Update from Lucy Davidson – BLAKE’s 2023 GNS Antarctic ambassador
This past summer I had the incredible opportunity to spend six weeks in Antarctica, spending a month undertaking fieldwork in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. I was working alongside worldclass researchers trying to solve some of the countless uncertainties attached to our...
Four weeks in the Fiordlands with BLAKE GNS Science Ambassador Nicole Cameron
Moody clouds and mist slowly sift through the bush as small rain showers pass through Dusky Sound. The water is still, reflecting the mountains encircling our small vessel, the Polaris II. The mountains stand stoically, marked with rugged outcrops and bush-caped...
Reconstructing past environments
Motu Ihupuku, Campbell Island, remote and rugged, this uninhabited Sub Antarctic Island lies 700 km south of Te Waipounamu - New Zealand’s South Island. Campbell Island is home to a diverse abundance of unique wildlife, including six species of albatross, endemic...
Inspiring the future of Aotearoa through BLAKE Inspire
Together with the Ministry for the Environment, in 2022 we supported over 120 young people through our BLAKE Inspire programmes! In April and October, we brought our delegates to the Waikato region where they experienced opportunities to learn more about freshwater...
BLAKE presents NZ-VR at the Halberg Games South in Ōtautahi
The Halberg Foundation held their Halberg Games South 2022 on October 1st in Ōtautahi. This regional Halberg Games festival saw young people aged 8-21 years with a physical or visual impairment take part in a variety of sports on offer from those giving it a go, to...
Alice travels to Whenua Hou to help with the Kākāpō Recovery Programme
Earlier this year, Alice, our Head of Discovery Programmes and resident ‘bird nerd’ at BLAKE got the opportunity to visit Whenua Hou Codfish Island and assist in the Kākāpō Recovery programme. Kākāpō (Māori for ‘night parrot’) are nocturnal, flightless, and perhaps...
Students at Clevedon School inspired by NZ-VR
In August this year, the NZ-VR team presented their programme at Clevedon School, in Tāmaki Makaurau. Our lesson inspired their students to develop some lyrics and present it to the VR team during lunch break. Below is a copy of the lyrics and follow this link to a...
Catch up with Deirdre van der Linden, 2021 Inspire for Teachers alumni
“Place based education; begin where your feet are, where you are standing. Get to know this place first and then spread out into the world.”- Professor Wally Penetito Deirdre van der Linden, a teacher at Weymouth Primary School, is using the above quote as...
NZ-VR: Four years on and 50,000 students later! What’s next?
Shortly before Sir Peter Blake’s tragic death, he wrote in his journal “We want to restart people caring about the environment … through adventure, through participation, through education and through enjoyment.” – Sir Peter Blake BLAKE’s virtual reality programme...
Jack Beagley: My time in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica as a BLAKE Ambassador
Jack Beagley (25), 2021 BLAKE Antarctic Ambassador writes of his time in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica with some of the world’s leading researchers in tracking climatic changes through melting permafrost, and reflects on the scale of the challenges we face and how we...
Exciting things ahead – BLAKE Strategic Plan update January 2022
Building on the progress and momentum achieved through the successful execution of our strategic goals over the last 3 years, we recently finalised our strategic plan for 2021-2024 which aims to significantly grow our organisation and increase the impact we have. Some...
The Inimitable Legacy of Sir Peter Blake
20 years on, and the legacy of Sir Peter Blake is more critical than ever as we face unprecedented global environmental challenges Many New Zealanders will remember hearing of the death of Sir Peter Blake on the fifth of December 2001. As the shocking news of...