First Anniversary of Murihiku ki Te Tonga, the World’s First Indigenous-Led Antarctic Programme

Exactly one year ago, on 03 August 2023, the Murihiku ki Te Tonga had its official launch at the XIII SCAR Biology Conference, in Ōtautahi-Christchurch. So much has happened since then! Our team has completed two more expeditions to the Ross Sea region in partnership with Heritage Expeditions as well as Colin Aitchison at Skyworks UAS and Anthony ‘Antz’ Powell of Antzworks. We completed a detailed survey of a key archaeological site on Enderby Island-Maungahuka, mapped penguins at Cape Adare, and continued our whale research programme. Recently, we submitted our first paper to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) at their recent WG-EMM meeting in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, 01-12 July 2024. A beautiful video produced by Antz and narrated by Tā Tipene O’Regan himself showcases our programme and sends a powerful call to help protect our unique Te Moana-tāpokopoko-a-Tāwhaki.

Our 2024 expeditions to the Ross Sea region in nine pictures. Top left clockwise: one of beautiful snow petrels that followed our ship (R. Eisert); Antarctic Type-C killer whales use a hole in the sea ice to breathe (C. Aitchison, Skyworks); Adélie penguins coming ashore at Cape Adare (R. Eisert); juvenile Antarctic killer whales (MKTT); our expedition vessel, the Heritage Adventurer, passing through the sea ice of McMurdo Sound (C. Aitchison, Skyworks); a great toroa (albatross; R. Eisert); portrait of a king penguin (R. Eisert); a pakake (minke whale) feeding on krill in the Ross Sea (C. Aitchison, Skyworks); centre: Rewi Davis paying his respects to the Pou Whenua during a visit to Scott Base, New Zealand’s Antarctic base in the Ross Sea (R. Eisert).

Posted: 3 August 2024

The hydrogen revolution creating a future for Southland

Murihiku Regeneration’s He Ao Hou: New Futures Murihiku is a school-based STEAM programme, focused on green energy.

The success of our programme is being recognised nationally! Read all about it below (published in the June edition of the Ministry of Education’s Education Gazette).

We would like to thank our sponsors for their ongoing support:

Professor Sally Brooker from the University of Otago’s Chemistry School, commented that the He Honoka Hauwai team is thrilled to be partnering with Murihiku on all things hydrogen. “The students are always so readily engaged, and so enthusiastic, in learning about these future renewable fuels and careers, and this rubs off on us!”

The hydrogen revolution creating a future for Southland

By Education Gazette Editors

Issue: Volume 103, Number 8The hydrogen kits create enough energy from water to run a fan.

A science programme in Southland is teaching ākonga about the power of hydrogen in an initiative developed to build the skills and expertise needed in future generations.

At Waiau Area School in Southland, ākonga in Years 7–10 are setting up hydrogen fuel kits. Using battery packs, they’ll create enough hydrogen from water to run a fan.

The school’s science teacher, Florence Chatelier, says the hydrogen fuel kits have helped ākonga understand the potential of renewable energy.

“It’s led to discussions about how to reduce climate change and the future of green energy. The kits also include coloured cellophane that lets students explore the light spectrum and compare how different colours impact the energy going from the solar panel to a fan,” says Florence.

It’s part of an outreach programme developed to teach ākonga to make hydrogen and to understand its potential as a green fuel, even using it to power toy cars.

The programme’s Dr David Warren says students constantly surprise him with their enthusiasm.

“We show them how to put the kit together themselves and they can see the hydrogen being made. Then they connect the motor up and see it move. They’re pretty astonished to know they’ve made the hydrogen themselves and they understand why it’s working and why it’s so cool. That excitement is magic to see.

“Some of the students are from farms and with that background, they think about using hydrogen in the context of a farm operation,” says David.

Skills and expertise for science industriesThe programme encourages ākonga to develop the skills and expertise for a future workforce.

Otago University’s School of Chemistry’s outreach programme has been visiting schools in the South Island for a number of years, inspiring students to think about science and its role in society.

In 2022, David and a group of PhD students teamed up with Murihiku Regeneration, an initiative focused on creating jobs for Southlanders in the event the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter closes. It encourages ākonga to develop the skills and expertise to become part of the workforce for those industries.

Together they have taken the hydrogen programme to 25 of Southland’s 63 primary schools.Ivan Hodgetts is a leading careers expert, and the driving force behind the project.

Murihiku Regeneration is led by Ivan Hodgetts, who says the initiative is a deliberate attempt to disrupt the intergenerational assumptions tamariki and rangitahi are used to making about their career options. (Read more about Murihiku Regeneration’s Te Ara Aukati Kore - education, training, and capability)

“The reality is that the under-30 workforce for those organisations – the power generators, companies and manufacturers of 2035 – are in our schools, learning, right now.

“We have built a vocation transitions framework so that whether the smelter closed or not, there are already emerging industries and a skilled workforce. Some of the jobs they’ll be doing already exist and others will be designed to fit emerging technologies. 

“The trick here is to do this work in a way that doesn’t try to pre-determine an emergent future and force people into ‘pipelines’. Ultimately, we don’t fully know where technology and human creativity will take us, but we can be prepared,” says Ivan.

Sparking curiosity and starting conversationsDr David Warren (right) has been inspiring students to think about science and its role in society for years.

Waiau Area School associate principal Richard Bennett says ākonga were enthused by the visit from Dr Warren and his students last year.

“It has really engaged our ākonga. It sparked their curiosity and started conversations about how it was happening and what could be possible in the future.

“We want to inspire them to think about their place in that future and the roles that are needed to build industries in this region. It’s unusual to have scientists come to your primary school and teach,” he says.

“All they have to do is turn up and be willing to learn,” says David. “We hope that by taking the science to them and teaching them to make hydrogen, they’ll start thinking up different ways they can use science to make things they want.”

Ivan says the programme uses hydrogen because it’s a great way to show how green energy can work.

“We’re thinking about where the hope and purpose is for these ākonga. By demystifying science, we’re showing them that technology is changing fast and they can be part of that in lots of different ways.

“Their future isn’t necessarily in hydrogen. They might end up doing something else entirely, but hydrogen is a good way to teach sustainability because it’s a green fuel.”

Dreaming big dreamsStudents are often astonished to know they’ve made hydrogen.

David says the university students love going out to the schools.

“They’re closer in age to the ākonga than I am. It’s our hope that making cool science experiments with those young learners will help them imagine a similar career for themselves.

“We want these ākonga to broaden their aspirations and we hope many of them will choose to study science. It’s about inspiring them to dream some really big dreams for themselves and to know how they can make them become reality.”

Ivan says he hopes Murihiku Regeneration will become a more systemic way for ākonga to experience Coloured cellophane lets ākonga explore the light spectrum and compare how different colours impact energy.magic moments of inspiration.

David agrees. “I like to tell them about the story of Professor Alan McDiarmid. Professor McDiarmid won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, but very nearly didn’t get into science at all.”

As a student, McDiarmid showed an interest in science, but it wasn’t until he was in his last year of high school that his passion for chemistry ignited. He went on to complete two PhDs, eventually becoming a joint winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his part in the discovery of a plastic polymer that could conduct electricity.

Breaking down barriers

Murihiku Regeneration is just beginning its next series of school visits to Southland schools. The team will visit some schools multiple times, bringing different science ideas to inspire the next generation as well as holding teacher professional development days to support STEAM education in Southland’s schools.

Ivan says the project is breaking down what he calls the ‘expert’ barrier – giving teachers access to the expertise to create STEAM experiences and broaden their own capability to teach STEAM subjects.

“We hope these students will become the many different kinds of engineers and managers and IT architects and other roles we can’t even imagine, yet who will build the future industries of Southland.”

What the students said

“It was amazing to see energy produced from water. I didn’t know that was a thing.” Deakon, Year 9

“I liked being able to follow the instructions to build the fuel cell and then to see the fan start to move was awesome.” Hamiora, Year 7

“It was so cool. It made us think about how it can benefit us in the future, it is much more environmentally friendly to get power from hydrogen or solar. Why don’t we have solar panels at our kura?” Summer, Year 10

“My eyes were opened to the potential of future energy production.” Maddi, Year 10

Posted: 5 July 2024

2024 He Ao Hou STEAM Education Professional Development Day a Success!

The 2024 Murihiku Regeneration He Ao Hou New Futures Programme hosted its 2024 STEAM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) Professional Development Day, at the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT), in Invercargill on Friday 21 June.

The day was led by the Murihiku Regeneration Education Workstream Lead, Ivan Hodgetts and supported by Dr Dave Warren and Professor Sally Brooker from the University of Otago. Other speakers included the region’s Director of Education, Julie Anderson and Curriculum Advisor Loretta Schmidt.

22 schools registered for the 2024 programme, that includes outreach visits led by Dr Warren.

Ivan Hodgetts commented that, “it was great to provide a STEAM education focused professional development day again. We appreciated the numbers attending and enthusiasm for the topic. Dr Warren and I are looking forward to getting out into the schools with our expanded range of energy technology.”

“On Friday, 38 people attended, which was great given the rate of illness in the community. There were some apologies due to illness etc, but we expect to pick these up through the year,” said Ivan Hodgetts.

The He Ao Hou programme is a part of the Murihiku Regeneration Te Ara Aukati Kore Workstream, and is sponsored by Meridian Energy, Woodside Energy, the Ministry of Education and the University of Otago.

The programme provides hydrogen kits to participating schools, gives teachers guidance on how to build green energy technology into school planning and curriculum. It also provides practical support from the University of Otago and the Ministry of Education, to help teachers and their schools to share with their students.

We would really like to thank our sponsors for their commitment to help build curiosity and interest in STEAM based learning, through something interesting like creating green hydrogen, for young people in our Murihiku community.

“This is going to be critical for their own future, but also for the future of our communities,” said Terry Nicholas, Programme Director for Murihiku Regeneration.

Over the coming weeks, further work and support will be provided through the programme to the participating schools.

For those Murihiku-Southland schools who still want to participate - please contact us.

Posted: 1 July 2024

NZAS hosting two forums – 25 June Invercargill and 26 June Bluff to update community

New Zealand Aluminium Smelter (NZAS) has advised that it will be hosting the next round of its Community Forums on 25 June (Invercargill ) and 26 June (Bluff) to update the Murihiku-Southland community on its latest news – including its very recent announcement around securing a 20 year power price agreement.

We have been asked to share this information out to our networks. Details on the event are as follows:

Tuesday 25 June (Ascot Park Hotel, Invercargill) and Wednesday 26 June 2024 (Te Rau Aroha Marae, Bluff)

5.30 to 7.30 pm

All welcome (RSVP required *)

You are invited to join us at the first round of our 2024 community forums to get the latest news on NZAS. Light refreshments will be provided.

Alongside Ngāi Tahu we will talk about the work we are doing in partnership with manawhenua, including the remediation and environmental monitoring, and planning on and around the smelter and peninsula.

NZAS leaders will also share information about:

• Recently announced 20 year energy contract deal
• Business performance and priorities, including waste management and our renewed focus on environmental performance
• Procurement and employment opportunities

We want to hear from our community members. Please feel free to forward any pre-questions to [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]. There will also be question time from the floor at the end of our presentation, and a chance to mix and mingle with NZAS leaders afterwards.

* RSVP: for catering purposes we ask for all attendees to register in advance by emailing [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]. Registrations close on Monday 24 June.

Posted: 13 June 2024

Expansion of Kaiwera Downs Windfarm Good News for Murihiku

Mercury NZ Limited confirmed on Friday 7 June that it will be proceeding with the expansion its Kaiwera Downs wind farm near Gore, following a long-term agreement signed with New Zealand Aluminium Smelters last week.

We’re excited to start another project that will help Aotearoa New Zealand move to a lower-carbon future.

We’re committed to playing our part, and increasing New Zealand’s renewables is a key way we can contribute,” said Mercury’s Executive GM Portfolio, Phil Gibson.

Mr Gibson said a strategic high-quality pipeline positioned Mercury well to help lead the transition to more renewables.”

“ We want to congratulate Mercury for this important milestone.They have been keeping Hokonui Runanga and Murihiku Regeneration informed on their progress, and shown a willingness to collaborate,” says Terry Nicholas, Hokonui Rūnanga Upoko and Portfolio Director for Murihiku Regeneration.Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm - Stage 1 Map - Posted by Mercury on Issuu on Sep 12, 2022

“ We have developed a green energy plan for the region, that is based around creating a regional (green) energy zone (REZ). The Kaiwera Downs Stage 2 project is an important part of that. It signals the need for good coordination, better planning and to ensure that new industries and infrastructure can be developed in our region.

He also adds that, “reliable green energy for the region will be increasingly important to create much needed future capacity for the region, to give certainty to new development projects, and create new jobs and future opportunities.”

On the subject of the Tiwai decision, “We have worked hard with and on behalf of Rio Tinto to ensure the Smelter stayed in the long term, and committed to cleaning up its spent cathode linings industrial waste (SCL). Also that it will now consider new decarbonisation opportunities.”

“Overall, we also see the need to create a lower cost of energy to all consumers, that is how Murihiku-Southland will prosper.”

Mercury and Hokonui/ Murihiku Regeneration will be meeting in July to discuss this project and other collaboration opportunities.

Key Project highlights

• Capital expenditure of $486 million for the project.

• Once completed, the 155 MW project (525 GWh pa) will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of ~73,000 homes per year.

• It will bring the total capacity of the Kaiwera Downs wind farm to 198 MW, the second largest in New Zealand.

• Construction is expected to start in June 2024 and reach full generation by the end of calendar year 2026.

For more information see the Otago Daily Times news story ‘Smelter reprieve triggers Gore wind farm expansion’

Posted: 10 June 2024