Alison Ballance

We're saying farewell to the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (aka SOFIA) this month. The mission, which was partially based in Christchurch, wraps up after a decade of observing… Audio

The Detail podcast brings you the issues behind the news every weekday. Here's what we covered this week. Audio

Mittens the cat may be cute, but Aotearoa has many animals far more worthy of immortalising in bronze. Audio

Alison Ballance visits the Brook Waimārama sanctuary, and discovers that the old saying "many hands make light work" is particularly true when it comes to community conservation. A relatively new… Audio

Orange-fronted parakeets, or kākāriki karaka, have a new home in Nelson’s Brook Waimārama fenced sanctuary – and they are already firm favourites with some of the sanctuary’s conservation volunteers.

Alison Ballance joins the kākāpō recovery team on Pukenui Anchor Island to hear how the 2021/2022 kākāpō breeding season is going. Audio

Alison Ballance joins the kākāpō recovery team on Pukenui Anchor Island to hear how the 2021/2022 kākāpō breeding season is going. Audio

Alison Ballance meets some engineers from Victoria University of Wellington who are coming up with smart ways to keep the lights on, using renewable electricity produced locally. Audio

Alison Ballance catches up with two earthquake researchers. Geologist Carolyn Boulton is a "fault finder", interested in how faults slide. And geophysicist Martha Savage eavesdrops on the earth to… Audio

Alison Ballance meets geologist Dr. Carolyn Boulton, who is a ‘fault finder’, interested in how faults slide during earthquakes. Audio

We've used closed borders to explore our own country, but you can love a place to death - there are some places that are not only difficult to get to, but tourism is not encouraged. Audio

Alison Ballance revisits a favourite story from the archives: southern island sanctuary for rare birds. Audio