Rnz: Our Changing World

In July 2023 four male kākāpō were released into the fenced Sanctuary Mountain Maungatautari - part of a new habitat trial to investigate suitable locations for the growing kākāpō population. But after a further six were introduced, the kākāpō began to wander - beyond the fence. A year on, and several escapes later, what's been learned? And what's next for kākāpō in Maungatautari?

An expedition to the Bounty Trough off the Otago Coast uncovers a treasure trove of deep-sea creatures - including some species new to science. Veronika Meduna meets slimy fish, snails, and tiny shrimp-like critters from the ocean depths.

Avocado seed powder to make snacks, fish waste skin for wound healing, and bioactive compounds made from brewer's spent grain - Claire Concannon visits a food lab at AUT turning food waste into wealth.

Climate-change-induced sea level rise is happening. What will this mean for our low-lying wetlands? Will they get eroded away - releasing more carbon? Or will they grow at the same rate, and hold their ground? And what will this mean for the critters that live there? A team are investigating at an Otago wetland that might be the first in New Zealand to make this change.

We might think deep-sea squid look a bit strange, but if they have the capacity for it, they would likely consider us monsters! Claire speaks to a squidologist and a PhD candidate about their research trying to understand more about the lives of deep-sea squid.

Jump onboard an alpine flight to photograph some glaciers! The annual snowline survey has been running since 1977, but today new techniques are allowing researchers to go beyond 2D photos to make 3D models of the glaciers. Claire Concannon joins the team for a long day of flying and photographing.

A new six-part video series highlights the state of our oceans, and efforts from researchers, Māori and other partners to develop sustainable solutions.

Māori and Pacific peoples are three to six times more likely to develop stomach cancer than New Zealanders with European ancestry. Claire Concannon visits a research team taking aim at this disparity.

Aotearoa is a country plagued by pests, but conservationists are hoping advances in drone technology could turn the tables. Producer William Ray looks at how drones are being trialled in controlling everything from microscopic diseases to elusive wallabies, and wilding pine trees.

Caves created by rivers of lava underlie New Zealand's biggest city. A new research project is documenting Auckland's lava caves, hoping to protect this hidden geological heritage and understand what future eruptions might have in store.

A deadly frog fungus has decimated frog populations around the world, but frog biodiversity hotspot Papua New Guinea remains untouched - for now. In this episode of ABC podcast Pacific Scientific, James Purtill discovers the amphibian treasures of the world's largest tropical island, and what conservationists are doing to protect them.

This week, Phil Vine dives into the science of climate attribution. How much is climate change affecting extreme weather events? And how can this new science prepare us for the future?

Could the answer to one of our most pressing health needs be hiding in Aotearoa's bush? On Our Changing World this week, Liz Garton heads out on a foray to discover some of our fungal gems, and she finds out what we're doing to uncover their potential antibiotic properties.

A multi-year research project aims to find out the risks from two Bay of Plenty offshore island volcanoes: Tūhua / Mayor Island and Whakaari / White Island

Meet two winners of the 2023 Prime Ministers Science Prizes. In the wake of the 2019 Whakaari eruption, Professor Ben Kennedy engaged communities with the science of volcano hazards - mahi that earns him the 2023 Science Communication Prize. Meanwhile, Future Scientist prizewinner 17-year-old Sunny Perry has developed a helpful soil map.

Kate Evans visits a passionate team as they carpet a remote volcanic island in Tonga with poisoned bait, hoping to eradicate rats. What does it take to complete this kind of project, what are the chances of success, and what will it mean for the island's ecosystems if they manage to remove the rats once and for all?

Journalist Rebekah White meets two people who have been counting albatrosses on remote islands in the subantarctic for more than three decades. Their research shows that at least one species is en route to extinction. A few changes to the way we fish could save it.

New Zealand once led the world in marine protection. Now it looks like we will fail to meet our international promise to protect 30 percent of our ocean estate by 2030. Why is stopping fishing so politically fraught? How might our ideas about marine protection need to change? And why, when our seas are in need, is it taking us so long to learn to talk to each other?

Kuaka bar-tailed godwits make the longest non-stop flights, and researchers are using hi-tech tags to solve the mystery of how and when they sleep.

The Bounty Islands are tiny in terms of area - just some bits of granite jutting out of the ocean. But they are huge in terms of seabirds. James Frankham joins a team researching the erect-crested penguins who breed in this remote archipelago. Recent counts suggest the penguins of the Bounties are doing fine. But this is not the case on the Antipodes Islands, and the researchers desperately want to know why.