This week, Mitchell speaks to Flinders University’s Professor of Hydrogeology Adrian Werner about his ongoing
research into groundwater exploration and occurrences in offshore aquifers. Adrian and his
fellows have been leading research into groundwater and offshore aquifers for some time
and found that there are definite and viable sources of freshwater under our oceans, which
in many cases we have already been tapping into. Mitchell and Adrian discuss what the
future of our water supply may look like which raises certain societal questions and some
potential implications. To begin, Mitchell asks Adrian about his research and some of their
findings.
Mitchell talks to Forest & Bird NZ's chief executive Kevin Hague about a marine report discussing four priority issues the government needs to focus on.
This week on Green Desk Mangrove Mitch koreros with Shark Scientist Riley Elliot about the global decline in shark populations. Riley and Mitch discuss the recent decision made by New Zealand to vote no against the protection or Mako Sharks at CITES and the change in behaviour that he has seen in sharks as a result of human impacts on their environment. To begin, Mitchell asks Riley about the role sharks play as apex predators and how important they are to our global ecosystems.
For Green Desk, Mitch Fuller and Sherry Zhang talk to Hexacycle’s founder Neil Birrell about how maggots can close the loop on our existing and linear waste cycles and how insects might be part of the future of animal and human consumption.
This week for Green Desk Mitchell speaks to Endangered Species Foundation’s Stu Muir and Kelly Tarlton’s Emma Ferguson ahead of Conservation Week. Mitchell has a brief chat with them about ESF, the situation we are in and some of the work that is coming up in Conservation Week as well as other ongoing projects the public can get behind. He begins by asking Stu about the ESF and the work they do.
This week on Green Desk, Mitch speaks to University of Canterbury’s Jo Carpenter who recently published her thesis on seed dispersal in Aotearoa’s flightless birds. The research had a rather specific focus on Weka, which are often be seen as a nuisance amongst campers and trampers, however Jo’s research has discovered that Weka are excellent seed dispersers and are essential to the survival of certain species. The research also showed the significant implications of human interaction with Weka, where those which experienced interaction through camping or picnicking tended to be 40 and 50% less effective in their role functions. Mitchell and Jo discuss the findings of her research and begins by asking her how it began and what she was set out to achieve.
This week for Green Desk Mitchell had a korero with Environment Minister David Parker about the new National Policy Statement for Highly Productive Land. The new Policy statement aims to tighten the management on highly productive land under the Resource Management Act in order to protect these areas of arable land from inappropriate subdivision and urban development. They discuss what will be included in the NPS and how it will be implemented at ground level. Mitch begins by asking David for a bit of context on the issue, and why there is a necessity for such legislation.
At Green Desk today, Reporter Oscar Perress talks to Dr Mike Joy about fossil fuels, his upcoming talk at Auckland University of Technology, and the biophysical limits to Aotearoa's food and environmental future. A big thank you for joining us!
This week on Green Desk, Mitch talked to AUT’s Head of Applied Ecology, Sebastian Leuzinger, who has recently published a study on newly discovered Kauri tree stump that is keeping itself alive by connecting onto the roots of neighbouring trees via a root graft system. Mitch and Sebastian discuss how the system works and what this means for our understanding of Kauri trees, moving away from the concept of the individual and toward the idea of Kauri as superorganisms. Mitch began by asking Sebastian how he and his colleague came across the new discovery.