Category Archives: Past Events

Friday, 15 July: Matariki presentation at the Planetarium

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Gary Sparks: Planetarium Director

Date: Friday 15 July at 6pm – 7.30pm

Venue: Hawke’s Bay Holt Planetarium, Chambers Streets

Cost: $15/person for the RSNZ and $20/person for non-members

Maximum number: 30

Light refreshments will be served afterwards. BYO beer and wine.

Using all the facilities of the Holt Planetarium, join Planetarium Director Gary Sparks on an exploration of the science, the cultural significance and the international celebration that is Matariki.

For more events organized by the Planetarium, click here.

Tuesday, 14 June: 2022 Annual General Meeting

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Hawke’s Bay Branch of the Royal Society’s 2022 AGM will be held at EIT in Lecture Theatre 1, EIT at 5.30pm on Tuesday 14 June.

All members are welcome, and encouraged, to attend. We’ll tell you how the Society is doing, and listen to your ideas for our Society and its programme.

An invitation and Agenda will be sent to all members prior to the meeting.

Tuesday, 14 June: Transforming the governance of freshwater: A case study of farmer and regional council change in Hawke’s Bay

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The Branch will hold its 2022 Annual General Meeting at 5.30pm, followed by:

Charlotte Drury: Director of View, a Resource Management consultancy

Date: Tuesday, 14 June

Admission: Gold coin donation

Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, EIT Taradale

To attend this lecture at EIT, masks are required.

In New Zealand, two groups of actors are particularly involved in freshwater governing: namely farmers, who manage large areas of the countryside, and regional councils – the governing entity that has the legislative responsibility to manage the freshwater resources of a region.  

Based on the findings of her doctoral research, Charlotte will talk about freshwater management practices in the Tukituki Catchment region of Hawke’s Bay, and the regional council’s governance of farmland. The unexpected findings illustrate the raft of factors that shape freshwater governance, and provide some explanation as to why improvements in freshwater quality are yet to be fully realised.

Charlotte grew up on a sheep farm in West Otago, and studied geography and planning at university. Upon graduation she took up a job with the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, where for 12 years she worked within the policy, consents and land management teams.  In 2017, Charlotte left to set up her own planning consultancy, View Consult.  She undertook her PhD study at Massey University, while continuing to live and work here in Hawke’s Bay. She is passionate about freshwater and farming, having been involved with both topics both personally and professionally throughout her life, and was keen to draw those together in her study and career. 

Thursday, 19 May: Green hydrogen: commodity chemical and future fuel

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Sally Brooker: Professor of University of Otago

Date: 6pm, Thursday, 19 May 2022

Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, Eastern Institute of Technology, Taradale

To attend this lecture at EIT, masks are required.

Admission: Gold coin donation

source from: https://www.nzhydrogen.org/nz-hydrogen-projects

Professor Sally Brooker will give a general introduction to the hydrogen eco-system. This talk will include several aspects:

  • The existing roles of hydrogen as a key commodity chemical, and the ‘colours’ of hydrogen, particular on the production of brown vs green hydrogen.
  • The future roles of green hydrogen as a commodity chemical and as a zero-carbon emission future fuel
  • The NZ situation and the aims of the German-NZ green hydrogen team

Sally Brooker is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Otago. Undergraduate and post graduate studies at the University of Canterbury were followed by post-doctorate work at the University of Göttingen in Germany. The recipient of numerous awards, Sally has wide ranging research interests (otago.ac.nz/brooker). Relevant to this talk, some of her research team are making catalysts for hydrogen production from water (and for the selective reduction of carbon dioxide) and she is a co-leader of the German-NZ green hydrogen team.

Sunday, 27 February: 2022 Beatrice Hill Tinsley Lecture (RASNZ) A deadly dance: When black holes and neutron stars collide

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Dr Heloise Stevence: Research Fellow of the University of Auckland

Date: 2.00pm Sunday, 27 February 2022

Venue: Hawke’s Bay Holt Planetarium, Chambers Street, Napier

Admission: Gold coin donation

Now, Heloise’s lecture is available in YouTube, click here.

An artist’s impression of a wayward star being shredded by the intense gravitational pull of a black hole. © Reuters / NASA-ESA
Source: https://www.rt.com/news/492754-space-time-ripples-black-holes/

What happens when the densest objects in the universe collide at half the speed of light? It starts with a stretch of a wobble in the fabric of spacetime, and sometime sends in cosmic explosions that create some of the rarest and shiniest elements in the Universe. Together we’ll learn how some of the most massive stars in the cosmos live and die with bang, to create the black hole and neutron star mergers we can “hear” colliding a hundred million light years away. This 45 minute “lecture” will combine cutting edge science and wacky humour to make the mysteries of merging black holes and neutron stars accessible to all ages and backgrounds.

Dr Heloise Stevence.
Source: https://www.rasnz.org.nz/rasnz/beatrice-hill-tinsley-lectures

Dr Heloise Stevence is an energetic, enthusiastic, educational and entertaining speaker well able to reach out to audiences of all ages and levels. Heloise, born and raised in France, moved to the UK to study Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sheffield. After working as a support astronomer at the Isaac Newton Group in La Palma for a year, she obtained her Masters of Physics in 2015 and subsequently started a PhD studying the 3D shape of Core Collapse Supernovae. She completed her PhD in 2019 and joined the University of Auckland as a Research Fellow to research the evolution of massive stars to better understand how they die and produce Supernovae and Kilonovae.

Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand

Monday, 15 November: Looking Forward: Zero Carbon, Zero Waste, Low Energy Computing and Sustainable Resource Use

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Dr Jenny Malmström: Principal Investigator at the MacDiarmid Institute and Lecturer at the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Auckland.

Dr Kim McKelvey: Associate Investigator at the MacDiarmid Institute and Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington.

Assoc Prof Mark Waterland: Associate Investigator at the MacDiarmid Institute and Associate Professor in the Institute of Fundamental Sciences at Massey University.

Date: 6.00pm Monday 15 November 2021

Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, EIT Taradale

Admission: Gold coin donation

Tuesday, 2 November: The science behind fruit storage – why tomatoes or bananas should not be stored in the fridge once at home

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Dr Jason Johnston: the Science Team Leader for Quality and Storage Insights at Plant & Food Research

Date: 6.00pm Tuesday 2 November 2021

Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, EIT Taradale

Admission: Gold coin donation

New Zealand’s (NZ) long distance to export markets means it has one of the most sophisticated supply chain systems in the world. The meat industry in NZ pioneered the use of refrigeration for exports, and since then refrigeration has enabled the export of several other perishable items, including fruit. At first this sounds easy, but unlike processed products, fruit is still metabolically active and respiring (breathing) after harvest. Every piece of fruit (even those from the same tree or vine) is metabolically different and changing at different rates when exposed to the same supply chain conditions.

In this lecture, Jason will highlight some of the biological processes taking place after harvest, and the tools used to manage those processes. He will also cover current research areas such as conservation of energy in coolstores; reduced reliance on plastic packaging; technologies and sensors for maintaining quality and reducing waste; and potential for digital technologies including robotics to automate horticulture. By the end of the lecture it should also be clear why tomatoes or bananas should not be stored in the fridge once at home!

Dr Jason Johnston is the Science Team Leader for Quality and Storage Insights at Plant & Food Research. He has 20 years’ research experience, and aims to develop new systems, technologies and knowledge that enhance the quality and supply chain resilience of fresh produce from NZ. His passion for horticulture started at a young age whilst growing up in a market garden in Bay of Plenty, and then merged with an interest in science whilst at Massey University. Jason’s research mainly focuses on apples and pears, but is increasingly working on other fruit and berry crops such as kiwifruit, blueberries, apricots and cherries. He enjoys the challenge of problem-based research for the benefit of NZ’s fruit industries.

Tuesday 12 October: Biofortifying Vegetables – Prospects and problems for improving the mineral nutrient contents of vegetables grown for humans and animals

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Jeff Reid, Honorary Research Fellow, Plant & Food research

Date: 6.00pm Tuesday 12 October 2021

Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, EIT Taradale

Admission: Gold coin donation

Many believe – and with some scientific support – that the mineral nutrient content of our vegetables has declined in Western societies. How could that happen? Does it affect our health? There appears to be a viable business opportunity to grow and market vegetables with enhanced concentrations of some mineral nutrients for humans. Domestically, seasonal imbalances of mineral nutrients like magnesium and calcium can have serious health consequences for dairy cows in particular. In some of our non-traditional export markets there may be worthwhile opportunities to help overcome human dietary deficiencies in nutrients like iron and zinc.

Biofortification is the posh name given to attempts to increase the concentrations of mineral nutrients in plants grown for food. It turns out to be surprisingly difficult – plants are not just hapless sponges that we can fill up as we want by spreading manure, compost, and fertilisers around. They show surprising selectivity in their own composition through time. Soils themselves can be similarly fussy about what they do and don’t make easily available to plants. So if we want a particular outcome, often we will have to be cunning…. This talk will look at the general principles involved in this, and give specific examples of our team’s work to improve the magnesium content of vegetables. This will include up to the minute snapshots of work in progress.

Jeff Reid is an Honorary Research Fellow at Plant & Food Research, Havelock North. Before retiring last year he had been a Principal Scientist for New Zealand Institute for Plant & Food Research Limited, a past President of Hawke’s Bay Branch of The Royal Society of New Zealand, Chief Judge for the Future Scientist category of the NZ Prime Minister’s Science Prizes, and a member of the Zespri Innovation Board. He is an Honorary Fellow of the NZ Society for Horticultural Science, and with Jeff Morton authored the book “Nutrient management for vegetable crops in New Zealand” (Nutrient management for vegetable crops in New Zealand | Zenodo).

Monday, 16 August 2021: Professions and Researchers – in Ethical Decline?

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Dr Andrew Cleland

Distinguished Fellow of Engineering New Zealand and Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi

Date: 6.00pm Monday 16 August 2021

Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, EIT Taradale

Admission: Gold coin donation

This is a joint meeting with the HB Branch of Engineering New Zealand.

Andrew will examine the way in which self-regulating professions have evolved, with a focus on how the engineering profession in New Zealand has responded to challenges over the last thirty years. Maintaining standards – both technical and professional – in the face of mounting commercial pressure has proven increasingly difficult. Notable failures, such as the CTV building in Christchurch, have led to regulatory intervention by Government.

He will then turn to the research sector and talk about the changing nature of peer review, ethics and what respecting the public interest means in practice. In seeking to answer the rhetorical question of the title, Andrew brings together his experience in both fields and identifies opportunities for engineers and researchers to learn from one another.

This presentation was first delivered in April 2021 to the Manawatū branches of Engineering New Zealand and the Royal Society Te Apārangi, as the 2021 Earle Lecture, a two-yearly recognition of the work of Professors Dick and Mary Earle, and their contribution to engineering and technology in New Zealand.

Andrew came to Palmerston North to study technology in 1972, majoring in Professor Dick Earle’s department. After completing his PhD study, he worked for 18 months with Professor Mary Earle on a contract to survey energy use in the food industry. Then he worked 15 years as an academic, before he joined the Food Technology Department for six years. Andrew joined what is now Engineering New Zealand in the early 1980s, and became a Fellow in 1995, and the Chief Executive in 2000. Andrew was appointed Chief Executive of the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2014.