Clik here to view.
Ask the feathers
In early March, Te Papa Tongarewa was asked by an overseas museum if they could borrow ‘amakua hulu manu Kūka’ilimoku (feathered image) for an exhibition. As part of the process to allow or decline a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Photography, chemistry and technology – 4 days peering below the surface
Last week, along with 15 other people from museums and galleries around New Zealand who work with photographic collections, I attended a course on the care and identification of photographic prints and...
View ArticleNew Zealand Birds Online – a few of my favourite things: Part 1
New Zealand Birds Online has been by far the largest and most complex project that I have been involved with since joining the Te Papa team 3 years ago. Now, one month after the launch of the website,...
View ArticleFungi season and New Zealand identification resources
It’s getting cooler and wetter – ideal for the emergence of many fungi. This was brought home to me when I recently discovered an abundance of this distinctive little mushroom while holidaying near...
View ArticleVery rare indeed: a Malawian dance garment
Witchy tale In 1936, the Dominion Museum was given a gift so rare and strange that it made the news. Described in the Auckland Star and in museum records as a “witch doctor’s outfit”, the garment was...
View ArticleHow to deal with human DNA contamination of your DNA sequencing: an example...
You’ve probably seen forensic scientists on TV taking swabs and fingerprints from crime scenes. They aren’t wearing labcoats, hairnets and gloves to look cool but to prevent them contaminating their...
View ArticleFeather identification workshop, Whanganui Regional Museum
In a collaboration between National Services Te Paerangi and Whanganui Regional Museum, Te Papa’s bicultural researcher Hokimate Harwood brought her extensive feather identification skills to a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ask the feathers
In early March, Te Papa Tongarewa was asked by an overseas museum if they could borrow ‘amakua hulu manu Kūka’ilimoku (feathered image) for an exhibition. As part of the process to allow or decline a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Photography, chemistry and technology – 4 days peering below the surface
Last week, along with 15 other people from museums and galleries around New Zealand who work with photographic collections, I attended a course on the care and identification of photographic prints and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New Zealand Birds Online – a few of my favourite things: Part 1
New Zealand Birds Online has been by far the largest and most complex project that I have been involved with since joining the Te Papa team 3 years ago. Now, one month after the launch of the website,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fungi season and New Zealand identification resources
It’s getting cooler and wetter – ideal for the emergence of many fungi. This was brought home to me when I recently discovered an abundance of this distinctive little mushroom while holidaying near...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Very rare indeed: a Malawian dance garment
Witchy tale In 1936, the Dominion Museum was given a gift so rare and strange that it made the news. Described in the Auckland Star and in museum records as a “witch doctor’s outfit”, the garment was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to deal with human DNA contamination of your DNA sequencing: an example...
You’ve probably seen forensic scientists on TV taking swabs and fingerprints from crime scenes. They aren’t wearing labcoats, hairnets and gloves to look cool but to prevent them contaminating their...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Feather identification workshop, Whanganui Regional Museum
In a collaboration between National Services Te Paerangi and Whanganui Regional Museum, Te Papa’s bicultural researcher Hokimate Harwood brought her extensive feather identification skills to a...
View ArticleThe final destination for well-travelled eggs
Over the course of many years, a tidy collection of bird eggs has made its way across the world. The collection’s final resting place just so happens to be here at Te Papa, where Natural History intern...
View ArticleWhat’s in a name? Keeping up to date with the taxonomy of Philippine land snails
The process of collecting and identifying an organism is long and stringent. Despite this, mistakes can still be commonplace. Lorenzo Ravalo is a contractor working with us as a Natural History...
View ArticleFantastic fungi and how to identify them
Autumn is upon us and many fungi are emerging. Our Research Scientist Lara Shepherd takes us on a photo tour of New Zealand’s diverse fungi, lists resources to help you identify your fungal finds, and...
View ArticleFiling all the things! What happened at the recent Botany Blitz?
When we think of Te Papa’s collections, we generally think of boxes neatly arranged systematically on shelves, everything in its place. But perhaps every collection / Collection Manager at Te Papa has...
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