Many of our courses have links to the community, either providing service, gathering and analysing data or engaging in knowledge sharing. Some examples are sumarised here.
Seeking answers for our communities
Courses in Marine Biology and Ecology (BIOL 212) and Science, Maori and Indigenous Knowledge (SCIM 101) interact with Kaikoura coastal communities.
Students learn through field work designed to help answer specific community generated questions relating to the health and future of their marine environment.
The new knowledge generated by the students is an especially important contribution after the recent earthquakes as the locals attempt to understand and adapt to the changed environment.
Community engagement involves the rūnanga and both primary and secondary schools.
Developing public resources
Students of Practical Field Botany (BIOL 305) work together with participants from the Department of Conservation, Environment Canterbury and other organisations to document the plant species in the Cass-Craigieburn-Arthur’s Pass area.
They collect plant specimens for the UC herbarium and contribute their observation data and photos to public websites such as iNaturalist and the Cass Mountain Research Area Plant Checklist.
Participating in decision making
In Molecular Genetics (BIOL 333) students write a submission to a regulatory agency, such as the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) or the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), as per a publicly notified consultation request.
They review the scientific studies supplied to the agency and conduct a critique, with the option to submit this to the agency and thus also participating in the consultation process.
