Writing
Trip Report: La presqu'île de Crozon
17 August 2023
Two friends and I did a four-day tramp (hike) around the presqu'île de Crozon, a rocky peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic Sea in the far west of Bretagne, France. This is how it went.
Do #nzpol contributors exist in echo chambers?
28 August 2022
As part of my Masters in Environmental Policy I did a course on Social Network Analysis—essentially analysing social structures by looking at the connections between people (or other things). For our…
Trip Report: Kungsleden
9 August 2022
A while back I heard that one of my friends, Felicia, was heading to the Arctic Circle in the north of Sweden for a month, working as an assistant at the Tarfala Research Station. This station…
Trip Report: In the shadow of The Haystack
3 March 2022
In early January 2022, scarcely a week before my scheduled departure back to France, I organised a tramp with Dad to Larrikin Creek Hut. This would likely be the last tramp in Aotearoa I would do for…
Adventures in Kākāpō Land
20 December 2021
Recently I was lucky to spend two weeks on Whenua Hou/Codfish Island, a forest-covered predator free nature reserve next to Rakiura/Stewart Island. About 14km^2 in size, with a high point of 250m, it…
Te Araroa 2020/21
5 January 2021
From mid-September 2020 to early January 2021, a friend and I completed Te Araroa, a 3000 km trail stretching across the length of Aotearoa/New Zealand's two islands. Here's how it went.
Trip Report: Abel Tasman Inland Track
8 September 2020
Over an unusually warm late-winter weekend I decided to do Abel Tasman Inland Track—the lesser known cousin of the famous coastal track. This was a ‘training mission’ as part of my upcoming Te Araroa…
A journey across a world in lockdown
1 June 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic meant an unexpected journey from France to New Zealand. This is a short video of the trip.
A proposal for a new bird band exchange format
11 December 2019
The New Zealand Bird Band Text Exchange Format is a proposed format for simplifying bird band information exchange.
The role of nuclear power in global decarbonisation
10 November 2019
OPINION: Can nuclear technologies help achieve net-zero emissions by 2050? This policy brief seeks to answer what role nuclear power will play in the global decarbonisation process.
Trip Report: Crow Hut via Avalanche Peak
4 October 2019
A few months back, myself and two others (Karen and Joe) thought we’d take a weekend in late May to go for an overnight alpine tramp before the real winter temperatures hit. So, despite a rather…
My academic journey (so far)
13 August 2019
My academic journey so far has been a bit of an adventure—this profile was written for Royal Society Te Apārangi's student alumni profiles.
What powers the Kea Database?
23 June 2019
The Kea Database uses many different services and technologies—here's some insight on how it all works.
Kea featured on 'Our Changing World'
9 May 2019
Laura Young and I were fortunate to be featured in a recent episode of RNZ’s fantastic “Our Changing World” podcast, superbly produced by Alison Ballance. Have a listen to the podcast episode (below),…
Trip Report: Wangapeka wanders
1 May 2019
Easter 2019 brought about the second attempt at walking the Wangapeka Track, after an aborted attempt a few years ago due to heavy snow and windfall. Here’s how it went. Day One After reading the DOC…
Trip Report: Freshers—the advanced crew (again)
29 March 2019
Tramps: George, Andre, Johanna, Ruth, and a large number of other CUTC-ers Route: Boyle Village to Magdalen Hut via Faust; return via valley As per tradition, March brings about the first big…
Trip Report: The Gap & Castle Hill Peak
17 March 2019
After a Saturday cooped up inside, I was itching to get out onto the mountains for a bit of time for reflection and exercise. Following an uneventful drive to the top of Porter’s Pass, I started the…
Historical anecdotes from the University of Canterbury
6 June 2018
More than 140 years of history has resulted in many good stories from the University of Canterbury. These are some of them.
Trip Report: Three Passes
3 April 2018
Over Easter 2018, five friends and I completed the classic Three Passes route, crossing Harman Pass, Whitehorn Pass and Browning Pass/Noti Raureka. Some day I may complete a full write-up, but here’s…
Trip Report: Freshers—the advanced crew
20 March 2018
Tramps: George (President), Ellen (Captain), and a varying number of other CUTC-ers Route: Sharplin Falls car-park to Woolshed Creek Hut via Pinnacles Hut; Return via the summit of Mt. Somers The…
Community conservation data in New Zealand
3 February 2018
What do New Zealand community conservation groups do with data? This research seeks to understand data practices, and suggest improvements.
Bird of the Year 2017
9 October 2017
Update: The kea won with over 7.3K votes. Thanks to everyone who voted!
Citizen science for biodiversity monitoring in New Zealand
3 September 2017
Citizen science, the collaborative collection of scientific data by the general public, is an increasingly relevant field in an age of modern technology. It presents an exciting opportunity, not only…
The Kea Database: a new citizen science project
3 August 2017
The Kea Database is the first citizen science project of its kind in NZ, allowing people to look up individual birds and record sightings.
Life with my eBike
9 May 2017
eBikes have a number of advantages over cars, bikes, buses and mopeds. This is my experience of using one for just over a year!
The height of New Zealand towns
1 December 2016
Ever wondered what the highest towns in NZ were? Here's the top 10, and the methodology used to find them.
Trip Report: Trapping in the Andrews Valley
7 May 2016
Tramps: George (Environmental Officer), Kerry, Annie, Michael, Alex, Ann Route: Up and down Andrews Valley One fine sunny day in May, 6 intrepid CUTC members went off to delicately place eggs in…
Grow your own soy milk
30 June 2014
In 2013/2014 I tried growing my own soy plants in order to make my own soy milk. This is the process from soil to soy milk.