Science speakers
Our scientists are passionate about their research and fantastic communicators.
They love to share their scientific expertise with the community, so if you're looking for a science speaker for your next event, you've come to the right place!
Below you will find a selection of the public science talks that we are able to offer. If you're looking for a talk on a different science topic, please let us know what you'd like through our enquiry form and we'll see what we can do to help out.
Reading the rocks: What did Earth's past landscape look like?
Description: Explaining how geologists determine Earth's past environments and processes based on the rock record.
Speaker: Dr Andrew La Croix
Behavioural ecology of New Zealand invertebrates
Description: Chrissie focuses on the evolution of bizarre mating systems and evolution of weaponry in species like the New Zealand giraffe weevil, harvestmen, and nursery web spiders. She will share some of the secret behaviours of New Zealand's native invertebrates and why she finds these mini-creatures so fascinating.
Speaker: Dr Chrissie Painting
Unlocking nature's vaults: caves as archives of our natural heritage.
Description: An exploration of New Zealand's cave systems from a scientific standpoint. Our work using caves as archives of past environment, climate and extreme events are introduced.
Speaker: Dr Adam Hartland
Volcanoes of the classics: A tour of some Italian volcanoes
Description: This talk covers aspects of volcanism in Italy including the volcanic construction materials and landscape of ancient Rome, deadly Mt Vesuvius and the legendary volcanoes of the Aeolian Islands. I will present a tour of my personal experiences visiting Italy's famous volcanoes and how natural history, human history and our own ancestory can become intertwined.
Speaker: Dr Adrian Pittari
Water off a duck’s back: Superhydrophobicity from feathers?
Description: This talk presents the science behind water repellency, looking at natural and synthetic surfaces. It presents some attempts to make feathers more water repellent.
Speaker: Associate Professor Graham Saunders
Geological processes and rocks of the central North Island
Description: The landscape of the central North Island evolved over the last 150-200 million years through a diverse array of geological process, creating the distinct rocks and features that we see today. This talk is tailored to focus on the geology of your own backyard, where you are introduced to the different rocks that form the landscape in your region and the geological process that led to their formation. Topics that may be covered include: volcanic deposits and processes, geothermal activity, karst caves, and greywacke basement rocks.
Speaker: Dr Adrian Pittari and Dr Marlena Prentice
Radiocarbon dating and Pacific settlement
Description: Fiona will discuss how radiocarbon (14C) dating has contributed to the picture of the first settlement of the Pacific by people 3300 years ago. She will describe how context is essential to the interpretation of 14C dates and how 14C is used to tell us the environments these people encountered.
Speaker: Dr Fiona Petchey