Stories by Alison Ballance

The 2011 Christchurch earthquakes and the sewage outfall diversion have had profound impacts on the Heathcote-Avon Estuary

Short-tailed bats and geckos are very effective pollinators for flowers in New Zealand native forests

Seismologist Bill Stephenson explains why soft soils are often severely affected by earthquake shaking

Join palaeontologists at a Central Otago fossil site that reaches back 16 to 19 million years to prehistoric Zealandia

In the first of a 3-part series on shallow lakes, DoC's Emily Funnell introduces Waituna Lagoon in Southland

University of Auckland scientists discuss how urban trees can be used to sequester more carbon

A tour of Scion's collections of fungi and insects that could threaten forest health

Four previously unrecognised volcanic craters and a forgotten crater in South Auckland have added to Auckland's volcanic tally

Antarctic sea ice is home to a great diversity of microbes and algae living in and under the ice

A remote camera at Tairua Beach is providing insights into how, where and why dangerous rip currents form

Chris Hendy is interested in the chemistry of silica-rich sediments in lakes in the Taupo Volcanic Zone

Understanding how grass quality changes over time and when is the best time for cows to eat can help improve grazing management

A bryophyte hunt on Mana Island is a chance to learn more about mosses, liverworts and hornworts

Victoria University geologists drove across the sea ice in McMurdo Sound this summer on the hunt for dust

Very little is known about Antarctica's fish leeches, including whether they use antifreeze to survive subzero temperatures

Fifteen years after heather beetles were introduced, they finally seem to be having an impact,

Our Changing World pays tribute to conservationist Don Merton who passed away this week

Peter Russell continues the tour of Matiu-Somes Island including the site of the island's newest weed

A multi-disciplinary team from Waikato and Canterbury universities is mapping the Dry Valley ecosystem to create a GIS model

Matiu/Somes Island in Wellington Harbour is being restored to natural forest, which involves some weeding of NZ native species

Gary Wilson takes a sensitive gravity meter into the field in Antarctica to measure very tiny differences in gravity

The latest fossils of land animals from St Bathans continue to revolutionise our understanding of NZ's biological history

Waikato University researchers are using their electric fishing boat to see if they can control perch in a dam at Zealandia

A team of conservators from the Antarctic Heritage Trust are nearing the end of a multi-year effort to restore a 1908 hut

Cumaceans, or comma shrimps, are tiny sediment dwellers that feature in volume 2 of the NZ Inventory of Biodiversity