IRANZ news briefs
Erica Sue-Tang, a Research Assistant in Lincoln Agritech's New Materials Group, was named as one of 21 finalists in this year's Falling Walls Lab Aotearoa New Zealand. She went on to place second in the competition in August. Falling Walls Lab is a global search for world-changing new ideas from students or early-career scientists. Photo: Lincoln Agritech.
Lincoln Agritech: Biodegradable bioplastic pitch for Falling Walls
Erica Sue-Tang, a Research Assistant in Lincoln Agritech's New Materials Group, was named as one of 21 finalists in this year's Falling Walls Lab Aotearoa New Zealand. She went on to place second in the competition in August. Falling Walls Lab is a global search for world-changing new ideas from students or early-career scientists.
Erica presented her three-minute pitch, titled “Breaking the Wall of Biodegradable Bioplastics”, at the national finals in Wellington on Thursday, 7 August.
Erica said she developed her idea while working on a process for developing cellulose fibres. "The idea really came from the work the team was doing with cellulose fibres. It sparked the thought - what if we could take it further and create a new cellulose-based plastic?"
"Common petroleum-based plastics aren't renewably sourced or biodegradable and millions of tonnes end up in the environment, creating microplastics."
Currently available bioplastics aren't the solution, as few are biodegradable. For example, PLA, made from plant-based sources such as corn, cassava, and sugarcane, contributes to microplastic pollution.
Cawthron's first commercial spin-out named finalist for 2025 KiwiNet Award
Cawthron Institute is proud to announce that Ocean Intelligence, its first-ever commercial spin-out, has been named a finalist in the 2025 KiwiNet Awards Breakthrough Project category.
A product of over two decades of aquaculture and ocean technology research and expertise, Ocean Intelligence brings real-time ocean data together into one platform to provide marine farmers with tools and information to make informed decisions about their aquaculture operations.
Founded in collaboration with technology partner Oceanum, Ocean Intelligence helps marine farmers reduce risk, improve productivity, and protect the health of their ocean environments by indicating threats like harmful algal blooms, spat survival rates, and storm events. The platform is driven by Oceanum’s Datamesh technology, which provides a gateway to more than 5,000 environmental datasets, from satellite feeds to wave models and on-farm sensor data.
BRANZ 2025 Funding Round now open
BRANZ is now inviting applications for the 2025 Building Research Levy funding round. Managed by BRANZ, the Levy supports practical, impactful research to improve the quality, resilience, affordability, and sustainability of buildings in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The 2025 round launches alongside BRANZ's new 10-year Research Investment Strategy, which sets out priorities through to 2035. In response to sector feedback, 60% of new research funding will target housing affordability. Other key areas include quality, resilience, and sustainability - ensuring research outcomes deliver real-world benefits for New Zealanders.
The funding round is designed to be clear and accessible, with four key stages:
- Information: Access key documents, priorities, and upcoming support videos.
- Registration: All applicants must register to receive the correct application link.
- Application: Submit a Stage One Concept Proposal through the online portal.
- Assessment: Concepts will be reviewed by an expert panel, with successful applicants invited to submit Full Proposals in September 2025.
Malaghan visiting researcher: Dr Johanne Jacobsen
Visiting from Norway, Associate Professor Johanne Jacobsen recently shared her research at the Malaghan Institute on the regulation of germinal centres, dynamic microstructures in our immune system that form in response to infection or vaccination.
The study of germinal centers is a specialised field within immunology, focusing on dynamic microstructures that form in response to infection or vaccination. These structures are fundamentally important because it is within them that B-cells rapidly mutate and compete to be selected for their ability to recognise and neutralise threats.
Dr Jacobsen, from the University of Oslo's Institute of Immunology, visited the Malaghan Institute and connected with fellow germinal centre researcher Dr Michelle Linterman, whose team investigates how aging affects the immune system's ability to develop these targeted responses.
WSP Environmental Training Centre launches online Water Learning Hub
WSP's seventy-year heritage in water and wastewater training has turned an exciting new corner with the launch of an online hub for people interested in learning about - or upskilling in - the industry.
The subscriber-based hub is a digital space for all things water training. It features an initial fifty microlearning courses, ranging in length from ten minutes to an hour. Live webinars with WSP water treatment specialists are also planned to be included.
Learners can track their training with a record of learning and digital badges.
WSP environmental training centre manager Jonathan Mackey says WSP and its predecessors - Opus and the Ministry of Works - have been training water and wastewater operators and technicians since 1959.
“The first operator qualifications were called C, B and A Grade Water or Wastewater before WSP supported transitioning of these local qualifications into National Certificates and Diplomas on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework in the early 2000s.”
The new hub is “chock full of best practice content,” says Jonathan. “It captures all the clever stuff the industry does and knowledge from specialists with decades of expertise.”
Estendart: Kaiawhina Animal Ethics Committee Passes 2025 MPI Audit
The Kaiawhina Animal Ethics Committee (AEC), operating under the code held by Estendart Research Limited (ERL), has successfully completed the 2025 Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) audit.
In New Zealand, all research, testing, and teaching (RTT) projects involving animals must be reviewed and approved by an MPI-approved Animal Ethics Committee. The MPI audit, conducted every five years, assesses ethical standards and animal welfare practices across RTT activities.
The auditor highlighted a number of strengths in the Kaiawhina AEC and its parent organisations, noting:“Animal welfare under Estendart Research Ltd (ERL), as the code holder, has been protected to a high degree of technical and ethical excellence by the sole Animal Ethics Committee (AEC) and all personnel conducting Research, Training, and Teaching (RTT) activities under the ERL Code of Ethical Conduct.”
The report also noted ERL's compliance with Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guidelines, and praised the committee's diversity, balance, and technical expertise.
On technical staff, the auditor wrote: “Technical staff responsible for RTT projects are well-qualified and strongly led. All are highly experienced and have high ethical values. This applies to both ERL and its parented organisations. There is a strong culture that addresses the Three Rs and minimises distress… In these respects, there has been a culture of caring for animals to a high standard.”
ERL can be contacted on aecnz@ercnz.com or info@ercnz.com, or call on 06 350 0770.
Cawthron delivers hands-on biology workshops for students
A series of two-day Year 13 Mussel Biology workshops were recently held thanks to a collaborative effort between several organisations in Whakatū Nelson: Cawthron Institute, The University of Otago NZ Marine Studies Centre (NZMSC), NMIT Te Pūkenga, MacLab, Moana New Zealand, and SpatNZ.
These annual workshops are offered by Cawthron as part of its community outreach, with the aim of inspiring local students to follow a career in science.
This year over 70 students from Nelson College for Girls, Queen Charlotte College, Golden Bay High School, Kaikōura High School, Waimea College and Te Kura Correspondence School participated in the workshops, guided by mentors Glenis Paul (NZMSC), Rick Field, and Jasmine Cane.
Held at the Cawthron Aquaculture Park using NMIT's wet lab facility, the workshop supported students and their teachers to complete a NCEA Level 3 practical investigation assessment.
Using Green Lipped mussels, students were able to choose from a range of experiments looking at the effects of variables such as temperature, pH, salinity, light, substrate, or sediment on adult mussels and spat physiology and behaviour.
Cawthron: Policy reset for moving freshwater species needed
A study just published in the New Zealand Journal of Ecology calls for a wholesale rethink of how Aotearoa New Zealand authorises, manages, and monitors how people move native freshwater fish and invertebrates.
The paper -'Rethinking freshwater translocation policy and practice in Aotearoa New Zealand' - reviews more than three decades of translocation projects and concludes that current systems are 'fragmentary, technically under-resourced, and often fall short of Te Tiriti o Waitangi commitments.'
"Translocations can support mahinga kai, rescue threatened species, and reconnect communities with their awa," said lead author Dr Aisling Rayne of Cawthron Institute, "but without clear, cohesive policy and genuine mana whenua leadership, these efforts risk being ad-hoc and, at worst, harmful."
The paper argues that translocations will only grow in importance as climate pressures shift species' ranges and new tools, such as gamete cryobanking and broodstock surrogacy, become viable. It also warns that poorly planned 'mitigation' transfers can spread pests or distract from habitat protection.
BRANZ: Future leaders build resilience in 72-hour national design-athon
Some of New Zealand's brightest students have competed in a 72-hour 'design-athon' event to create resilient housing that can withstand multiple disasters.
The BRANZ (Building Research Association of New Zealand) event called ArchEngBuild featured 40 final-year students from across the country in architecture, engineering, construction management, landscape architecture, and sustainable engineering.
The students met for the first time at the University of Auckland and were split into ten teams to compete for the $12,000 cash prize.
This year's brief was to design a resilient, sustainable and affordable community building concept that safeguards people from hazards like flooding, earthquakes, fire and high winds. It also needed to be adaptable to different family needs and quickly reinstated if disaster struck.
Malaghan Institute becomes New Zealand's first signatory to the Technician Commitment
The Malaghan Institute of Medical Research has become New Zealand's first signatory to the internationally-recognised Technician Commitment - an initiative that promotes visibility, recognition, career development and sustainability for technical professionals in research and higher education.
Chief Technology Officer Kylie Price says the commitment aligns with the Malaghan's long-standing commitment to developing its people and recognises the unique and valued role of its technical experts.
“This is about acknowledging the leadership, innovation and stewardship that technical professionals bring to science every day. It builds on the way we already work - enabling people to lead platforms, champion their expertise and be visible as integral contributors to our discovery and translation,” says Kylie.
Date posted: 28 August 2025