Stories by Alison Ballance

Myrtle rust is having a profound impact on native plants and ecosystems in Australia - what will its effect be on New Zealand forests?

A team of seabird experts experience the joys and challenges of counting Buller's shearwaters on the predator-free Poor Knights Islands.

A 46-year-old art work has revealed how the gut microbiome of artist Billy Apple has changed during his adult life.

Tiny samples collected from the teeth, tissue and even whiskers of marine animals can reveal where they feed and travel.

Dragonflies are precision flying machines, and Ruary Mackenzie Dodds says they are an indicator of clean water.

High temperature superconductor research in New Zealand includes new nano-scale superconductor sandwiches.

A smart buoy in Wellington harbour is phoning in information about sea conditions and how muddy water from the Hutt River moves around the harbour.

Tom Saunders has named a native parasitoid wasp after a Harry Potter character, in a bid to improve the reputation of these 'good' wasps.

An expedition into Fiordland reveals that takahē numbers are on the rise, and there will soon be a new takahē population in Northwest Nelson.

An aerial survey reveals this summer's marine heatwave in the Tasman Sea was bad news for glaciers in the Southern Alps.

A nationwide experiment is investigating how estuaries might suddenly 'tip' as a result of increasing nutrients and sediments.

Waikato University researchers are training pet dogs to sniff out pest fish such as koi carp.

A 100-strong team of researchers from Plant and Food Research have won the 2017 Prime Minister's Science Prize for using science to solve the kiwifruit PSA crisis.

A four minute conversation led to a revolutionary tooth decay treatment using silver nanoparticles and a PM's science award for the chemist who worked on it.

Film-maker Damian Christie has won the 2017 Prime Minister's Science Communication Prize to help tell science stories on film.

NIWA is testing small 'safe houses' for baby paua, with the idea of boosting the population on the earthquake-damaged  Kaikōura coast.

Michél Nieuwoudt uses light to uncover hidden information in different kinds of material, from milk to works of art.

Could chemical camouflage save rare birds by putting predators off the scent? Ecologists are testing the idea in the Mackenzie Basin.

A male stick insect belonging to an all female group of New Zealand stick insects has been discovered for the first time - in the UK.

How do dogs think? Do they experience emotions such as jealousy? The Clever Canine Lab at the University of Auckland is investigating.

Engineer Geoff Rodgers is designing a new generation of low-damage buildings that move in an earthquake and remain useable afterwards.

The first ground visit to the Hutton's shearwater breeding colony since the November 2017 Kaikōura earthquake shows damage not as bad as feared.

Waikato University research shows that drinking socially makes it harder to tell when you're too drunk to drive - and even a low blood alcohol level makes our driving unsafe.

Scientific curiosity was the order of the day when Koraunui School, in the Hutt Valley, hosted its recent Bioblitz.

Scientists are discovering that tawaki, or Fiordland crested penguins, living in MIlford Sound are thriving - and breaking all the penguin rules.