Kia Pākiki Canterbury

We check in with Nerd Nite Christchurch and the Children's University. Our main interview this month is with the Christchurch Archeology Project's Katharine Watson, who discusses her mahi and the February exhibition, Cathedral Square Unearthed. We close by chatting to Jaz Brash, who's researching Batten Disease at Lincoln University.

We kick off 2026 with an interview with the Entomological Society of New Zealand’s Morgane Merien about Bug of the Year. Then Tom and Adrian discuss facts and the probabilistic worldview, before welcoming back Amit Sarkar for another discussion about artificial intelligence. Amit and Ara lecturer Selena Chan discuss AI as it pertains to the classroom and lecture hall, including topics such as data sovereignty and the digital divide.

We've a pair of interviews this month on animal behaviour and management. Professor Elissa Cameron (Ngāi Tahu, Ōtākou) discusses a career that's taken her from Kaimanawa to Kenya, researching behaviour in animals including giraffes, quokkas, and Tasmanian devils. Then Professor James Ross talks about possums and rats, the mahi of Predator Free 2050, and his numerous projects in the field of pest management.

Canterbury University bioengineering PhD candidate Jordan Hill joins us to discuss her research into measuring venous blood oxygen. Her poster summarising her findings thus far won the Health Research Society of Canterbury’s 2025 poster expo. Then Professor Richard Beasley, founder and director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (MRINZ), conducts a wide-ranging kōrero about his career challenging orthodoxies in medical science and respiratory health.

We introduce Kia Pākiki Canterbury in chats with Royal Society Canterbury Branch President Roger Fagg and show hosts Tom Goulter and Adrian Paterson. Entomologist Cor Vink talks about Ourea, the new genus of jumping spiders discovered in Canterbury, then we discuss AI and its implications for society with Ara computing lecturer Amit Sarkar.