Our Changing World

Looking to the future for a low-lying wetland

10 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Climate-change-induced sea level rise is happening. What will this mean for our low-lying wetlands? Will they get eroded away - releasing more carbon?...

The world through squid eyes

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We might think deep-sea squid look a bit strange, but if they have the capacity for it, they would likely consider us monsters! Claire speaks to a squ...

The annual snowline survey

26 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jump onboard an alpine flight to photograph some glaciers! The annual snowline survey has been running since 1977, but today new techniques are allowi...

Introducing: Turning The Tide

24 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A new six-part video series highlights the state of our oceans, and efforts from researchers, Māori and other partners to develop sustainable solutio...

Targeting bacteria, and health inequities

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Māori and Pacific peoples are three to six times more likely to develop stomach cancer than New Zealanders with European ancestry. Claire Concannon v...

Drones for pest control

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Aotearoa is a country plagued by pests, but conservationists are hoping advances in drone technology could turn the tables. Producer William Ray looks...

Inside Auckland's lava caves

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Caves created by rivers of lava underlie New Zealand's biggest city. A new research project is documenting Auckland's lava caves, hoping to protect th...

The race to save Papua New Guinea's frogs

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A deadly frog fungus has decimated frog populations around the world, but frog biodiversity hotspot Papua New Guinea remains untouched - for now. In t...

How much of our extreme weather is due to climate change?

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Phil Vine dives into the science of climate attribution. How much is climate change affecting extreme weather events? And how can this new ...

Fungal foray-ing and the search for new antibiotics

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Could the answer to one of our most pressing health needs be hiding in Aotearoa's bush? On Our Changing World this week, Liz Garton heads out on a for...

Understanding our nearshore island volcanoes - Whakaari and Tūhua

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A multi-year research project aims to find out the risks from two Bay of Plenty offshore island volcanoes: Tūhua / Mayor Island and Whakaari / White ...

The 2023 Prime Minister’s Science Prizes: Communicating volcano science and sampling soils

01 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Meet two winners of the 2023 Prime Ministers Science Prizes. In the wake of the 2019 Whakaari eruption, Professor Ben Kennedy engaged communities with...

Turning the tide – what it takes to take out rats

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Evans visits a passionate team as they carpet a remote volcanic island in Tonga with poisoned bait, hoping to eradicate rats. What does it take t...

Summer 34 – Three decades of albatross research

17 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist Rebekah White meets two people who have been counting albatrosses on remote islands in the subantarctic for more than three decades. Their ...

Taking on water - marine protection in Aotearoa

03 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

New Zealand once led the world in marine protection. Now it looks like we will fail to meet our international promise to protect 30 percent of our oce...

The mystery of how godwits sleep in flight

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kuaka bar-tailed godwits make the longest non-stop flights, and researchers are using hi-tech tags to solve the mystery of how and when they sleep. Go...

A tale of two islands – erect-crested penguins

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Bounty Islands are tiny in terms of area - just some bits of granite jutting out of the ocean. But they are huge in terms of seabirds. James Frank...

The stuff of life - Carbon capture in our ocean ecosystems

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What roles do our ocean ecosystems play in capturing carbon? Kate Evans speaks to iwi Māori working to improve the health of an estuary in the Bay of...

Fish out of water - How to grow fish on land

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

People and livestock gobble so much fish that the seas soon won't keep up. Is the answer to grow fish on land? Kate Evans meets scientists figuring ou...

Kina-nomics - The kina are taking over, what can we do?

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kina numbers are exploding on some of our reefs, decimating seaweed habitats. Could this problem be solved by eating them? Kate Evans investigates the...

The undersea orchestra - Ocean sounds and what they tell us

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Crackle, pop, woof, crunch, click. In the ocean, an undersea orchestra is in full swing. Journalist Kate Evans discovers who's playing in it and why, ...

Introducing: Voice of Tangaroa

25 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A collaboration between Our Changing World and New Zealand Geographic, the Voice of Tangaroa series explores the state of our oceans, and the extraord...

Watching the weather in the far southern seas

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A group of young New Zealanders and two meteorologists travel to South Georgia Island in the southern Atlantic Ocean to collect weather observations -...

New Zealand’s Antipodes Islands – remote, wild, and special

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An ambitious project to rid the remote Antipodes Island of introduced mice proved successful in 2018. Claire Concannon visits the spectacular subantar...

The fate of the West Antarctic ice sheet in a warming world

07 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How fast - and how completely - could Antarctica's smaller western ice sheet melt in a warming world? An international science team, led by Aotearoa N...

Pollen, asthma and allergies

31 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Allergenic pollen is a big trigger for New Zealand's high rates of hay fever and asthma. But for 35 years, we've had no current data on pollen levels....

Restoring Wellington’s seaweed forests

24 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Giant kelp is disappearing from Wellington Harbour. Love Rimurimu is aiming to restore lush underwater kelp forests with an ambitious and collaborativ...

Summer science: AI and medicinal cannabis

17 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the final instalment of the summer science series, science communication students tackle two controversial topics: medicinal cannabis, and AI consc...

Summer science: Hybrid wildlife and mātauranga Māori

10 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Should we intervene to prevent hybridisation between an endangered species and its common relative? In this week's summer science episode, two student...

Summer science: Seabirds in Auckland

03 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The summer science fun continues with an episode from RNZ podcast Voices. Meet Gaia Dell'Arriccia, a scientist originally from the south of France who...

Summer science: Kākā in Wellington

03 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kākā numbers are skyrocketing in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington thanks to conservation efforts. The summer science series continues with a walk thro...

Summer science: Death rays and radio inventions

27 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The summer science series kicks off with an episode from award-winning podcast Black Sheep, about a backyard inventor called Victor Penny who sparked ...

The giant dinosaurs of Patagonia… and maybe Aotearoa?

20 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week on Our Changing World RNZ podcast producer, and occasional dinosaur correspondent William Ray visits Ngā Taniwha o Rūpapa Dinosaurs of Pat...

Underwater slips and slides

13 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Off the coast of New Zealand, deep underwater, the seafloor shifts in landslides and slow-motion earthquakes. Claire Concannon meets two researchers i...

On alert – the National Geohazard Monitoring Centre

06 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Go behind the scenes at the National Geohazard Monitoring Centre, where a team of analysts are on alert 24/7 for earthquakes, volcanic activity, tsuna...

Monitoring the Makarora mohua

29 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Mohua are bright yellow forest birds - but despite their eye-catching plumage, they can be tricky to spot flitting high in the forest canopy. Claire C...

A new way to help honey bees

22 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Varroa mite parasites cause major problems for honey bees - and beekeepers. Now, New Zealand researchers are investigating a new type of RNA-based tre...

OCW recommends: The Turning Point

19 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

New video series: A turning point in the fight to preserve Aotearoa's natural environment.If you enjoy listening to Our Changing World, we reckon that...

Plasma rockets in space

15 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Claire Concannon meets GERALDINE, the Gigantic and Extremely Radical Atmosphere-Lacking Device for Interesting and Novel Experimentation. Plus, a team...

Helping to revitalise Moriori culture

08 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A Moriori musician, an ethnomusicologist and the Hokotehi Moriori Trust are part of a team helping to revitalise Moriori culture with 3D-printed repli...

Forecasting in changing times

01 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the last week, Hurricane Otis hit southern Mexico with little warning, and Cyclone Lola set a record for the earliest category five cyclone in the ...

The potential of plankton

25 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Could your burger one day come with a plankton patty? Alison Ballance visits the Cawthron Institute's collection of more than 750 different strains of...

Life in the fast and slow lanes of braided rivers

18 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the ever-shifting streams and channels of a braided river, creatures must adapt to change. Claire Concannon joins a researcher on the spectacular C...

Why are penguins so cool?

11 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Giant penguins weighing up to 150 kilograms once roamed the waters around New Zealand. Claire Concannon speaks to a palaeontologist and learns about p...

Muscles young and old

04 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What happens to our muscles as we age? Claire Concannon finds out why muscles get weaker as we get older, and speaks with a researcher investigating w...

Dotterels: The Southland underdog

27 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The southern New Zealand dotterel is a true underdog of the bird world, with just 126 individuals at last population estimate. Claire Concannon tags a...

The recipe for food pairing

20 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Broccoli and chocolate. Prawns and vanilla. According to food pairing theory, these culinary matches should go together as well as macaroni and cheese...

The Great Ireland vs New Zealand Bird-off: Part 2

13 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Great Ireland vs. New Zealand Bird-off returns for part 2 to decide once and for all which island nation boasts the best birds. Our avian aficiona...

The great Ireland vs. New Zealand bird-off: Part 1

06 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the great Ireland vs New Zealand bird-off. Two islands, a world apart - but which country has the better birds? Two bird nerds champion the...

Retraining the tinnitus brain

30 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We've probably all experienced a little bit of tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, at some stage in our lives. But for some people this phantom sound in...

Exercise on the brain

23 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Kate Thomas has exercise on the brain. As an exercise physiologist, she researches how exercise and fasting can change the energy sources our brain...

Earthquake engineering meets breast cancer screening

16 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

How can swaying buildings help diagnose breast cancer? Katy Gosset meets a team of engineers taking inspiration from earthquake engineering to design ...

Takahē dreamers

09 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the rediscovery of the takahē. Claire Concannon sits down with former Our Changing World presenter and takahē...

The petrel patrol

02 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Every year, tens to hundreds of seabirds fall out of the sky across Auckland city. Disoriented by the bright lights, Cook's petrels crash-land and col...

The science of snow

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are all snowflakes really unique? What makes some snow better for skiing? And what's the difference between snow and hail? Join Alison Ballance and Ka...

Inside the nuclear fusion reactor ITER

19 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Nuclear fusion is a holy grail for researchers seeking clean energy. This week we head to the south of France with ABC science journalist Carl Smith i...

Our taiao, our tohu - protecting the Waihi estuary

12 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tauranga-based producer Justine Murray dons some gumboots and meets some teeny-tiny cockles as she joins a team surveying the Waihi estuary. Professor...

The puzzle of the silent mind

05 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Have you ever had a catchy tune you just can't get out of your head? Most of us can imagine sounds - music, voices, environmental noise - to varying d...

Neurogenetic conditions in Aotearoa

28 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In September 2022, two New Zealand patients became the first in the world to participate in a phase 1 clinical trial testing a new therapy for a rare ...

Blinded by the light

21 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Here in Aotearoa, it's the winter solstice: the shortest day (and longest night) of the year. We're marking the occasion with an episode celebrating t...

Positive emotions in animals

14 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Rats giggle. Dogs wag their tail. How do other animals express joy? You can't ask them, so researchers have to find other sneaky ways of figuring out ...

Digital twins and beating hearts

07 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There's nothing like a good birthday party, especially one filled with games and fun activities. The Auckland Bioengineering Institute might have miss...

Battling weeds with biocontrol

31 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In Aotearoa we talk a lot about mammalian predators attacking our native wildlife, but other insidious pests are quietly taking over - weedy plants. T...

The complexities of soil

24 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're digging up the dirt on the surprising complexity of soil. From top-notch compost to dung beetles to kauri dieback, join us on a fascin...

Freshwater friends at Zealandia

17 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Claire Concannon meets the latest addition to the Zealandia ecosanctuary family - toitoi, or common bully. Zealandia CEO Dr Danielle Shanahan explains...

Head knocks in junior rugby

10 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What are the risks of head injury for players of contact sports such as rugby? Research is increasingly linking head knocks with neurodegenerative dis...

Special edition: Prime Minister's Science Prizes 2022

01 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Meet the winners of the 2022 Prime Minister's Science Prizes! We go behind the scenes with the Emerging Scientist, Science Teacher and Future Scientis...

Blooming cyclones

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tropical cyclones can cause rampant destruction, but sometimes, these wild weather systems can seed life at sea too. This week we meet a storm-chasing...

Seeds of hope for seagrass meadows

19 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Grab your gumboots! Alison Ballance squelches out into Nelson's mudflats with a team of Cawthron Institute researchers in search of cryptic seagrass f...

Kiwi return to the wilds of Wellington

12 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The birds are back. After a long absence, 11 kiwi have returned to the outskirts of Wellington with a little help from some human friends. Veronika Me...

The unwelcome visitors

05 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Rotopiko peat wetlands are a haven for rare and threatened wildlife. But when a flock of introduced birds numbering in the hundreds of thousands m...

What will happen to alpine plants in a warming world?

29 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As mountains get warmer with our changing climate, what will happen to the iconic alpine plants that live at high altitude? Claire Concannon visits th...

The Noises Islands: Part 2

22 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Claire Concannon returns to the Noises Islands in the Hauraki Gulf. While conservation action on the islands has led to thriving terrestria...

The Noises Islands: Part 1

15 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Noises are a conservation success story in the Hauraki Gulf. Claire Concannon joins a team surveying the wētāpunga, seabirds, and other flora an...

Sleeping on the job

08 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We all get some - but are you getting enough? Claire Concannon investigates the science of sleep and meets a pilot-turned-sleep-researcher helping the...

Bats vs cats

01 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

New Zealand's native long-tailed bat, pekapeka-tou-roa, is going strong in Franklin, south of Auckland. But these tiny mammals are threatened by intro...

When plans change

22 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Not everything goes to plan on research trips. And when the trip is to a remote island aboard a navy ship designed to help with disaster relief, and h...

A pair of tyrants

15 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're travelling back in time 66 million years ago with producer William Ray, to a time when dinosaurs roamed. Join William as he meets two ...

The sex life of spiders

08 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

They can hunt, they can fish, they build little nurseries for their babies. Oh and some of them also engage in a bit of sexual cannibalism. Claire Con...

Bonus: Bug of the Year 2023 causing lab tension

08 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

With the Bug of the Year 2023 competition coming to the closing stages, it's not surprising that things are getting heated. In this breaking news stor...

The secret life of sea sponges

01 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What do marine biologists get up to? Some Evans Bay Intermediate school students are learning all about it at the Victoria University Coastal Ecology ...

Green data storage, green walls

25 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Claire Concannon investigates how luminescence and specialised materials could be key to our growing data storage needs, and visits a test site for na...

Summer science: Two stories from the ocean

18 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In the final instalment of our summer science series, we bring you two stories from the ocean. First we have a story on marine noise pollution from Vi...

Summer science: Rabbits and other pests

11 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We continue our summer science series with an episode from RNZ's The Aotearoa History Show. In the first episode of season two, the show burrows into ...

Summer science: The hunt for New Zealand's tenth meteorite

04 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As part of our summer science series we bring you an episode of The Otago Chronicles podcast, hosted by Max Balloch. In this episode, Max talks to Ass...

Summer science: Two stories about genetics

21 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Two stories about genetics produced by students at the University of Otago's Department of Science Communication. Amanda Konyn investigates whether ge...

An eye in the sky to detect methane emissions

14 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

MethaneSAT is the first New Zealand government funded space mission. A joint project between the United States' Environmental Defense Fund and New Zea...

Conservation successes in the Cook Islands

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The kākerōri or Rarotongan flycatcher is a South Pacific conservation success story. Once reduced to just 29 birds, it has been rescued from the bri...

Planning for Aotearoa's genomic medicine future

30 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

If the future of healthcare is personalised genomics, how can we ensure that it is used to lessen inequities, rather than strengthen them? This week, ...

Genome sequencing and the pandemic

23 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Genome sequencing has become a household term during this pandemic. This week, we explore how it became an important tool in the fight against Covid-1...

Sunfish secrets

16 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sunfish are the world's largest bony fish species - and yet scientists know little about their lives. This week, Our Changing World meets a sunfish re...

Sunshine science: the power and peril of the sun’s rays

09 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Summer is on its way, and this week we're exploring both the power and the peril of the sun. First, we visit the Ultrafast Laser Lab to learn about ef...

What feathers can tell us about the past lives of seabirds

02 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Behind the scenes at the Auckland War Memorial Museum, a "menagerie" of specimens is a treasure trove for curator Dr Matt Rayner, who is researching h...

Why has this river of Antarctic ice stalled?

26 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How do you drill through 600m of thick Antarctic ice? Using hot water, of course. In this episode from the 2020 series Voices from Antarctica, Alison ...

Space sounds and jungle noises The otherworldly song of Weddell

19 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Weddell seals have returned to breed near Scott Base in Antarctica after a decades-long absence. On land, they're blubbery lumps. But underwater, they...

Deep dives and epic journeys: Return of the emperor penguins

12 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A team of NIWA scientists eagerly awaits the return of 19 emperor penguins carrying high-tech data loggers and video cameras. What will the data captu...

Emperor penguin secrets

05 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Revisit the frozen continent with us in this mini rerun of the Voices from Antarctica series. This week, Alison visits Cape Crozier to meet a colony o...

The prickly prize of ongaonga

28 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's spectacularly spiky and delivers a painful or even deadly sting. Why are a team of conservationists growing and planting up Orokonui Ecosanctuary...

A send-off for SOFIA, the flying observatory

21 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

We're saying farewell to the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (aka SOFIA) this month. The mission, which was partially based in Christ...

Future forest industry

14 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In a future that is free of fossil fuels, where will we source all the products that we get from the petroleum industry? Scientists at the forest rese...