Stories by Alison Ballance

Kuaka godwits make the longest non-stop flights, and researchers are using hi-tech tags to solve the mystery of how and when they sleep.  Audio

Kuaka bar-tailed godwits make the longest non-stop flights, and researchers are using hi-tech tags to solve the mystery of how and when they sleep.  Audio

A collection of 750 different microalgae – or phytoplankton – at the Cawthron Institute offers a treasure trove for researchers seeking new useful compounds. Alison Ballance visits the collection to… Audio

Could your burger one day come with a plankton patty? Alison Ballance visits the Cawthron Institute's collection of more than 750 different strains of microalgae, where scientists are investigating… Audio

Grab your gumboots! Alison Ballance squelches out into Nelson's mudflats with a team of Cawthron Institute researchers in search of cryptic seagrass flowers and their seeds. Collecting the seeds is… Audio

Nelson Haven is an eight-kilometre expanse of mudflats northeast of the Nelson township. At low tide, if you happen to don some gumboots and squelch your way out, you’ll find it's also home to an… Audio

The kākerōri or Rarotongan flycatcher is a South Pacific conservation success story. Once reduced to just 29 birds, it has been rescued from the brink of extinction by a rat control programme managed… Audio

We're saying farewell to the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (aka SOFIA) this month. The mission, which was partially based in Christchurch, wraps up after a decade of observing… Audio

Alison Ballance visits the Brook Waimārama sanctuary, and discovers that the old saying "many hands make light work" is particularly true when it comes to community conservation. A relatively new… Audio

Orange-fronted parakeets, or kākāriki karaka, have a new home in Nelson’s Brook Waimārama fenced sanctuary – and they are already firm favourites with some of the sanctuary’s conservation volunteers.

Alison Ballance joins the kākāpō recovery team on Pukenui Anchor Island to hear how the 2021/2022 kākāpō breeding season is going. Audio

Two stories on addressing our energy problem - using AI to maximise locally produced renewable energy and reducing the carbon footprint of ammonia production. Audio

Alison Ballance meets some engineers from Victoria University of Wellington who are coming up with smart ways to keep the lights on, using renewable electricity produced locally. Audio

Alison Ballance revisits a favourite story from the archives: southern island sanctuary for rare birds. Audio

Alison Ballance revisits a 2013 feature on kauri dieback disease and talks to Nick Waipara to find out how the northern kauri forests are coping with the disease in 2021. Audio

There are some familiar names as well as some new faces among the winners of the 2020 Prime Minister's Science Prizes. Audio

Alison Ballance's foray into the vaults finds a feature on ocean acidification, The Acid Test and adds a 2021 update. Audio

Alison Ballance digs into Our Changing World's Antarctic treasure chest and finds part 2 of Voice of the Iceberg. Audio

Alsion Ballance revisits a story looking at the complexity of the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake. Audio

Alison Ballance looks back at the 1,000+ stories she has made, and revisits stone-eating spotted shags and urban eagle rays Audio

The story of a seabird translocation to Mana Island, involving fluffy white-faced storm petrel chicks, artificial burrows and sardine smoothies. Audio

Fertility researchers are developing a new way of testing IVF embryos that have too many chromosomes. Video, Audio

Shaun Eaves talks about glaciers in the North Island and how evidence left behind by glaciers can help reconstruct past climates. Audio

Much of New Zealand's freshwater flows underground, and a team from GNS Science is in the process of mapping it. Audio

Ornithologist and author Ralph Powlesland is intimately acquainted with the weka families on the regenerating Marlborough Sounds farm where he lives. Audio