Alison Ballance

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

Waikato University's Craig Cary studies soil microbes living in warm thermal soils near the summit of Antarctica's Mount Erebus

Te Papa botanists join a big effort to record how many species occur in Titahi Bay, the nearby sea area, and on Mana Island

Each summer Adelie penguins in the Ross Sea are counted using aerial photography as part of a long-term study

Using very low frequency radio waves to measure solar energy, and also detect global lightning

Alison Ballance talks with Antarctic veteran Gerald Kooyman about 30 years of research on Emperor penguins

A 10-year research programme took a 'ridgetops to the sea' approach to studying a river catchment

In areas of Antarctica close to large ice shelves super-cooled water forms crystals known as platelet sea ice

After 1000 days 'on ice' , physicist Tim Haskell knows a thing or two about sea ice in Antarctica

A nationwide survey of the nursery grounds of rig in estuaries around the country kicks off next month

Increasing carbon dioxide is making the world's oceans more acidic; what does this mean for marine life?

Each summer DoC botanist Amanda Baird monitors populations of the threatened coastal plant Cooks scurvy grass

Detailed 3D digital laser scans are preserving information about Moriori tree carvings on the Chatham Islands

The book Plants that Poison is a guide to New Zealand's poisonous plants, from green potatoes to castor beans

At night Rangatira Island is alive with seabirds, wetas, spiders, and war whooping scientists catching Chatham petrels

In part two of the cicada story with Chris Simon, we find out about the evolutionary history of New Zealand's cicadas.

Chatham petrels are one of the world's rarest seabirds, but simple innovative techniques have seen their numbers slowly recover

Cicada expert Chris Simon has five species of cicada in her Wellington garden, where she studies cicada biology and song.

Department of Conservation ranger Abi Liddy introduces Alison Ballance to shore plovers, black robins and other unique species.

The cannon nets have been fired and Jesse Concklin and Phil Battley retrieve data loggers from the godwits they have caught.

Jesse Concklin and a group of shorebird experts explain what cannons and"twinkling"have to do with catching godwits.

Jane Sedgeley and Colin O'Donnell are using microchips to monitor short-tailed bats in Fiordland's Eglington Valley.

Kath Walker and Graeme Elliott have been studying the Gibson's wandering albatross on Adam's Island since 1991.

Alison Ballance visits the main breeding ground of the southern royal albatross with DOC scientist Peter Moore.

The final episode of the kakapo series traces the daily routines of managing the flightless parrots.