Simon Kingham, University of Canterbury   The Dutch have long been recognised as leaders in cycling. Denmark is not far behind, with more bikes than cars in its capital Copenhagen. This is the result of many years of investment. Even the UK, with less of a cycling tradition, is investing and showing growth in cycling. New Zealand is starting to follow suit. The Emissions Reduction Plan, released last week, includes NZ$350 million to encourage walking, cycling and public transport. Investment in cycling is often motivated by the need to curb emissions and to increase rates of active transp ..read more

Dr Jennifer Summers, Professor Michael Baker, Professor Nick Wilson* Summers J, Baker M, Wilson N. Covid-19 Case-Fatality Risk & Infection-Fatality Risk: important measures to help guide the pandemic response. Public Health Expert Blog. 11 May 2022. In this blog we explore two useful mortality indicators: Case-Fatality Risk (CFR) and Infection-Fatality Risk (IFR). We estimate the cumulative CFR in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) to be around 0.08%, which is lower than other jurisdictions who have used elimination approaches in the past, such as Australia, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The cum ..read more

In the depths of winter, most people from southern New Zealand head to warmer climes for a much-needed dose of Vitamin D. Yet during the height of the last Ice Age, one species of moa did just the opposite.  I’m reminded of Bill Bailey’s En Route to Normal tour that visited Dunedin last year where he was performing one of his great comedic songs. On this night he was singing about being at a dark deserted crossroads, framed by a lone street light, with only a kiwi for company. The punchline, delivered to peels of laughter from the audience, is that it was a Friday night in Inver ..read more

Elizabeth Elliot Noe, Lincoln University, New Zealand; Andrew D. Barnes, University of Waikato; Bruce Clarkson, University of Waikato, and John Innes, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research   Urbanisation, and the destruction of habitat it entails, is a major threat to native bird populations. But as our new research shows, restored urban forests can return native birds to our cities and improve species richness. The older the restored forest, the more native bird species it can support. Shutterstock/Dmitry Naumov We define restored urban forests as green areas within a city, dominated by na ..read more

PHOTO (cropped): Japan Meteorological Agency, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=114321094 Jenny Stein, Resilience to Nature’s Challenges National Science Challenge Following a volcanic eruption, local communities understandably have more pressing concerns than ensuring a sample of ash gets sent to a lab. But that sample will provide crucial insight into the extent and types of hazards people will be exposed to in the eruption aftermath. Carol Stewart is a researcher with the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges National Science Challenge, Associate Professor of Environmen ..read more

Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael Baker, Prof Nick Wilson* Summers J, Baker M, Wilson N. The Omicron waves – Comparing Aotearoa NZ and Australia in four key graphs. Public Health Expert Blog. 12 April 2022. In this blog we explore the first Covid-19 Omicron variant waves in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ). We find that Australia’s first Omicron wave resulted in higher hospitalisation and ICU occupancy compared to NZ. However, when examining the Auckland region compared with the rest of NZ, Auckland’s experience of the first Omicron wave is more severe, with a higher hospitalisation rat ..read more

Dr Leah Grout, Dr Nhung Nghiem, Dr Christine Cleghorn* Poor diet is a major risk factor for excess weight gain and obesity-related diseases, including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis, and multiple cancers. In this blog we summarise our recent modelling work that suggests that the implementation of taxes on unhealthy foods and beverages in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) will lead to health gains, health system cost-savings, and reductions in health inequalities. Introduction Poor diet (containing energy-dense foods with high levels of sugar and fat) is an important ..read more

Professor Kevin Burns, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Most of us know the sad story of New Zealand’s natural history. Having evolved for millennia in the absence of mammals, most New Zealand animals never learned how to cope with the throngs of predatory mammals that accompanied us on our journey to Aotearoa New Zealand. Thankfully, recent conservation efforts have stemmed the tide of extinction. Fenced sanctuaries like Zealandia now support vibrant populations of native birds, safe from harm from introduced rats, cats and stoats. Given the rarity of native birds and their ..read more

He Kai Kei Aku Ringa | Providing Food By My Own Hands This whakataukī resonates with Phoebe Fordyce and inspires her ambition to help create meaningful change that empowers Ngāi Māori by ‘using the tools’ she has learned. Phoebe, who affiliates to Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, is nearing the completion of her PhD in History at the University of Canterbury and is working for Te Tira Whakamātaki, a Māori Environmental not-for-profit and home of the Māori Biosecurity Network. A policy and research analyst at Te Tira Whakamātaki (TTW), Phoebe says she’s been there for two months so far. “I really lov ..read more

Erin Griffey, University of Auckland; Cather Simpson, University of Auckland; Michel Nieuwoudt, University of Auckland, and Ruth Cink, University of Auckland In this new series, Remaking History, academics explain the ways they are recreating historical practices, and how this impacts their research today. The desire to appear youthful and beautiful has provided impetus for extraordinary chemical experimentation with cosmetics for millennia. Historical cosmetic recipes list an array of plant, animal and mineral ingredients from roses and rosemary to donkey milk and calves’ hooves, gold and sul ..read more