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What's on my bookshelf

Over lockdown, we asked some of our resident literary lovers what was on their bookshelves to offer you some ideas about what to read next.

A Lockdown Discovery to Buzz About

Curator of Entomology, Natural Sciences, John Early discovered a species of introduced wasp previously unrecognised in New Zealand thanks to last year’s Level 4 Lockdown. He discusses how he made his unusual discovery.

The mystery of Manawatāwhi mollymawks: a history and field report

Thursday 7 May 2020

Albatrosses breed on remote oceanic islands, as far from humans as possible. Despite this isolation, most breeding sites are known, and many are monitored to track the birds’ numbers, making it unusual that a new albatross population should be discovered and remain unstudied...

Excavating Otata Island: A Midden Revealed

In March 2020, Auckland Museum archaeologists carried out a small excavation in a large coastal midden on Otata Island in the Hauraki Gulf, Tikapa Moana.

Saving Auckland's Spotted Shag

Wednesday, 11 September 2019

When Auckland Museum’s resident taxidermist, Mr Louis Griffin, collected (by shooting) spotted shags in the Hauraki Gulf in 1914 for a diorama at Auckland Museum he could not have known that by doing so he would indirectly contribute to the conservation of the same species more than 100 years later... Find out more in this blog.

Aqua bats

Wednesday, 24 October 2018

Resembling ‘squashed kiwifruit’, wet bats aren’t the prettiest creatures, so the photography team trialed some hair-raising tactics to get realistic shots of these rare, endangered creatures.

Craft and Protest: Collecting the Women's March

Monday, 17 September 2018

On Saturday 21 January 2017, over 1000 Aucklanders came together to march in support of the Women’s March on Washington, forming part of a global protest that drew in millions. In addition to carrying homemade banners and wearing March-branded t-shirts, several women wore pink knitted “pussy hats."

Wikipedian in Residence: Mike Dickison

Wednesday, 25 July 2018

For the month of July, Auckland Museum has been hosting Dr Mike Dickison, New Zealand’s first “Wikipedian-at-Large.” His role as a ‘Wiki champion’ is to provide support, encouragement, and expertise to people both inside and outside the organisations he’s working with.

Back to the Future in Northland

Tuesday, 17 April 2018

Last month, a team from Auckland Museum joined Ngāti Kuri in a bioblitz at the top of the North island. In this blog, Otago Lecturer in Ancient DNA, Nic Lawrence describes how iwi, scientists, kids and educators worked together to uncover this lost world.

Bathing caps & beach balls: call for objects

Thursday, 5 April 2018

Auckland Museum needs your help! We are currently looking to borrow or acquire objects with a strong connection to recreation activities on Pt Chevalier Beach, for use in a new exhibition next year.

Biological namesakes

Tuesday, 13 March 2018

Just this week, a bright-orange clingfish, Dellichthys Trnskii, burst onto the scene – and it bears the name of our Head of Natural Science, Tom Trnski. Our curators and collection managers share their names with a handful of species from 'super cute flies' to dwarf seaweed species. In this blog, we took the opportunity to ask them about their namesakes and how they acquired them.

Proud

Wednesday, 14 February 2018

Collection Manager, Siren Deluxe is one of 30 Auckland Museum staff members who will be joining Pride Parade this Saturday. In this blog, she talks about the history of the parade, the growth of Rainbow Museums and our desire to do more to collect items that tell the stories of LGBTQI communities, individuals and milestones.

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