New Zealand Spider Orchids
Dr Carlos Lehnebach’s Marsden funded project is looking at a species of New Zealand spider orchid, Nematoceras trilobum, to determine if different spider orchids rely on a unique relationship with a pollinator specific to that form. This project studies speciation driven by plant-pollinator interactions and also has direct consequences for conservation efforts.
The Politics of People
Dr Nigel Parsons, of Massey University, has been studying the practice of population management in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories with the aid of a Marsden Fund grant. His research relates to a swing in the emphasis of government from territory (geopolitics) to people (biopolitics) and looks at issues such as welfare provision, military occupation, and infrastructure development.
Microbes on Mt Erebus, Antarctica
Supported by the Marsden Fund, a team led by Professor Craig Cary of the University of Waikato is studying microbial speciation, biogeography and evolution of thermal adaptation at Tramway Ridge on Mt Erebus, an active volcano in Antarctica. Tramway Ridge is the most geographically isolated geothermal site on earth.
Evolution in the Southern Alps
What regulates biodiversity? Dr Gavin Lear, supported by the Marsden Fund, is testing a controversial new theory of evolution, Hubbell’s neutral theory. He and his team are studying the influence of birth, death, speciation and migration on the composition of bacterial ecosystems in alpine tarns in the Southern Alps of New Zealand.
Volcanic Rifts in Ethiopia
Dr Julie Rowland from the University of Auckland was awarded a Fast-Start grant to travel to the Dabbahu rift in the Afar region of Ethiopia to investigate how faults grow when the Earth’s crust tears apart.
The Archaeology of Kosipe, Papua New Guinea
A team led by Professor Glenn Summerhayes of the University of Otago has been exploring the archaeology of Kosipe Valley in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. This Marsden Fund sponsored research has been unlocking answers to the colonisation of the land mass known as Sahul.
Modal Logic in Palermo
On a Marsden funded trip to Palermo, Italy, Dr Adriane Rini of Massey University discusses a problem in Ibn-Rushd’s (Averroёs) Arabic commentary on Aristotle’s modal logic with Professor Giuseppe Roccaro of the University of Palermo.
Photo Gallery
Browse photos of Marsden Fund sponsored research.
