title: Ngā Ara Auaha  - Creative practice student showcase

authors: Hill, Rodrigo

abstract: Ngā Ara Auaha simply translated means 'creative pathways' and comprises a collective exhibition featuring creative works from last year's undergraduate and postgraduate students across the University and working with creative practice research and outputs.

Ngā Ara Auaha is an annual student showcase, exhibiting the creative works of University of Waikato students (both undergraduate and postgraduate). The exhibition’s title refers to the ‘creative pathways’ taken by these students who have drawn on their own various creative practices, modes, and methods to think through their respective research journeys.

The call for submissions was open to students across all faculties and divisions of the University and as such the variety of works is vast. Multiple artistic mediums are featured in the same space, including photography and film, toi Māori, augmented media, fine art, design, and creative writing.

This exhibition showcases both the artistic skill of our students and the potential of creative methodologies in research. Expanding the rigid boundaries of the academy and blurring the lines between the ‘creative and critical’, with contributors adding to an established legacy of creative practice at the University of Waikato.

text: Ngā Ara Auaha  - Creative practice student showcase Ngā Ara Auaha simply translated means 'creative pathways' and comprises a collective exhibition featuring creative works from last year's undergraduate and postgraduate students across the University and working with creative practice research and outputs.

Ngā Ara Auaha is an annual student showcase, exhibiting the creative works of University of Waikato students (both undergraduate and postgraduate). The exhibition’s title refers to the ‘creative pathways’ taken by these students who have drawn on their own various creative practices, modes, and methods to think through their respective research journeys.

The call for submissions was open to students across all faculties and divisions of the University and as such the variety of works is vast. Multiple artistic mediums are featured in the same space, including photography and film, toi Māori, augmented media, fine art, design, and creative writing.

This exhibition showcases both the artistic skill of our students and the potential of creative methodologies in research. Expanding the rigid boundaries of the academy and blurring the lines between the ‘creative and critical’, with contributors adding to an established legacy of creative practice at the University of Waikato.

year: 2024

title: Personality and Representation in Environmental Law

authors: Daya-Winterbottom, Trevor

abstract: Jorge Vinuales from the University of Cambridge observed in his working paper on “Law and the Anthropocene” that law is founded on a series of core concepts, such as, “legal personality, representation, obligation, debt, causality or damage” (CEENRG Working Papers 2016- 4, page 49). This led him to note that a “significant problem” faced by environmental law is how to flesh out these core concepts in relation to the protection of the environment (page 53). For example, should we regard natural resources (e.g. rivers or mountains) as “subjects” of environmental law with their “own interests and capacity to act (through representation)”, or merely as the “objects” of environmental law – to be protected either “directly” as specific natural resources, or “indirectly” via the protection of the environment generally (page 53). This article interrogates these perspectives by reference to recent New Zealand developments.

text: Personality and Representation in Environmental Law Jorge Vinuales from the University of Cambridge observed in his working paper on “Law and the Anthropocene” that law is founded on a series of core concepts, such as, “legal personality, representation, obligation, debt, causality or damage” (CEENRG Working Papers 2016- 4, page 49). This led him to note that a “significant problem” faced by environmental law is how to flesh out these core concepts in relation to the protection of the environment (page 53). For example, should we regard natural resources (e.g. rivers or mountains) as “subjects” of environmental law with their “own interests and capacity to act (through representation)”, or merely as the “objects” of environmental law – to be protected either “directly” as specific natural resources, or “indirectly” via the protection of the environment generally (page 53). This article interrogates these perspectives by reference to recent New Zealand developments.

year: 2018-02-06

title: High diversity and local endemism in Aotearoa New Zealand's groundwater crustacean fauna

authors: Fenwick, Graham D.

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: We used DNA barcoding to assess the diversity and distribution of New Zealand's groundwater amphipods and isopods (Crustacea) and to determine whether biodiversity and endemism within tectonically active New Zealand are similar to those of more tectonically stable continents. Sixty-five wells were sampled in seven aquifers across four regions within the North and South islands of New Zealand, and resident invertebrates were morphologically identified and then assessed using sequencing of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit one (COI) gene. Invertebrates were found in 54 wells. Of the 228 individual amphipods and isopods found in 36 of the wells, 154 individuals were successfully sequenced for COI (68% success rate) from 25 wells, with at least one well in each aquifer containing sequenced individuals. Of the 45 putative species identified using Barcode Index Numbers (BINs), 30 BINs (78% of all taxa and 83% of amphipods) were previously unrecorded. Substantial morphologically cryptic, species-level diversity was revealed, particularly within the amphipod Family Paraleptamphopidae. Similarly, one isopod taxon morphologically identified as Cruregens fontanus was assigned to five well-separated BINs based on COI sequences. Endemism appeared high, with all taxa regionally endemic; 87% of species were restricted to one aquifer and more than 50% restricted to one well. Non-saturated species accumulation curves indicated that, while additional sampling may increase the range of some currently identified taxa, additional range-restricted taxa are also likely to be discovered. Patterns of diversity and short-range endemism were similar to those found elsewhere, including locations which are more tectonically stable. The predominance of local endemism within New Zealand's groundwater fauna suggests that land-use activities and groundwater extraction require careful evaluation to minimize threats to groundwater biodiversity.

text: High diversity and local endemism in Aotearoa New Zealand's groundwater crustacean fauna We used DNA barcoding to assess the diversity and distribution of New Zealand's groundwater amphipods and isopods (Crustacea) and to determine whether biodiversity and endemism within tectonically active New Zealand are similar to those of more tectonically stable continents. Sixty-five wells were sampled in seven aquifers across four regions within the North and South islands of New Zealand, and resident invertebrates were morphologically identified and then assessed using sequencing of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit one (COI) gene. Invertebrates were found in 54 wells. Of the 228 individual amphipods and isopods found in 36 of the wells, 154 individuals were successfully sequenced for COI (68% success rate) from 25 wells, with at least one well in each aquifer containing sequenced individuals. Of the 45 putative species identified using Barcode Index Numbers (BINs), 30 BINs (78% of all taxa and 83% of amphipods) were previously unrecorded. Substantial morphologically cryptic, species-level diversity was revealed, particularly within the amphipod Family Paraleptamphopidae. Similarly, one isopod taxon morphologically identified as Cruregens fontanus was assigned to five well-separated BINs based on COI sequences. Endemism appeared high, with all taxa regionally endemic; 87% of species were restricted to one aquifer and more than 50% restricted to one well. Non-saturated species accumulation curves indicated that, while additional sampling may increase the range of some currently identified taxa, additional range-restricted taxa are also likely to be discovered. Patterns of diversity and short-range endemism were similar to those found elsewhere, including locations which are more tectonically stable. The predominance of local endemism within New Zealand's groundwater fauna suggests that land-use activities and groundwater extraction require careful evaluation to minimize threats to groundwater biodiversity.

year: 2021