Alison Ballance

It's hard enough at the best of times to study deep sea fish. And when that fish happens to live in Antarctica, well, the job becomes even harder. Audio

It's not often that the world of a university physicist intersects with that of zoologists, but the University of Otago's Tim Molteno has found that inventing devices for tracking animals brings the… Audio

It's a place unlike anywhere else in New Zealand. Officially it's a desert. It's almost devoid of native trees, and instead has wilding pines and numerous weedy wild flowers. Audio

Easter Island Earth Island - and John Flenley's been using the fossilised indigenous pollen to trace the history of the local ecology to better understand the reasons behind the collapse of the… Audio

When the magnitude 7.8 earthquake gave Dusky Sound and the rest of the South Island a big shake-up back in July, Dunedin geologist Simon Cox was part of the GNS Science Rapid Response team that flew… Audio

Renowned wildlife photographer Tui de Roy now calls Golden Bay home, but she was raised in the Galapagos Islands. These islands were made famous by Charles Darwin's observations and writings on the… Audio

Kerri Morgan is a vet with the New Zealand Wildlife Health Centre at Massey University. Audio

Earlier this year, Bill Sullivan and a team of 30 trappers were awarded Forest and Bird's Pestbuster Award for their efforts in trapping predators at 4 forest sites around Nelson. Alison catches up… Audio

This week is Conservation Week, and the theme this year is 'Get Involved - Kia Mahia te Mahi'. It's all about celebrating the efforts that thousands of volunteers and community groups put in to help… Audio

In a newly released report on the state of rivers in the Manawatu, the Horizons Regional Council describes the state of the Manawatu River as 'Generally Poor'. Audio

Modelling the mechanics of walking - How do we walk, and run? Is it a case of mind over matter, or is something else in control? Audio

Te Papa Tongarewa is the National Museum of New Zealand. One of its roles is to look after some of the country's important natural history collections. These collections must be housed safely and… Audio

In the middle of winter a team of 6 geologists headed into the Southern Alps near Mt Cook to drill for ice. Audio

In today's environment story, Alison Ballance heads to NIWA's Invertebrate Collection to find out about the diversity of crustacea living in New Zealand waters. Audio

Alison Ballance caught up with Poison Information Specialist Leo Schep from the University of Otago's National Poisons Centre to find out what venomous creatures there actually are in New Zealand, and… Audio

Ten years ago a large group of scientists began reviewing and creating an inventory of all of New Zealand's life throughout time. Audio

Honey bees are useful in many ways - they pollinate our crops, and they provide us with honey. And it turns out they're also a very useful 'model' animal for genetic research. Audio

Every year hundreds of millions of people suffer from malaria, and millions - especially young children - die from it. Audio

Two weeks ago Resolution Island, which lies at the entrance to Dusky Sound in Fiordland, was in the news as the epicentre of a magnitude 7.8 earthquake. Audio

Charles Darwin worried about it but did it anyway. It's illegal in 31 American states, highly stigmatised in many parts of the world, yet greatly favoured in others. And it's been the subject of a Tui… Audio