FRIENDS OF CAWTHRON
NEWSLETTER | APRIL 2014
The latest news from Cawthron Trust
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
CAWTHRON CELEBRATES SEAWEEK
We have a busy calendar of
activities throughout the year.
Keep an eye on our website
(cawthron.org.nz) for our latest
events or contact us for further
information on 03 539 3217.
9th April: Waste Water
Treatment Teacher Workshop
Cawthron’s Louis Tremblay
discusses his ‘Up the pipe’ project.
Organised by Nelson Provincial
Museum at the Waste Water
Treatment Plant, Boulder Bank.
The Marlborough region winning image by Tracey Richardson
5th—23rd May: Year 13
Biology Workshops
Students from across the region
investigate the mussel as part of
their NCEA credits. These
workshops are within the NMIT
laboratory at the Cawthron
Aquaculture Park, led by Cawthron
and the University of Otago.
19th—25th May: National
Primary Science Week
The theme is ‘Out Of This World’
and the Cawthron drawing
competition prizes this year are
amazing! For more information on
how to enter, visit our Facebook
page. Also, come along to the Star
Party at 7pm, Friday 23rd May at
the Cawthron Atkinson Observatory.
For more details of the Star Party
visit the events page of the Nelson
Science Society website. Visit the
official New Zealand Association of
Science Educators website for
further details:
nzapse.nzase.org.nz.
During the first week of March, Cawthron celebrated Seaweek, New
Zealand’s annual national week that focuses on learning from the sea. It’s
about exciting and inspiring all New Zealanders to renew their
connections with the sea. This years’ theme was “Our fragile, finite
taonga” – a call to be alert to the fragility of the marine environment and
its treasures. With support from the Nelson Mail and the Marlborough
Express, Cawthron ran the third Seaweek photography competition and
this year it was open to residents from the ‘Top of the South’. There were
some fantastic prizes with winner and runner-up prizes for the four
competition categories and for Marlborough, Nelson and Tasman regions.
To see all the photos visit our Friends of Cawthron Facebook page.
Cawthron scientist Ben Knight and Alex Thompson (Ministry for Primary
Industries) presented a teacher workshop about New Zealand's fisheries
and our world leading Quota Management System. The new Cawthron
building in Halifax Street East also hosted a public lecture as Cawthron’s
Dr Norman Ragg gave a fascinating insight into New Zealand’s shellfish.
Our youngest members of the community got involved as Cristina
Armstrong (Assistant Community Educator, Cawthron) went to a number
of kindergartens with sea creatures to visit some very excited children.
Forest and Bird also hosted a Seaweek event at Cable Bay, for families to
snorkel and explore the rock pools. Cawthron scientists helped people
with the identification of the amazing array of sea life found in the bay. A
A huge thanks to all our 2014 Seaweek sponsors:
APRIL 2014 | The latest news from the Cawthron Institute Trust Board
NMIT STUDENTS
NMIT language students had
an unusual field trip recently
with the topic of ‘the
environment’ to improve their
language skills. Cawthron
scientist Dr Lauren Fletcher
from the biosecurity team
hosted them at Nelson marina
to learn about the potential risks
to New Zealand’s marine
ecosystems from pests arriving
on boats. Dr Fletcher showed
them current experiments
aiming to reduce biofouling.
The students, of five different
nationalities, were amazed by
the animals found on boat hulls.
Dr Lauren Fletcher with NMIT
language students
TEN YEARS OF MUSSEL CELEBRATIONS
Cawthron Scientist Cara McGregor demonstrating the beauty of algae
This year Havelock celebrated the 10th anniversary of Musselfest and as
always it was a fantastic day full of mussel-related stalls and activities and
of course delicious food, drink and entertainment. People poured in to see
Cawthron’s stand to discover the science behind the green-lipped mussel.
The ‘mussel gym’ included a heart monitor on a mussel showing the life
inside this otherwise sedentary looking animal. Bags of ‘gourmet algae’
that the mussels feed on were on display, along with mussels so small
you needed to use a microscope to see them. The Cawthron stand had a
great team of scientists to help explain all the science on show.
The highlight for both big and small were the touch tanks, giving the
public a chance to look at (and touch!) some of the amazing animals
living in the sea, including kina, starfish, brittlestars, crabs, rockfish, paua,
limpets and chitons. It was great to see the public so interested in the
science of aquaculture, thanks to everyone that visited us on the day!
DID YOU KNOW?
The invasive species Didemnum vexillum is a type of sea squirt or ascidian.
Sea squirts are marine invertebrates and they get the name sea squirt from
the fact their body is made up of a sac like structure with two tubular
openings, called siphons. They feed by filtering the water in through one
siphon and out through the other. Didemnum is originally from Japan and is
considered invasive in many countries including New Zealand. Sea squirts
can be either solitary or grow in a colony and Didemnum grows in a colony. It
can reproduce sexually and asexually, by fragments of the colony breaking
off and continuing to grow. It poses a threat to marine farming as it smothers
mussel farms lines and the weight of the biofouling can pull the mussels off
the ropes.
Cawthron scientist Dr Lauren Fletcher studied the seasonality of the
reproduction of Didemnum vexillum and her research will assist the shellfish
industry in avoiding further spread of this species. To read more about her
work visit our publication section on www.cawthron.org.nz or listen to her
interview on ‘Cawthron-Behind the Scenes, 21st and 23rd April.
The sea squirt, Didemnum vexillum
growing as a pest on mussel lines
APRIL 2014 | The latest news from the Cawthron Institute Trust Board
CAWTHRON—BEHIND THE
SCENES
Is your window into the world of
New Zealand’s largest,
independent, communityowned research centre. It gives
you the opportunity to meet
many of our scientists as well
as a wide range of people
involved in science in our
community. Our radio show
airs fortnightly (Mondays,
5.40pm and Wednesdays,
11.40am) on Fresh FM
(Nelson-Tasman 104.8, Golden
Bay 95.0 and Blenheim 88.9). If
you missed a show, they are
available on iTunes, just search
for Fresh FM in the iTunes
library or download them
directly from the Fresh FM
website (www.freshfm.net).
Upcoming radio show
7th and 9th April:
Cawthron’s Kevin Heasman
describes our current research
project at the Cawthron
Aquaculture Park which
involves scampi.
RUTHERFORD DAY CELEBRATIONS
Ernest Rutherford (centre left) with Cawthron staff at Professor Easterfield’s
(Cawthron’s first director) house
In 1931 when Nobel Laureate Ernest Rutherford was raised to the
peerage, he proudly took the title Ernest Lord Rutherford of Nelson “..in
honour of my birthplace..”. In 2014 Nelson will return that honour and
celebrate the inaugural Rutherford Day on Rutherford’s birthday, August
30th. It is intended that the day will not only honour the life and
achievements of Rutherford but, just as importantly, celebrate the science
that is done in our region.
Tony Flewellen is the founder of the idea and has got off to a strong start;
receiving support from Nelson College, University of Cambridge, McGill
University, Cawthron Institute Trust and Sir Peter Gluckman in his
capacity of as the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor. Tony hopes to
stage a week of science-themed events leading up to Rutherford Day,
with local media focusing on the important work done by scientists in
Nelson and the contribution that science makes to our local economy. To
submit your ideas for activities for this event visit the Rutherford Day
Facebook page – it’s also a great way to hear about the latest news; or if
you’d like to receive the newsletter, email [email protected].
STUDENT LEAVES LEGACY OF HIS WORK
‘The office’ in Antarctica
Recent radio shows:
10th & 12th February:
Judene talks to Cawthron’s
Jonathan Banks and Nelson
College for Girls science
teacher Sarah Johns about
their research project in
Antarctica. Hear about the
challenges they faced in doing
fieldwork in Antarctic conditions
and their research in the lab.
Nelson College student Tim Craig recently received funding from
Cawthron Trust to work with Dr. Mikel Packer, investigating the use of
algae in microbial fuel cells. Fuel cells are battery-like devices that have
replaceable 'fuel' and a microbial fuel cell uses microbial processes as
the fuel to generate electricity. Cells that use algae are able to convert
sunlight to electricity using the algae.
One area Tim developed was the construction and programming of an
electronic device that enables us to characterize the photosynthetic
microbial fuel cells in a faster way. Dr Packer said “This will be very
useful for us and will be a legacy of Tim's time with us for which we're
grateful.” If you’d like to hear more about this research download their
interview on ‘Cawthron-Behind the Scenes’ 24th March 2014.
APRIL 2014 | The latest news from the Cawthron Institute Trust Board
ENVIRO SCHOOLS “MOTUORA MISSION”
In March Enviroschools organised a sustainability challenge day out
at Rabbit Island for Primary and Intermediate schools in the Nelson
Tasman region. It was supported by a number of agencies who each
ran environmentally focused activities during the day. In teams,
students navigated around Rabbit Island and played games with
sustainable choices being the overarching theme.
Cawthron Trust supported this event by hosting a sustainable fishing
game which involved students choosing a New Zealand fishery,
receiving a quota and fishing for their chosen species. Extra bonus
points were acquired by discussing what they would do with all the
unwanted catch during their fishing adventure. Over 125 students
attended the day representing fourteen regional schools.
SUPPORT CAWTHRON
Cawthron Institute is New Zealand’s largest independent scientific research centre. Our science has been
benefiting New Zealand’s environment and economy for nearly 100 years and we play an important role in
fostering the careers of emerging scientists. You can help us continue to make a difference.
As a charitable trust we rely on grants, client driven projects and public support for our research. The funds raised
by the Friends of Cawthron are managed by the Thomas Cawthron Charitable Trust. A donation or bequest to
Cawthron enables our scientists to extend their research into necessary and important areas not covered by our
core funding sources, and provides scholarships for student researchers and doctoral fellowships.
If you would like further information on how you can support a research project, or if you would more details on
current sponsorship opportunities, contact Jo Thompson, 03 539 3217 or [email protected]
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