Past Events

Field trip to Swampy Spur

Prof. Bastow Wilson will lead a trip to Swampy Spur. We'll start at Leith Saddle, walk up through bush to timberline and through subalpine scrub/grassland to the Swampy Spur raised/valley bog (see New Zealand Journal of Ecology 25, 39-52 (PDF)) and some fabulous lichens! Wear warm, windproof clothes and waterproof footwear. Trip leaves 8:30 am from Botany Carpark, returning mid afternoon. Rain date 13 October 2007.

The effects of marram grass invasion and eradications

Ten years of the dune restoration program, Doughboy Bay, Stewart Island. A Department of Botany lunchtime talk by Dr Mike Hilton, Geography Department, University of Otago. Note venue: Union Street Lecture Theatre (upstairs), Cnr Great King Street and Union Street (West).

The private life of NZ alpine plants

A talk by Mascha Bischoff. Mascha is a PhD student working on pollination of alpine plants. She splits time between New Zealand and Germany, and we're guaranteed of a beautifully presented exposé of alpine flora. More details to come about this talk, so keep an eye on this page. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.

Weekend field trip to the Catlins

This trip will explore several coastal botanical locations over two days. Saturday will be spent around Papatowai with opportunities for a walk through the Tahakopa dune forest with its mixed podocarp and beech swamp forest, wet shrubland and pingao areas, or a shorter walk to the Picnic Point coastal cliffs. This will be followed by a look at Cannibal Bay and the rare dune slack vegetation near False Islet. Sunday will be based around Nugget Point/Roaring Bay with its huge botanical and wildlife diversity. Accommodation on Saturday night will be at Nugget Point Lighthouse Keepers house (numbers limited). Day trippers are welcome to join us on either day. To reserve accommodation or find out more contact John Barkla ph. 476 3686 (evenings) by Wednesday 12 September. Leave from Botany carpark at 9.00 am Saturday.

Antarctic glaciers and Climate change: Will global warming make Dunedin colder?

PUBLIC LECTURE - all welcome. A talk by Associate Professor Sean Fitzsimons (Department of Geography, University of Otago). Note special venue: Archway 3 Lecture Theatre.

Symposium: "Nature named & ordered"

Hutton Theatre, Otago Museum, discussing the life and works of Linnaeus and Solander, the Linnaean system of classification, and the influence of new technologies on the classification, origins and distribution of New Zealand's biodiversity. The Symposium concludes with the Cockayne Lecture 2007 by Dr Bill Lee, Landcare Research "Birds in Paradise: the role of birds in shaping New Zealand's terrestrial biodiversity". Classification of the world's biodiversity is indebted to the Swedish naturalist and physician Carl Linnaeus. He was the 'father' of our system of naming plants and animals. One of his students, Daniel Solander (1733-1782), was a naturalist, along with Joseph Banks, on the famous Endeavour voyage to the Pacific and New Zealand under the command of Captain Cook in 1769. See the Royal Society for more information about this and other related events. Download the flier and registration form.

Debating New Zealand's Grasslands' Revolution

A talk by Tom Brooking, Department of History, University of Otago. More details to follow about this talk. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.

Unexpected effects of an invasive species and its biological controls in Montana, USA

A Department of Botany lunchtime talk by Leigh Greenwood, Candidate, Masters of Science in Wildlife, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA. Note venue: Union Street Lecture Theatre (upstairs), Cnr Great King Street and Union Street (West).

The funneling of New Zealand grass seed choices 1850s-1930s

A Department of Botany lunchtime talk by Professor Tom Brooking, History Department, University of Otago and Professor Peter Holland, Geography Department, University of Otago. Note venue: Union Street Lecture Theatre (upstairs), Cnr Great King Street and Union Street (West).

Tim Flannery - Patricia Coleman Lecture

Tim Flannery, the 2007 Australian of the Year, is giving a public lecture (Patricia Coleman Lecture) on Tuesday 7 August 7.30 pm St David St lecture theatre, University of Otago. For the location of this, please see G4.11 on this map. Tickets are available at the venue on the night from 6.30 pm (these are on a first-come-first-served basis). Please note, seats cannot be reserved. However, there are an extra 400 seats from video linked theatres now available, so there's a greater chance of ticket availability.

Field trip to Sandymount

Sandymount is quite a botanically diverse and unusual site. Plants of interest include Olearia fragrantissima, Carmichaelia virgata, Helichrysum intermedium, Corybas orchids, Myosotis pygmaea var. pygmaea and Melicytus alpinus. Wear sturdy walking boots, be prepared for all weather, and bring lunch/snacks. Leave Botany Dept car park 8.30 am or meet at the trip leader at the Sandymount car park at 9:00 am. Leader David Lyttle.

Trip to Colinswood Bush

A field trip to Colinswood Bush. Near Macandrew Bay, a small native bush remnant at an important stage of restoration. Many weeds still exist, but the larger exotic trees (sycamore and hawthorn) have finally been removed and the existing and planted indigenous species are beginning to dominate and form a protective canopy. Help with updating the native plant list and with removing some of the weeds will be much appreciated. In July the kowhai will be in full flower with plenty of tuis to entertain you. Our pride and joy is a large matai estimated to be 450 years old which this season has produced its first recorded pollinated seed and small crop of seedlings. The mystery is there is no resident male. Any theories? Leader Nigel McPherson. Meet at the Botany Dept Car Park at 1.10 pm, or 1.30 pm at Howard St. (first street off Portobello Rd. after Glenfalloch), in front of the farm gate between numbers 22 and 24. There is parking on the grass. If on the day there is any doubt about weather conditions please telephone Nigel, 476 1109. Rain date Sun 22, 1.10 pm etc as above.

Out of the Ashes

A talk by Robert Scott, Grounds Officer, University of Otago. Out of the Ashes covers the rediscovery of a Lachenalia species in the Cape Province of South Africa some 35 years after its original discovery as a new species quite by chance by a kiwi horticulturalist during a working holiday in the Republic. The vastness and the brilliance of the South African flora, as well as some other historic discoveries, will be included in the talk. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open.

Ghosts of Gondwana. Do they really exist?

The John Smaillie Tennant Lecture 2007. A talk by Professor George Gibbs, School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University Wellington, New Zealand. The ghosts in question are the native plants and animals that are assumed to have been inherited from the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana at the time when New Zealand became an independent entity Under this scenario, their descendants still form part of the modern flora and fauna of New Zealand. Perhaps this simplistic 'Moa's Ark' view of New Zealand fails to take sufficient account of the result of trans-oceanic dispersal, which we know brings lots of organisms to our shores and presumably always has. This talk will discuss the current status of views on the origins of our life forms and show just how difficult it can be to 'prove' that any particular organism can claim to be a Gondwanan ghost. Note different venue. At the Archway 4 Lecture Theatre (access from Union Street East). All staff, students and interested members of the general public are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served in the Otago University Staff Club, 80 Union Place West from 5:30 p.m.

Protection of native biodiversity and botanical values on privately owned land in Otago

A talk by Aalbert Rebergen, Biodiversity Officer with the Otago Regional Council. The voluntary protection of native biodiversity in general and botanical values in particular, on farms and other privately owned land in Otago. At the Zoology Benham Building, 346 Great King Street, behind the Zoology car park by the Captain Cook Hotel. Use the main entrance of the Benham Building to get in and go to the Benham Seminar Room, Rm. 215, 2nd floor. Please be prompt as we have to hold the door open