The Branch has, in conjunction with our local Community Radio Station, Radio Kidnappers, been interviewing a number of local scientists about their lives, careers and the science in which they have been involved.

Scientists on Air play on the second Monday of the month at 9:30 am. Replays of aired programmes can be found on the Radio Kidnappers’ Scientists on Air page.

Hawke’s Bay has a much larger history of science than many people realise. Our own Branch began over a century ago as a forum for scientific discussion and dissertation. Much more recently the region hosted a branch of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Technical Research (MAF Tech) which were replaced by the current Crown Research Institutes.

Our public science institutions now include Plant and Food Research, Eastern Institute of Technology, Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and more. We also have a number of private research and development companies, many not recognised locally because their main business in off-shore.