Tuesday 3 July 2018 at 6.00pm

Lecture Theatre 1, EIT, Taradale

Kiri Wallace PhD.
Research Officer,
Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato

Admission: Gold coin donation

Planting of native species to restore forest in urban centres is an important conservation activity that has been gaining momentum in New Zealand for over 40 years. Early projects were few in number, largely isolated from each other, and weren’t based on scientific knowledge. In contrast, today’s urban forest restoration projects are numerous, increasingly linked by conservation networks and knowledgeable communities, and are often on the cutting-edge of our ecological understanding.

The People Cities and Nature programme facilitates research addressing the demand for new information on best practice in urban ecological restoration. We are studying plantings throughout nine New Zealand cities to better understand the requirements for efficiency and success of restoration efforts of city councils and community groups.

Come along to hear about this scientific research and see a snapshot of the data collected so far in Napier’s very own restored urban forests.

Kiri has had an interest in biology since childhood. After high school she completed a BSc. in animal science and a masters in wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware in the United States, receiving afterwards a full research assistantship to study the integration of biological control and native plant seeding as a method for forest restoration and gain her Masters degree. In 2013 she was awarded the University of Waikato Doctoral Scholarship and moved to New Zealand to study her PhD on urban forest restoration ecology. During the course of her doctoral work here she has received several scholarships and awards, including the University of Waikato Top Achiever Award.