Lakes380 – science communication and outreach
Through the years, there’s been a shift in how science is communicated. We’ve always appreciated the generosity of the scientists we’ve approached to use their research as a context to embed and illustrate key science concepts. It’s very exciting for us to be on the receiving end – for science researchers to approach us to communicate and add value to their work!
Lakes380 – Our lakes’ health: past, present, future
Lakes 380 – iwi engagement
Local iwi examine a sediment core from their lake. Sediments are like a history book, recording environmental history day after day, year after year, for thousands of years.
Connecting with lake advocates around Aotearoa
The Lakes380 team held knowledge-sharing events with local iwi and other interested parties in each of the regions they sampled. These were attended by iwi, regional council and Department of Conservation staff, members of lake protection groups and landowners. The team demonstrated how they collect samples, including retrieving a sediment core and splitting it to provide a first insight into environmental changes in the lake. They described how the results from the research can be applied to lake rehabilitation and understanding the causes for lake health deterioration.
These lakeside events also provided an opportunity for locals and iwi members, who often have multi-generational knowledge of the lakes passed down from their tūpuna, to share their knowledge on the history of the lake and what it was like in the past. These knowledge-sharing days have enabled the Lakes380 team to establish enduring relationships with iwi and others invested in protecting our lakes and to better understand the priorities of our lake kaitiaki.
Māori settlement timeframe from He Reo Nō Te Puehu
Kaumatua from Ngāti Koata shared mātauranga on Lake Moawhitu that helped inform development of the virtual world.
Incorporating mātauranga Māori and oral histories
Lakes380 draws on both scientific and mātauranga Māori knowledge systems. The team engaged with iwi and hapū to understand and learn from their mātauranga and oral histories. They’ve partnered with iwi in four locations to examine the cultural and environmental histories of significant roto.
Check out the following links to see the depth of content this partnership has created:
When creating a ‘virtual world’ for Lake Moawhitu, we also engaged with community groups and iwi to collect historical information about the local people and their relationship with the lake and the land surrounding it. Whilst the scientific data we collected from lake sediment cores has shown us what the lake would have looked like, including the vegetation surrounding it and the animals and plants that lived in it, the oral histories helped us understand the relationship the people of Ngāti Koata have with Moawhitu.
Mckayla Holloway – Lakes380 Science Communicator
Inspiring the next generation of lake scientists
Engaging with ‘fieldwork’ on the school field
Students get a taste of fieldwork and lab work with the help of Cawthron experts. Outreach was a significant component of the Lakes380 project.
Ākonga also got a taste of what happens in the lab. They sampled a replica sediment core to find small containers of algae and 3D printed pollen spores – a simplified model of the actual subsampling and laboratory analyses, which helped them to understand how digging through lake mud can tell us about the history of a lake and how this has influenced its current-day health.
During our work in schools around the Nelson area, we’ve been really impressed at how well students have grasped complex concepts such as environmental DNA and paleolimnology and how we can use these techniques to travel back in time, analysing sediment cores and exploring the history of a lake.
Jonathan Puddick – Lakes380 Researcher
Collaborating with the Hub
The Hub team has enjoyed working with the various researchers from the Cawthron Institute and GNS Science to create the suite of new Hub resources on lake science and the Lakes380 research programme. The Lakes380 team has a wonderful mix of different specialities – paleolimnology, freshwater ecology, algal biochemistry and science communication – leading to a great synergy of ideas. They also embrace the challenge of using science outreach and innovative communications mediums to share findings from the Lakes380 programme with iwi, tamariki and rangatahi and the wider public. We really appreciate the enthusiasm and knowledge they have contributed to this collaboration.
Related content
Following is a list of Lakes380 resources. They are grouped by themes, and the underlying science and cultural concepts mentioned in this article are interwoven among each of the resources.
Science:
Lakes380 – Our lakes’ health: past, present, future – article
Environmental DNA – article
Finding out what’s in our lake using eDNA – activity
Lake sediment cores – exploring the past – article
Interpreting lake sediment data – activity
Lakes380 – what does the data tell us? – article
Finding the clues – inputs and lake sediments – interactive
Mātauranga Māori:
Using He reo nō te puehu – activity
Science, social sciences and local curriculum:
The lakes of Aotearoa New Zealand – article
Exploring my local lake – activity
Useful link
Visit the Lakes380 website (now called Our Lakes, Our Future) for more information.
Acknowledgement
This resource has been developed in collaboration with Lakes380 – Our lakes’ health: past present, future (C05X1707), Cawthron Institute and GNS Science.
Lakes380 – Our lakes’ health: past, present, future
Lakes380 is a national project to gain in-depth understanding of the current and historical health of lakes in Aotearoa New Zealand. The project was co-led by GNS Science and Cawthron Institute and funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (C05X1707; Our lakes, Or future (previously Lakes380.com)).