Stories by Alison Ballance

The Department of Conservation and special guests celebrate the dramatic rediscovery of the takahē in Fiordland, 70 years ago.

New Zealand has a growing population of older drivers and an important issue is 'when do they give up driving?'

Warren Tate has jointly won the 2018 Marsden Medal for a lifetime of molecular discoveries about proteins and the genes that code them.

Judith Bateup has been awarded the Cranwell Medal for science communication, for running hands-on microbiology classes for school students.

Yoram Barak says there are some simple ways of maintaining a healthy brain into old age. Good social relationships are key.

Melting polar ice will be the biggest contributor to sea level rise in future - but will it come from Greenland or Antarctica?

Te Awaroa o Porirua Whaitua committee is a group of locals thinking about freshwater quality in the Porirua catchment and harbour.

Scientists are working to better understand the invasive plant disease myrtle rust, and how it might impact native plants and ecosystems.

Rod Downey, a mathematics professor at Victoria University of Wellington, has won New Zealand's top science honour, the Rutherford Medal.

Maren Wellenreuther, from Plant and Food Research, has won the 2018 Hamilton Award for her work developing snapper as a future aquaculture species.

Lisa Matisoo-Smith, from the University of Otago, has won the 2018 Mason Durie Medal for her work using DNA to understand the migration of people to Aotearoa.

Half of this year's science prizes have been awarded to women.

George Hobson is a teenager with a passion for birds - especially the banded dotterels that nest on Eastbourne's beach.

Mei Peng is investigating whether we each have a 'sensory fingerprint' that determines how we react to food.

Scion scientists are developing ways to safely convert human faecal waste into bioplastic.

Many of New Zealand's threatened seabirds are at danger from fishing across the Pacific.

Melanie Bussey studies concussion in sport, and how the human body reacts to impacts that might cause damage to the brain.

Twenty-five years of bird counts have revealed an unexpected consequence to the creation of the predator-free Zealandia Sanctuary.

Community groups descend on Wellington's south coast each spring to pick up rubbish - including lots of plastic and cigarette butts.

3D and 4D printing could be a nimble tool for New Zealand manufacturers that also uses wood-based bioplastics.

Research shows that nerves play a surprisingly important role in muscle loss, while exercise helps us maintain our strength.

Cardboard boxes are the workhorse of the economy, and Scion has a special facility to test them and better understand why they sometimes fail.

Field notebooks from some of NZ's first surveyors are among 1000s of historic documents digitised by LINZ in one of the world's largest cultural heritage projects.

After years of trials, Scion entomologists believe New Zealand could safely introduce a parasitic wasp to control the eucalyptus tortoise beetle.

Kākahi or freshwater mussels are being moved to Zealandia sanctuary in Wellington as part of an ambitious restoration project.