Associate Prof Anna Garden and Associate Prof Erin Leitao
The MacDiarmid Institute
Date: Monday 7 September
Time: 6pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, EIT – Hawke’s Bay Campus
501 Gloucester St, Taradale, Napier
Free entry but please register to reserve your place

Critical minerals – raw materials that are essential to many existing and future technologies – have been making headlines in recent times due to increasing supply chain vulnerabilities. In this talk speakers from The MacDiarmid Institute will present materials science solutions that are being developed and utilised right now, in Aotearoa New Zealand, to recycle, replace or reduce our need for critical minerals.

The MacDiarmid Institute is a network of leading researchers from around the country united in a common goal: to create and explore innovative, sustainable materials that will improve the lives of people in Aotearoa New Zealand and around the world.

• Associate Prof Anna Garden, Associate Professor in Chemistry, University of Otago, and Principal Investigator and Deputy Director, MacDiarmid Institute. Anna completed her PhD at the University of Otago and later held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Iceland. Her research focuses on using a computational approach to investigate catalysis of small molecule reactions on both extended and nanoparticle catalysts.
• Associate Prof Erin Leitao, Associate Professor in the Chemical Sciences, University of Auckland, and Principal Investigator, MacDiarmid Institute. Erin’s career in science started in Canada with a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Victoria, followed by a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Calgary. Erin then went on to do postdoctoral research in Bristol before coming to New Zealand and joining the University of Auckland in late 2015. Erin’s research focuses on discovering ways to link earth abundant main group elements together, with the eventual aim of making long chains (polymers), either with the same atom or two different atoms alternating along the polymer backbone.

Speaker: Dr Barry Wong
Date: Thursday 27 August
Time: 6pm
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, EIT Taradale
Admission: Gold coin donation

Wine is a complicated product with many features and attributes. A simple stroll down the supermarket aisle reveals hundreds of wines on display – from strange bottle shapes to wine varieties that cannot be pronounced. Wine has been integral to many cultures and, for centuries, has accompanied the rise and fall of empires. In this presentation, Dr Barry Wong will discuss modern consumer attitudes and behaviour towards wine. How do we react to certain wines? Or why are we drawn to one particular wine and not the other? As part of the presentation, he will share some emerging trends in the research conducted by his masters students in Hawke’s Bay covering organic wine, no- and low-alcohol (NoLo) wine, and alternative wine packaging.

Dr Barry Wong has been a Postgraduate Lecturer in Wine Business at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) since 2023. Before moving to Hawke’s Bay, he completed a PhD in Sensory and Consumer Science at Auckland University of Technology.

His doctoral research explored New Zealand consumers’ sensory and flavour perception of Korean rice wine. Currently, his research focuses on consumer attitudes and behaviour towards food and beverages using a range of research methods.

Speaker: Dr Ian Horner
Date: Thursday 23 July
Time: 6pm
Venue: Havelock North Function Centre
Admission: Gold coin donation

Kauri trees are one of the largest and magnificent living beings on the planet, dominating the northern forests of Aotearoa-New Zealand. But our iconic kauri were plundered for their timber during the 19^th and 20^th centuries and are now further threatened by a micro-organism spreading through the forest, killing trees and destroying whole ecosystems. What causes kauri dieback, where did it come from, how does it attack kauri, how does it spread, and most importantly, what can be done about it?

For the past 42 years, Dr Ian Horner has worked as a Plant Pathologist for New Zealand Science Institutes from DSIR to The Bioeconomy Science Institute. His work has focussed on the biology and control of various diseases that have threatened New Zealand’s horticultural industries and forests. For the past 20 years he has studied our kauri forests and the biology and potential control of kauri dieback disease. Ian will present a summary of what we have learned about kauri and the disease threatening its very existence, and provide an optimistic but challenging view of what can be done to manage it and preserve our iconic kauri forests for future generations.

Speaker: Dr Sinead Leahy, Principal Scientist at the Ag Emissions Centre

Date: Monday 6 July

Time: 6pm

Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, EIT Taradale

Admission: Gold coin donation

Agriculture sits at the centre of one of the defining challenges of our time: producing nutritious food while responding to climate change. As pressure grows to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock systems, new technologies are rapidly emerging that could reshape the future of farming in New Zealand and beyond.

In this upcoming lecture, Dr Sinead Leahy, Principal Scientist at the Ag Emissions Centre, will explore the science behind low-emissions farming and the technologies being developed to reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions from ruminant livestock systems. Drawing on both international and New Zealand research programmes, the talk will examine approaches including vaccines, inhibitors, selective breeding, and microbial technologies, as well as the opportunities and challenges of applying these solutions in pasture-based farming systems.

Dr Leahy is widely recognised for her leadership in agricultural greenhouse gas mitigation research. She has over 20 years of experience in agricultural science and climate change, and currently serves in several major international science leadership roles, including as Co-Chair of the Livestock Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases and as a lead author for the upcoming IPCC AR7 Assessment Report.

This promises to be a timely and thought-provoking evening exploring how science and innovation may help shape more sustainable and productive farming systems for the future.

Date: Monday 4 May 2026
Time: 6pm (doors open at 5.30 pm)
Speaker: Andrew Penniket, Underwater Cameraman and Documentary Maker
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, EIT Taradale, Napier
Admission: Gold coin donation

We warmly invite you to join us for an evening with Andrew Penniket, sharing stories from his recently released book Whales, Snails, and Lobster Tales.

Andrew will take us into the world beneath the waves, from the movements of whales to the hidden lives of smaller coastal creatures. Drawing on decades of experience, he brings together science, observation, and storytelling in a way that encourages us to slow down and notice the richness of life along our shores.

This is a relaxed and enjoyable talk for anyone with an interest in nature, the ocean, or simply a good story.

Andrew Penniket is an award-winning underwater cameraman and documentary maker whose career spans more than 40 years. Beginning with TVNZ’s Natural History Unit in Dunedin, he has worked on major international productions for broadcasters including BBC, National Geographic, NHNZ, and the Discovery Channel.

Trained as a biologist, Andrew combines a deep understanding of marine life with a strong visual storytelling style. He is known for capturing close-up behavioural moments — from the night-time activity of lobsters to the coordinated hunting of orca tribes. His work has also supported marine conservation efforts, and he continues to advocate for greater protection of ocean environments.

Date: Thursday, 23 April 2026
Time: 6pm (doors open at 5.30 pm)
Speaker: Pilar Villamor, Earth Sciences NZ
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, EIT Taradale, Napier
Admission: Gold coin donation

This year’s Geoscience Tour lecture will review 25 years of trenching active faults in volcanic environments and how a scientist’s perspective on tectonics close to volcanoes changed through that time, from the simple utilisation of volcanic stratigraphy as timelines for paleo- earthquake history to a realisation that volcanic and tectonic processes are so intimately connected that one cannot be understood without the other. Pilar will show paleoseismic evidence based on criteria that she developed to distinguish types of earthquakes–eruption associations. Paleoseismic data, combined with geomorphology, borehole data, and geophysics, revealed strong temporal links between fault ruptures and volcanic eruptions. She will also draw on worldwide historical examples and stress modelling to infer possible crustal processes that can explain these time associations. Collectively, these studies improve our understanding of how volcanic eruptions and unrest are linked to active faults and earthquakes in the TVZ.

Pilar is an internationally respected earthquake geologist and principal scientist whose research on active faults and volcano–tectonic interactions in Aotearoa New Zealand has had a transformative impact on our understanding of natural hazards. Pilar’s recent studies show that the recurrence of fault ruptures in the Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ) can be strongly modulated by volcanic activity, and vice versa. The novelty of her work lies in combining paleoseismic trenching with multidisciplinary approaches to demonstrate causal links between earthquakes and eruptions. This
represents a paradigm shift for New Zealand hazard science.

Date: Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Time: 6pm (doors open at 5.30 pm)
Speaker: Dr Alessandra Vallim
Venue: National Aquarium, Napier
Admission: Gold coin donation

As part of Seaweek 2026, the annual celebration of our oceans, the Hawke’s Bay Branch of the Royal Society Te Apārangi warmly invites you to a special Seaweek Talk at the National Aquarium of New Zealand.

Join Alessandra Vallim, SeaKeepers South Pacific Program Manager and PhD researcher, as she shares her research on how large marine animals — including rays, sharks, and whales — reshape seafloor sediments and drive key ocean processes. Her work highlights these species as ecosystem engineers and connects science with community engagement through citizen science initiatives.