Our research and innovation focus on understanding the land, life on land, and the relationship between people and the land.
People’s decisions and actions affect the environment, so the purpose of our work is that they should have the understanding, capability, and confidence to enable society and the environment to flourish together.
We have teams of researchers, and research assistants, technicians, and support staff working on complex environmental challenges. Our staff specialise in fields they are passionate about, some head to university straight out of school, while others come to science from earlier careers.
The work is wide and varied: studying mosquitoes; understanding the impact of avian malaria on the vulnerable yellow-eyed hoiho; monitoring ice in Antarctica to gauge the extent of climate change; looking for lake snot in the Nelson lakes; investigating the effects of Australian dust on the melting of New Zealand glaciers; and even researching climate-smart agriculture to help farmers with their land management.
