News

Mount Maunganui’s coast looks very different now from 60 years ago due to coastal restoration efforts that started in earnest in the mid nineties.

Coast Care Regional Coordinator Russell Knutson talks to Scoop in this inspiring article.

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK2206/S00262/value-of-dune-planting-and-restoration-easy-to-see-at-mount-maunganui-beach.htm

Many seabirds get disorientated by artificial lights at night, which can lead to collisions with vessels (vessel strikes).

Following vessel strikes, seabirds can be contaminated with chemicals on deck, such as oil or fuel. This causes loss of waterproofing and subsequent drowning.

Vessel strikes can also cause direct seabird deaths. The risk of vessel strike is highest during foggy and rainy nights.

A guide on how to mitigate this risk is on the DOC website.

Photo by Johannes Fischer

At a staff meeting amongst his colleagues at Christchurch City Council, Jason Roberts received our Pīngao & Toheroa Award.

Jason has been a stalwart of coastal restoration in the Christchurch area for many many years. He has been to many of our conferences and has also run very entertaining quiz evenings during our conference dinners. When we ran the conference in Christchurch in 2017 he was the main organiser.

Here is an article that was published on Inside Government.

Photo: Lyle Mason (CRT trustee), Jason and Greg Bennett (CRT trustee)

All New Zealanders can adapt to the locked-in effects of climate change. The sooner we act, the more effective that action will be.

The Ministry for the Environment is inviting your feedback on this plan. It has been put together so we can minimise the damage from a changing climate. We want to hear about how climate change is affecting you, potential impacts you are concerned about, actions you are taking and what other actions are needed.

Webinars and workshops on this are available and feedback needs to be submitted by 3 June 2022.

Go to the MfE website for more information.

Field Based STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is a programme all about getting tamariki out into the environment to appreciate their world, through field based science.

Tony Jones has been a science teacher, Head of Department (Science) and Deputy Principal. He has set up this business to support schools to apply for professional development funding through the Ministry of Education. He also organises facilitators to work with teachers to plan trips out of the classroom - exploring their environment.

We are looking for facilitators from around the country who are interested in working with schools; using their knowledge of the coast in their area. This is mainly working with teachers, but may involve accompanying teachers and pupils on field trips The facilitator does not have to be a teacher but they do need to be safe to work with young people. They do not have to be scientists - just knowledgeable about something specific in the outdoors. They do not have responsibility for students. They work with teachers and act as an expert in the field.

This work is not a job, but rather a flexible contract as needed by schools that have applied for the funding. Field Based STEM pays very well, per hour of contact time, including travel. The contract is very flexible with the facilitator and the teacher working out the hours to suit both. It would suit someone who is retired, or working part time, or even working in the area of coastal sustainability.

Initially we are looking for someone to support Orewa College in Auckland. Orewa College has several hours of funding and would like to spend some of it exploring Orewa Beach and surrounding coastal areas; assessing the coastal processes at work and best practice field work for this.

We are also getting more and more queries about support using a Mātauranga Māori perspective as part of this field based work, so this would be an added skill, but not essential. See our website for the kind of work we do.
https://field-basedstem.kiwi/

If you are interested or have any questions, please contact me.
Heather Knewstubb - [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]