New Zealand International Science Festival

25/06/2026

Thanks to the Star ⭐for 2 great articles today.
You may already have a copy at home, but you can read them online here:
https://www.odt.co.nz/the-star/science-festival-expansion-driven-demand
https://digital.thestar.co.nz/html5/default.aspx

24/06/2026

ART AND SCIENCE PANEL - 15th July

❓We often put art and science in separate camps, but what happens when they are allowed to mingle?

✨Join us for this illuminating kōrero with trailblazing ArtSci practitioners'

🎨Afterwards, join us for a late night opening of the ArtScience Exhibition (next door) to see these ideas in action.

Pay what you can afford: recommended $15, but choose your own price!

24/06/2026

📣Our Festival brochures are ready to go...so come and grab some from our office at 19 George St and share them with your friends!

This year is our biannual smaller festival - Nanofest - so the brochure is just a highlight of the whole festival. Remember to check out the full festival online at www.scifest.org.nz/programme

23/06/2026

Our friends at Predator Free Dunedin will be at the Festival Hub Wednesday 15th July 10am-3:30pm where they'll be sharing some of the gadgets they use to track down possums..... but for now it's community power! Here's a great chance to get involved and spend some time outside, and who knows what other interesting things you might spot.. ruru, wētā, shooting stars?

In less than one week, Spotlight on Possums lights up Ōtepoti. From 22 to 28 June, we are turning winter nights into a city‑wide possum hunt (the friendly kind).

Wherever you are in Dunedin, if you spot a possum on a fence line, in a tree or raiding the veges, you have found something we really want to know about. Every report helps us stay one step ahead.

For those of you on the Otago Peninsula, the job is to help keep that possum‑free status rock solid. A quiet evening walk and a “no possums seen” tick is exactly the sort of data we need to confirm things are still on track.

Check out how to take part, stay safe, and report what you see (or do not see) on our event page: https://www.predatorfreedunedin.org/spotlight/

City Sanctuary
Halo Project - Beyond Orokonui

23/06/2026

💖The Heart of the Festival 💖

Our Festival Hub is always the heart of the festival and this year will be no different! We've got an amazing line-up of local science organisations bringing hands-on activities and experiments to entertain and educate the whole family. Its totally FREE and there will be something different every day.

This year, the Festival Hub is hosted by 211 George St... and it's an amazing space! Plan to drop-in 15th-19th July.

Check out the programme for the full list of stalls and workshops:
https://scifest.org.nz/programme/nanofest-festival-hub

23/06/2026

Scary stuff!! Pam MacKinlay's installation 'Time Once Upon Us' also explores these stripes. Check it out in the Whitebox Gallery outside our office at 19 George St for the whole month of July https://scifest.org.nz/programme/time-once-upon-us

Here are Aotearoa New Zealand’s climate stripes 👋

Each of these stripes represents our average annual temperature, relative to the 1991-2020 average.

Continuing trend ... we’re in the red 🟥

Four of New Zealand’s five warmest years on record have clocked in since 2021. The ongoing warming trend observed here at home and globally is largely driven by human greenhouse gas emissions.

We’re sharing our stripes as part of the annual Show Your Stripes Day - a powerful way to communicate the reality of climate change as a simple visual supported by robust scientific data.

Our stripes are calculated from our ‘seven station’ series – a long-running temperature record pulled from measurement sites at seven locations ...

📍 Auckland, Masterton, Wellington, Hokitika, Nelson, Lincoln and Dunedin.

These seven locations make the cut because they provide broad geographical coverage and long records. They’ve been collecting measurements since 1909.

Links below for more on our 2025 climate, and to see the stripes from other locations around the world.

🔗 https://niwa.co.nz/climate-and-weather/annual/annual-climate-summary-2025
🔗 https://showyourstripes.info/



👋 University of Reading

22/06/2026

🧐Do you work with Data?
Gather your colleagues for a thought-provoking and fun afternoon of learning about data sovereignty... through an Escape Room!

Sequoia Short (Ngaati Maniapoto, Ngaati Apakura, Waikato-Tainui, Ngāti Toa Rangatira), a PhD student at Te Kura Pakihi – Otago Business School has created this escape room focused on Indigenous data sovereignty.

Rooted in Kaupapa Māori pedagogies, it promotes critical thinking and collaboration while addressing contemporary issues in the 'Data Revolution'. With successful facilitations across diverse groups including intermediate aged students through to postgraduate students as well as businesses, research institutes, and community organizations, our session serves as a model for innovative, culturally grounded education that promotes Indigenous perspectives in contemporary contexts.

The activity aims to enhance understanding of taonga Māori, data sovereignty, and related challenges, serving as a model for culturally grounded education that is fit-for-all.

Note this 1pm session is aimed at those working with data as professionals or students. There is another all ages session at 10am.

Book your spot at https://scifest.org.nz/programme/escape-room-data-guardians

21/06/2026

📣Calling all Researchers!!!📣

This workshop by the Ocean Media Institute and led by professional science communicators and multi-media artists, Gianna Savoie and Elizabeth Vanderburg, is an opportunity for researchers at any level of their career to come together in a safe, fun and welcoming environment to share their work, unlock their creativity, and learn to communicate their science better (and artfully) so that it resonates with the public.

Exploring science communication and visual storytelling devices through painting, writing and collage, participants will engage in a variety of exercises to flex the creative muscle and produce a finished piece of artwork that sings to the story of their science and celebrates the meaning of their work.

BOOKING ESSENTIAL - Participants do NOT need to have any artistic training or background.

20/06/2026

🟡🔴🟢Save Your Spot!😁
Start planning now for school holiday fun...here are 10 kid-friendly events that require a booking.

🟢Escape Room - Data Guardians
Understand the nuances of data sovereignty and intellectual property with puzzles!
📅Wed 15th July, 10am-12pm, PWYCA

🟢Marine Encounters
During a tour of the NZ Marine Studies Centre at Portobello, connect with your coast, meet local marine species in our touch tanks, and discover what makes them special.
📅Sunday 19th July, 10am and 12pm. $20/$10

🟢Chain Reaction!
Grab your family and friends and help us create a chain reaction from our fun mix of toys, kitchen equipment, blocks and balls.
📅Thurs 16th July, 10am, 11:30am, 1pm, $5pp

🟢Science Alive! Antarctica Film: Life Below Zero
Travel to the coldest place on Earth to see what life is like for researchers working on Antarctica in this short, 360 degree video.
📅Wed 15th - Sat 18th July, 10am, 10:30am, 12:30pm, $3pp

🟢The Currents of Aotearoa
Explore the planetary and climate sciences through theatre, creativity, community, fun and play.
📅Thurs 16th - Sat 18th, 10am, 12pm. PWYCA

🟢Intergalactic Bath Bombs!
Join the LUSH Dunedin team at the New Zealand International Science Festival for a hands-on bath bomb making experience full of colour, creativity, and fizz!
📅Sat 18th and Sun 19th July, 10am, 11am, 1pm, 2:30pm. $15pp

🟢 LEGO Robotics Workshops
LEGO has just released the new Computer Science and AI robotics kit! Come and explore this new robotics tool at Tūhura Otago museum.
📅Wed 15th, Thu 16th, Fri 17th July 10am - 3pm, FREE

🟢Heart Otago Dissection Labs
Participants will dissect a lamb’s heart, and learn the basic physiological functions of the heart, with the expert HeartOtago crew guiding the way!
📅Wed 15th July, 10am and 2pm, FREE

➡➡BOOK NOW at www.scifest.org.nz/programme

19/06/2026

Join us for this important and engaging conversation - Thurs 16th July!
We are so excited to bring this diverse panel of experts to Ōtepoti Dunedin for one night only.

Festival patron, Dame Juliet Gerrard will ably lead a robust discussion around the question 'What is your vision for the future of food in Aotearoa NZ?'.

Expect to be challenged, inspired, educated and to leave with plenty of food for thought! There will be a chance to ask questions, so start the conversation now with friends and whānau.

Book your place at https://scifest.org.nz/programme/future-of-food-panel.
Tickets are pay what you can afford so bring your friends!

Grateful thanks to University of Otago staff and other panelists for lending their expertise to this conversation.