Alison Ballance
Our Changing World - Saddleback song
North Island saddleback - or tieke - are one of New Zealand's conservation success stories. By the 1960s they were found on just a single island, Hen Island in the Hen and Chicken group near… Audio
Our Changing World - urban kaka
After decades, and sometimes centuries, of absence, native wildlife is staging a comeback around the country - and in some cases having natural neighbours again is taking a bit of adjustment. In… Audio
Conservationist who initiated Morning Report bird call has died
John Kendrick, the wildlife film-maker and sound recordist to whom we owe our bird calls on Radio New Zealand National, has died in Whangarei aged 91. Audio
Our Changing World - Three Kings Islands Marine Expedition
If you stand at Cape Reinga in the Far North on a fine day you can just glimpse some islands on the horizon. They are the Three Kings Islands, where Alison Ballance joined Auckland Museum's recent… Audio
Our Changing World - NZ Birds Online
New Zealand's a land of birds - and there's now a website that's the ultimate one-stop shop for everything you ever wanted to know about them. Alison Ballance is off to find out more. Audio
Wake up to more birdsong on Morning Report.
Over the next few weeks we're going to be rolling out some new bird calls on Morning Report, which come from New Zealand Birds Online. Audio
Our Changing World - Pharmacology and Genetics
Doctors have long known that a drug that works well for one person may not work as well for someone else. And we're increasingly finding that it's differences in our genes that are responsible, just… Audio
Our Changing World - Kauri Dieback Disease (Part 2)
Kauri dieback disease is killing the trees in the garden of Colin McCahon House in Titirangi. It has no cure, there's no vaccination. Alison Ballance investigates, in a Waitakere Ranges forest. Audio
Our Changing World - Kauri Dieback Disease (Part 1)
Kauri dieback disease knows no boundaries. It's killing our iconic kauri trees in suburban gardens in West Auckland and in the great kauri forests of Northland. Alison Ballance heads to Titirangi to… Audio
Our Changing World - Sooty Shearwaters
We mostly know them as Muttonbirds - that dark rich delicacy collected from the Titi Islands around Stewart Island. But they're also known as Sooty Shearwaters - not only our most abundant bird… Audio
Our Changing World - Heathcote River Recovery
For six weeks after the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake millions of litres of raw sewage - along with lots of liquefaction - poured into the Avon and Heathcote Rivers. A team of biologists… Audio
New fish and seaweeds found at Three Kings Islands
For more than a hundred years, since an Australian steamer ran aground with a cargo of gold and silver coins, the Three Kings Islands in the Far North of New Zealand have been a focus for treasure… Audio
Our Changing World - Kauri and drought
The North Island is still in the grip of the most severe drought on record, and there are reports that native trees and wildlife are suffering. So what will happen if droughts like this become more… Audio
Our Changing World - Miranda Shorebird Centre
All around the country migratory wading birds such as godwits and knots are winging their way north to breeding grounds in the Arctic. Alison Ballance heads to the Firth of Thames to see some of the… Audio
Our Changing World - Banks Peninsula
Banks Peninsula is mostly hilly farming country, but these days conservation sits alongside farming and tourism on the peninsula, and local farmers are some of the most ardent conservationists. Alison… Audio
Science of Eating
Using an articulograph to study how we process food in our mouths while we eat will help in smarter food innovation Audio
Science of Eating
Using an articulograph to study how we process food in our mouths while we eat will help in smarter food innovation
AudioOur Changing World - Trout Eradication at Zealandia
Two years ago Zealandia sanctuary in Wellington and the Department of Conservation joined forces to try and eradicate brown trout from waterways. It was an experiment - but it's been successful - as… Audio
Our Changing World - Yellow-Eyed Penguins Count
Alison Ballance was on an expedition to count penguins in their stronghold in the subantarctic Auckland Islands, and she says down there it isn't that rosy for the penguins, despite hard work by a… Audio
Our Changing World - How Pigeons Find Their Way Home
Alison Ballance navigates her way to the University of Auckland to hear how homing pigeons might, in future, help us find our way around on distant stars. Audio