News

Victoria success in Science Honours

(Published in VicNews 23 November 2009)

Professor Ken McNatty rewarded for reproductive technology research

Victoria University Professor Ken McNatty received the Pickering Medal, awarded annually to a person who has performed innovative work which has had an impressive influence nationally and internationally, or which has led to significant commercial success.
Professor McNatty fulfils all these requirements. An expert in reproductive biology in animals and humans, he has done pioneering work that has had huge
benefits for farmers and work that could soon help couples going through in vitro fertilisation (IVF).

"I'm dumbfounded by the award because there's some terrific talent in New Zealand. It’s a wonderful feeling and I’m truly grateful to those who nominated me."

Professor McNatty worked with New Zealand organisation AgResearch where he developed a vaccine that released more eggs in sheep during ovulation. Using this process, farmers typically received a 20-40% increase in the number of lambs
born. Professor McNatty also developed a fertility product for use in deer, cattle, sheep and goats by extracting a hormone from the brains of sheep at slaughter.

"This successful product was originally used extensively in the Angora goat industry, but since has been used in other species including those on the endangered list such as Eld's deer and the Spanish Ibex."

Since arriving at Victoria in 2006, he has been working with Fertility Associates on reproductive technologies particularly for mothers undergoing IVF. The technology could help to improve success rates. He is also using his skills with DNA technologies to develop a prototype diagnostic tool to check environmental contamination including water quality, an area he is passionate about.

"Environmental contamination of water is a major issue. Whilst we have certain standards, what we don’t have are simple and highly sensitive tools to apply high-throughput, low cost screening to test residues in water to see if they are below the minimally-acceptable standards."

 

 

Marsden grants support ‘world-class’ research at Victoria

(Published in VicNews 12 October 2009)

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Pat Walsh, says the world-class research of Victoria academics has been recognised and supported by Marsden Fund grants announced today.
Victoria University received 16 research grants equating to almost 15% of total funding, one of the University’s best ever results.

"Our success in this year’s round reflects our commitment to high quality research at Victoria. The grant recipients are some of our foremost academics and I am thrilled that their valuable work has been recognised.
Victoria has had particular success in our distinctive strengths in history, earth sciences, mathematics, linguistics and literature, and biology. Our success in science has been acknowledged with a high percentage of Marsden funding coming from science-based proposals. Our staff and students are immersed in the science capital of New Zealand and are contributing to outstanding research.
It is also pleasing to see our work in the Humanities recognised in these grants.
As well as benefiting New Zealand, many of these projects lead or play a part in research internationally."

SBS recipients of full Marsden grants distributed over three years:

Dr Simon Davy- in collaboration with Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg (University of Queensland), Dr. Sophie Dove (University of Queensland), Dr. Bill Leggat (James Cook University) and Dr. Paul Fisher- Corals in a changing world: establishing a physiological mechanism for current and future patterns of reef distribution, awarded $960,000

Dr David Ackerley and Dr Iain Lamont (University of Otago)- Cracking the non-ribosomal code, awarded $912,000

Dr Ian Hermans who is jointly appointed between SBS and the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research in association with his Malaghan colleagues Dr Troels Petersen and Dr Joanna Kirman - Towards better vaccines: investigating the role of langerin+ CD8α+ dendritic cells in innate and adaptive immunity, awarded ~$800,000.

 

Trade Me helps with turtle PhD

(July 2009)

Has anyone seen my turtle?

A PhD student at Victoria University is using the pets and animals ‘Lost & Found’ section of Trade Me to find pet turtles living in the wild, because of their impact on native flora and fauna.
PhD student Heidy Kikillus is studying red-eared slider turtles to minimise the negative effects they have.

“The turtles prey upon native flora and fauna and are voracious eaters. They consume aquatic plants, invertebrates and tadpoles among other things,” said Heidy.

The turtles are considered an invasive species and are very long-lived. Although estimates vary, the turtles can live for at least 30 years and possibly up to 80 years, in the right conditions.
Heidy’s research at Victoria’s School of Biological Sciences is focused on where populations of the turtles could become established in New Zealand, and which native species would be impacted.

“I’ve found out that lost turtle reports on Trade Me tend to cluster around cities – particularly Auckland. There were 45 lost turtle reports listed in the last 20 months, though many more are likely to go unreported. Since then, some turtles have been found and returned to their owners. Using Trade Me to track the turtles is a really exciting development and I hope we can locate their habitats in the wild to protect New Zealand plants and animals.”

The red-eared slider turtle is a native of Mississippi Valley in America, but wild populations have become established in South Africa, Asia and Europe. The turtles are banned as pets in Australia.
In New Zealand, the turtles are commonly kept as pets but can become a challenge for owners. A hatchling of 5 cm across will grow to 30 cm in two years and require a sizeable aquarium and a dry space to sunbathe.

“Owners who no longer want to keep the turtles as pets often release them into the wild because they believe it is best for them. Others simply get lost, especially if they are kept outside.” 

Heidy is collecting soil temperature readings from around the north of New Zealand and matching regional conditions to those of the turtles’ native habitat, since overlaps in climate will indicate areas where they could potentially survive.

Turtle eggs require higher soil temperatures for successful incubation than are currently experienced in New Zealand, but only by a few degrees.
Heidy is also screening captive turtles for diseases which could be transferred to native animals.
Heidy would like to encourage potential owners to think carefully before choosing a turtle.

“If you want to re-home a turtle you can do so responsibly by selling or donating the turtle to a new owner or giving them to a turtle rescue group, contactable through the SPCA.”

Heidy would also be interested to hear from anyone who sees a turtle in the wild, so the sighting can be included in her research.
For more information, please contact Heidy Kikillus: heidy.kikillus@vuw.ac.nz

 

Human mating explored by Victoria Professor

(Published in VicNews 25 July 2009)

A book by Professor Alan Dixson, from the School of Biological Sciences, that provides a modern take on the evolution of human mating systems, has recently been published by Oxford University Press.
Entitled Sexual Selection and the Origins of Human Mating Systems, the book is the latest by Professor Dixson, who arrived at Victoria from the UK four years ago. 

"The book provides a comparative analysis of the anatomy, reproductive physiology, and behaviour of extant primates and other mammals, and the important insights they can offer into the origins of human sexual behaviour, allowing us to reconstruct the origins of human mating systems, the evolution of sexual attractiveness, patterns of mate choice and copulatory behaviour," says Professor Dixson.
 
The book brings together work on reproductive physiology, behavioural biology, anthropology, primatology, palaeontology, evolutionary psychology and sexological research.

Professor Dixson says he wrote the book largely as a tribute to Charles Darwin.

"It's the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth this year—and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work ‘The Origin of Species'—so it seemed a fitting tribute to Darwin to publish the book this year."
Professor Dixson is also responsible for many of the illustrations in the book.
This is his third published book, and the first since arriving in New Zealand from his last posting at the San Diego Zoo.

Originally a graduate of the University of Nottingham, Professor Dixson has also worked at London Zoo, Cambridge University and the UK Medical Research Council. He spends half his time teaching at Victoria and the rest doing research and writing papers and books

 

New discovery suggests trees evolved camouflage defence against long extinct predator

(Published 24 July 2009 in VicNews)
Many animal species such as snakes, insects and fish have evolved camouflage defences to deter attack from their predators.
However research published in New Phytologist has discovered that trees in New Zealand have evolved a similar defence to protect themselves from extinct giant birds, providing the first evidence of this strategy in plant life.

"Plants are attacked by a bewildering array of herbivores and in response they have evolved a variety of defences to deter predators such as thorns and noxious chemicals," says lead researcher Dr Kevin Burns from Victoria University.
"In contrast animals often use colours to hide from predators or advertise defences, but until now there has been little evidence of colour based defences in plants."
Dr Burns' team studied the leaves of the Araliaceae tree (P crassifolius) a heteroblastic species which is native to New Zealand. This species goes through several strange colour transitions during the process from germination to maturity and the reason for these changes is now thought to be a defence strategy from an extinct predator, the moa.

Before the arrival of humans New Zealand had no native land mammals, but was home to moa, giant flightless birds, closely related to the modern ostrich and the top herbivore predator in the food chain. However moa were hunted to extinction 750 years ago.
The Araliaceae tree has several defences which the team suggest are linked to the historic presence of moa. Seedlings produce small narrow leaves, which appear mottled to the human eye. Saplings meanwhile produce larger, more elongated leaves with thorn-like dentitions.
The mottled colours of seedling leaves are similar to the appearance of leaf litter, which would have made them difficult for a moa to distinguish. The unusual colouring may also reduce the probability of leaf outlines and help camouflage leaves against the sunlight-draped forest floor.

Moa also lacked teeth and swallowed leaves by placing them in their bills and snapping their head forward. The long rigid leaves produced by P crassifolius would have been difficult for a moa to swallow.  The maximum browsing height of the largest known moa was approximately 300cm and once P crassifolius grow above this height they produce leaves that are ordinary in size, shape and colour, lacking any defence.
To prove that these defences were linked to the presence of moa the team compared Araliaceae leaves to samples from a similar species of tree, P chathamicus, from the Chatham Islands, which are 800 kilometres east of New Zealand. Unlike New Zealand the islands lacked large browsers such as Moa and so the plant life did not evolve a defence against them.

"The Chatham island species displays less morphological changes between adults and juveniles," says Burns. "If these colouring changes developed in response to the presence of moa in New Zealand they are reduced when they have evolved in the absence of moa."

Atamira: Māori in the City

Atamira: Māori in the City – 3-5th July, ASB Showgrounds, Auckland
Āwhina mentors and Biology students, Shalen, Kelly, Jonnel, Catherine and Darryl along with SBS Technicians Mairead Murphy and Neville Higgison joined a team of 19 other staff and students from VUW to participate in ATAMIRA - Māori in the City, a biennial expo celebrating Maori creativity and enterprise.
The huge ASB complex was packed with an impressive range of Māori inspired art, crafts, jewellery, fashion and delicious food, including boil up, hangi and lots of seafood.  A line-up of top musicians, including Herbs, Smashproof, Nesian Mystik, House of Shem and King Kapisi performed free all-day concerts.

Participants (of all ages) also enjoyed a range of ‘hands on’ science activities, including extracting DNA (Biology), making flubber (Chemistry), exploring the properties of light (Physics), examining competing processes in the brain (Psychology), creating a virtual world/scene (Engineering and Computer Science) and building and solving design puzzles (Architecture and Design).

The event was a huge success with over 120,000 people attending over the 3 day programme. 
We may have also successfully inspired and recruited another new generation of scientists too.  We had very positive feedback from both organisers and participants including comments such as “I didn’t know Science could be so fun” and “Now I want to be a scientist!”  What better endorsement for our efforts could we ask for?

As part of the celebration of creativity and innovation Dr Adele Whyte was nominated by Āwhina whanau for an Atamira “Innovation Icon Award” and received one of seven Awards presented at a special dinner ceremony.

SBS Āwhina whanau

Acknowledgements: ATAMIRA - Māori in the City was hosted by Ngāti Whātua o Orakei Corporate Ltd and supported by Te Puni Kōkiri – the Ministry of Māori Development - with Ports of Auckland, Aotearoa Credit Union, Auckland City Council, Waitakere City Council,  Manukau City Council and University of Auckland.

 

Research reveals old timers in the frog world

(Published 26 March 2009 in VicNews)

Research at Victoria University has revealed remarkable longevity in wild populations of New Zealand native frogs, particularly in the threatened Maud Island frog (Leiopelma pakeka).

A study by Associate Professor Ben Bell and his team over the past 25 years shows that the three oldest known Maud Island frogs are two males reaching at least 35 and 37 years, and a female at least 34 years old.

Associate Professor Bell says this is one of the longest running field studies on any frog, and Maud Island frogs have proven to be some of the oldest known frogs in the wild.

“What I thought might be a five year study is still ongoing, with many frogs surviving over 25 years. We also studied Archey’s frog and Hochstetter’s frog in the Coromandel Ranges, and discovered these species are long-lived also. Our oldest known Archey’s frog is 23 years old, and Hochstetter’s frog is 12 years old.”

Associate Professor Bell is Director of Victoria University’s Centre for Biodiversity and Restoration Ecology, and his study of Archey’s frog in the Coromandel Ranges alerted conservation agencies to the species’ sudden decline in the late 1990s. His team discovered that the species was infected with the pathological amphibian chytrid fungus there.

Back on Maud Island there has been no major decline in frogs, although the research team continues to monitor population trends and to test for the occurrence of the chytrid fungus.  Rigorous quarantine measures are taken by the Department of Conservation and by frog researchers to reduce risks of disease striking the population.

Associate Professor Bell says all the Maud Island frog skin swab samples they have DNA tested for amphibian chytrid fungus proved negative, but they will remain vigilant.

He says the team also initiated a trial translocation of 100 frogs to a restored site at Boat Bay on Maud Island 25 years ago, which had proven successful.

He has also collaborated with Associate Professor Shirley Pledger from Victoria’s School of Mathematics, Statistics and Operations Research to determine population trends and survival rates of native frogs.

He works with Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in establishing Maud Island frog populations there. Eleven froglets that bred in the Sanctuary were successfully reared to the small frog stage at Victoria University last year, before being returned to the Sanctuary. Ten more young were discovered this year, and will be returned to the Sanctuary after completing their development at Victoria University. The research team also found three tiny frogs that had just completed their development on Maud Island this March, suggesting that breeding occurs there in early summer, as in the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary.

 

 

Baboon promiscuity at the zoo

Mr Dudley, who will graduate from Victoria University with a PhD this week, has been examining a technique used to trace the flow of nutrients and pollutants into marine environments.
His research will contribute to a better understanding of how we might avoid damage to precious marine environments in the future.
During his research, Mr Dudley measured the uptake of naturally occurring carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes into several common marine algae and animals in Titahi Bay, Wellington.
Nitrogen can enter marine environments as runoff from natural sources like plants or unnatural sources like fertiliser or sewage. These sources have different stable isotope ‘signatures’ that allow them to be traced.

“Increasing human populations in coastal areas worldwide have caused increases in runoff and waste release to marine environments,” says Mr Dudley. 
He says it is important to study nitrogen uptake by plants in marine environments because its availability can limit their growth.
“A lot of the year, algae don’t grow much because they don’t have light, so they don’t use much nitrogen. But when it is summer, their growth is often limited by nitrogen availability. If there is a lot of nitrogen around they can grow as much as they like—they aren’t nitrogen limited anymore. This is when we see algal blooms and other things that can be problematic.”
“If you have too much nitrogen in a certain area, you can get reduction in biodiversity, algal blooms, and changes that can affect commercially useful marine species. My research looked at whether we can use a particular type of algae as an indicator for nitrogen enrichment around the country.
"The best one I found was Ulva—known as sea lettuce. I did some experiments on it looking at uptake of nitrogen isotopes under different environmental conditions. It sucks up all the nitrogen that’s in the water, so you can use the isotope ‘signature’ of the plant to get an idea of where the nitrogen is coming from. It’s cheaper and more effective than testing the water itself.”

Bruce Dudley will graduate on 10 December 2008. He joins more than 1,000 Victoria University students graduating this week.

Anja Wilmes, who will graduate from Victoria with a PhD next week, has been focussing on the secondary effects of peloruside A, a natural marine product developed from sea sponges found only in New Zealand.

“Peloruside has a similar mechanism of action to Taxol, which is a chemotherapeutic drug used to treat breast, ovarian and lung cancer. It works by binding to microtubules,” she says.
To carry out the research, Ms Wilmes used biological screens to identify other possible targets of peloruside, especially those relevant to cancer. She says it is important in the process of drug development to look at possible additional targets of a drug for safety reasons.
One of the screens she focussed on is called ‘Proteomics’—which looks at the proteins being expressed in cells or tissues. Using this screen, she studied which proteins are altered in a cancer cell line when peloruside is administered.

Another part of her research focussed on chemical genetics. “This field is a relatively new one, but it’s rapidly expanding. Chemical genetics makes use of the nearly complete set of yeast gene deletion mutants that can be used to screen for either drug targets, or for functional interactions between pathways targeted by the drug.”
She says her preliminary research into the chemical genetics of peloruside may have identified a secondary target in yeast—which could be important if it applies to mammalian systems. She will further this research over summer, and then take up a Post-Doctoral position in Austria.
“In addition to looking for secondary targets, we also looked at synergy between peloruside and Taxol. I found that peloruside and Taxol had a greater effect when used together in two different cancer cell lines. Although the research is in its early stages, this could potentially reduce side effects for chemotherapy patients, because lower concentrations could be used for each compound.”

Her PhD supervisor, Professor John Miller, says Ms Wilmes’ findings will significantly contribute to research underway at Victoria University.
“Peloruside has great potential. It could be a fantastic anti-cancer drug for use during chemotherapy. At this stage New Zealand is the only known place that peloruside can be found, so scientists are working with us to find a way of synthesising the natural product. As soon as we have enough peloruside to conduct a clinical trial we will,” he says.
Ms Wilmes’ other supervisors were Dr Bill Jordan and Dr David Bellows.

Ms Wilmes will graduate on 9 December 2008, joining more than 1,000 students graduating from Victoria University of Wellington this month.

“Knowledge of mating patterns is useful for conservation of threatened and endangered species, but for many reptiles this information is largely unknown. It’s great to have some research complete about the mating systems of tuatara—they are such an iconic species in New Zealand,” says Ms Moore, who will graduate from Victoria University on 9 December 2008.
Tuatara mating is dominated by a small proportion of large males, which can decrease the genetic diversity of a population.
Over the course of her research, Ms Moore combined behavioural and genetic techniques to investigate the mating system of tuatara.

“Annually, male reproduction is highly skewed in the wild and in captivity. More than 80 percent of offspring from a captive population on Little Barrier Island were sired by one male and multiple paternity was found in approximately 18 percent of these clutches. This has led to reduced genetic variation in the recovering Little Barrier Island population,” she says. 
She also found that these long-lived reptiles have a stable social structure that can be influenced by human-induced habitat modification.
“Stephens Island tuatara show genetic structuring that appears to be driven by changes to their habitat in the past and a sedentary lifestyle in the absence of dispersal or migration.”
Her results will improve management and captive breeding efforts by providing guidelines for maximising genetic diversity and selecting individuals to found new translocated populations. 
“A good understanding of the mating system and behavioural interactions is essential for captive breeding, reintroductions, translocations and ultimately, persistence of tuatara populations.”
“I’ve been lucky to be part of a bigger picture throughout my research; there’s a very strong research group in this field at Victoria University. Since completing my PhD, I’ve been linking in with other projects looking at things like functional genes, immunity and parasite resistance.”
There are approximately 70,000 tuatara worldwide. The majority of these are on Stephens Island in the Marlborough Sounds. Scientists are working to stabilise the tuatara population.

Ms Moore will graduate on 9 December 2008. She joins more than 1,000 students graduating from Victoria University of Wellington in December.

During the 40 years in between, she completed a teaching diploma in Auckland, a PhD in Canberra, and lectured at Victoria University for 23 years specialising in plant physiology and algal biology.
Dr Gordon says she was fascinated by biology from a young age, so it was natural for her to go on to study it at university.
She is the daughter of the late Professor H.D. Gordon, who was head of Victoria’s Botany Department from 1947 to 1977. The School of Biological Sciences’ herbarium, called the H.D. Gordon Herbarium, is named after him.
Despite making a career for herself in science, she says she’s always had an affinity with music.
“When I was at teacher’s college in the 1960s, I took a 100-level music course. I thought I’d give it a go and see if I could pass it. I ended up getting through it okay but couldn’t take it any further as I was tied up with my teacher training.”
“When I retired in 2001, I thought that was the perfect opportunity to study music properly, which is something I’d always wanted to do.”
Dr Gordon will graduate with a BMus majoring in history and literature of music on 10 December 2008.
She says learning how music has changed over time and influenced people was very rewarding. “I was really lucky in that I started my degree during an intake that meant I could start looking at the history of music chronologically. We began with medieval and renaissance music which was a wonderful foundation—a real eye opener.”
“Coming back as a student was a matter of personal fulfilment for me. I think that if I wanted to have a go at writing music now I would have the confidence to do that. It has enhanced my enjoyment of music even more.
“I would certainly encourage other people to do the same in their own field of interest. I think it is very easy for people to feel that they couldn’t go back and study later in life. I thought I might be too forgetful or something to start studying again. But now I know that younger ones forget too—they just don’t worry about it as much!”

Ms Keall will receive her award at the organisation's annual conference at the end of June, where she will deliver a talk on her tuatara conservation work.

Director of the University's tuatara biology and conservation programme, Professor Charles Daugherty says that Ms Keall, primarily responsible for care of tuatara at Victoria since 1991, has been pivotal to the University's long-term research.

Numbers of tuatara in the Victoria colony have varied from as few as five to several hundred. Ms Keall has cared for hatchlings, juvenile and adult animals, and has also been responsible for the incubation of eggs from both captive populations and wild populations threatened with extinction.

Professor Daugherty says Ms Keall has led the improved husbandry of tuatara at institutions in New Zealand and overseas—in particular at the San Diego Zoo—and that her work has been essential to ongoing research programmes aimed at ensuring the future of tuatara. Additionally, she has worked tirelessly to educate New Zealanders on the significance of conservation using tuatara as a flagship species.

He says that Ms Keall's work has enabled population growth on Little Barrier, Stanley, Red Mercury and Cuvier islands and of these, the Little Barrier Island work has been particularly successful, with more than 130 juveniles successfully hatched from eggs.

In May, Ms Keall and Professor Daugherty released the third lot of juvenile tuatara on Little Barrier Island, and the Department of Conservation rangers on the island continue to consult Ms Keall for husbandry advice on a regular basis.

Professor Daugherty says Ms Keall has always had a commitment to conservation, and in 1995 she completed the prestigious Diploma in Endangered Species Management at the Jersey Zoo, as one of few New Zealanders to have been admitted to the programme.

Ms Keall often collects insects outside of work hours to ensure the reptiles have an adequate natural diet, and her expertise has ensured very high survival rates of eggs and all life stages from hatchling to adult, as well as very low rates of illness or injury in captive populations.

More information about tuatara at Victoria can be read at: http://www.victoria.ac.nz/sbs/tuatara/index.aspx

The cell biologist, who has been researching at Victoria University for 31 years, was promoted to Professor at the beginning of this year and will present his anti-cancer drug findings at his inaugural professorial lecture next week.

Professor Miller says peloruside—a natural product developed from sea sponges found in the Pelorus Sound—has great potential.

"It could be a fantastic anti-cancer drug for use during chemotherapy. At this stage New Zealand is the only known place that peloruside can be found, so scientists are working with us to find a way of synthesising the natural product. As soon as we have enough peloruside to conduct a clinical trial we will," he says. 

He will also present results from his neurobiological study of changes in the brain during and after chronic drug use, which uses fluorescent imaging to monitor cells in the brain.

"Victoria University's inaugural lecture series is an opportunity for new professors to provide family, friends, colleagues and the wider community an insight into their specialist field of study. It is also an opportunity for the University to acknowledge our valued professors," says Vice-Chancellor Professor Pat Walsh.

"Professor Miller is an outstanding scientist, researcher and teacher. Victoria University is privileged to have had him in the School of Biological Sciences, and his anti-cancer research is cutting-edge," he says.

Professor Miller is working with other Victoria scientists in the Centre for Biodiscovery on the anti-cancer research, including Associate Professor Peter Northcote of the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences and the Head of the School of Biological Sciences Associate Professor Paul Teesdale-Spittle. Six years ago, Professor Miller and colleagues received a $2 million grant from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology to fund this research.

The lecture will take place on Tuesday 17 June at 6pm in the Hunter Council Chamber, accessible from Gate 1 or 2, Kelburn Parade, Wellington. All are welcome to attend. Please RSVP to rsvp@vuw.ac.nz with ‘Miller’ in the subject line.

This is a situation that recent Victoria University PhD graduate Phil James aims to improve.

A scientist at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Dr James recently completed research that shows that holding kina in sea cages with the right diet and handling can more than double the amount of roe they produce.

Dr James' research suggests that food availability and quality, seawater temperature and water movement are the most critical factors, and his results will assist the development of a kina roe enhancement industry, make better use of wild kina resources and help meet increasing worldwide demand for high-quality roe.

Roe is the reproductive organ of sea-urchins and the only edible part of the animal, making their harvest uneconomic in the case of low roe stock. Dr James says that increasing fishing pressure on New Zealand and global sea urchin stocks has failed to meet consumer demand, leading to increasing interest in roe enhancement processes.

Dr James' experiments tested the optimal conditions for wild-caught New Zealand kina held in sea-cages and land-based tanks in Mahanga Bay, Wellington. Repeated experiments over three 12 month periods showed that food availability was the primary driver of roe enhancement. This is followed by seawater temperature, which drives much of the seasonal variation in the gonad size that is observed in wild urchins. This is likely to be due to increased food consumption at higher temperatures.

Dr James also found that the kina prefer a little wave action: kina in cages suspended from a mussel long-line at 6m depth produced 31 per cent more roe than those in cages anchored to the seafloor. He says that the water movement is believed to increase the available dissolved oxygen and facilitate the removal of metabolites from around the urchins.

Dr James' research was funded by the Foundation of Research, Science and Technology and in 2005 he won the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing section of the MacDiarmid Young Scientists of the Year awards.