 40, and as the years ticked by, they were going to struggle with the gnarly climbs, river crossings and long days so often required to find those who are lost. But would young people be altruistic enough to step up?
PODCASTS
A tricky trap for redback spiders
Our Changing World, RNZ, November 2024
Researchers are spinning a web of perfumed lies to trap invasive redback spiders.
Inside Auckland’s lava caves
Our Changing World, RNZ, June 2024
A new research project is documenting caves carved by lava beneath New Zealand’s biggest city, hoping to protect this hidden geological heritage.
The petrel patrol
Our Changing World, RNZ, August 2023
The concrete jungle of inner-city Auckland is no place for a seabird. But that’s where many Cook’s petrels, or tītī, end up every year…
Sunfish secrets
Our Changing World, RNZ, November 2022
When you first see a sunfish – also known as a mola – your first question might be: how on earth can that thing swim?
NEWSLETTER
Future Proof // an environment and climate newsletter for The Spinoff
This map of the world is wild
Future Proof / The Spinoff, 12 November 2023
It started in Alaska, with a grizzly bear sketched in coloured pencil. Three years and 1,641 species later, Anton Thomas’s Wild World map is finally complete.
A kelping hand for Aotearoa’s forgotten forests
Future Proof / The Spinoff, 19 January 2024
Beneath the waves, kelp forests are disappearing. Can we bring these climate superheroes back?
Biochar can store carbon for hundreds of years
Future Proof / The Spinoff, 22 February 2023
Could it help with forestry’s slash problem?
How eating ‘ugly’ fruit and veg is a climate solution
Future Proof / The Spinoff, 19 July 2023
Unrealistic beauty standards mean huge amounts of fresh produce never makes it past the farm gate.
PROFILES
Smith Magazine, Fall 2023
Kayla Kingdon-Bebb knew little about conservation when she first arrived in New Zealand in 2012. Eleven years on, she’s chief executive of WWF.
The critter made me do it
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 178, Nov/Dec 2022
The origin story of Orokonui Ecosanctuary’s environmental educator, Samuel Purdie.
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 180, Mar/Apr 2023
Antarctic historian David Harrowfield has spent a lifetime collecting—objects, friendships and memories.
The unlikely CEO fighting for fairer energy
The Spinoff, August 2022
Electric Kiwi wants to lead change in our power market.
SHORTFORM
news // columns // bite-sized: <500 words
All in their heads
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 185, Jan/Feb 2024
Starfish seem like creatures of many limbs—but it turns out they’re just heads.
Sunfish have pretty sweet moves, actually
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 180, Mar/Apr 2023
To an orca, a sunfish is a bit like a watermelon: a nutritious, watery snack, but hard to swallow whole.
Infinitely different
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 180, May/Jun 2023
An amateur mathematician has solved a long-standing geometry mystery.
Galactic snack
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 160, Nov/Dec 2019
Our next-door neighbour is a cannibal.
OTHER STORIES
news // columns // listicles // a bit longer: >500 words
The story behind this famous face
The Spinoff, 7 June 2023
In 2003, a crew member on a New Zealand research vessel snapped a photo of a funny-looking fish. This is the story of how ‘Mr Blobby’ became a deep-sea icon.
Meet Brian the rescued ‘mini-kangaroo’
National Geographic, 6 April 2018
He loves napping and cuddling corn cobs—and he's an ambassador for little-known marsupials of Australia.
For whom the bell tolls
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 182, Jul/Aug 2023
Almost two centuries after its discovery, an enigmatic bell is bringing communities together.
The wild west
New Zealand Geographic, Issue 160, Nov/Dec 2019
It’s time to go back—to the Kimberley.
EDUCATION
Foulden Maar: Fossils or food?
Connected 2020 Level 4 – Feeling the Heat
Twenty-three million years ago, Central Otago was rocked by a spectacular volcanic eruption.
Australian Geographic Geography
Australian Geographic, 2019
A nine-book series covering geography topics for grades 4–6 (ages 8–12).