

Life changes
About three weeks ago my family and I made a very big life change. We moved from comfortable, convenient, leafy suburbia on the Kapiti...


Did you know moreporks mewed?
I woke up with the rain gurgling down the guttering at 5:30am this morning, made myself my customary morning coffee and sat down to do...


Oases of nature created by unsung restoration heroes
Our communities are much the richer thanks to the tireless efforts of volunteers who spend many hours - week in and week out - restoring...


The costs of our love affair with detached houses and cars - 1981 report
Last month, the OECD's most recent report on New Zealand's environmental 'performance' was released. This is the fourth OECD report on...


Are we losing our most valuable soils to urban expansion?
Recently, TV3's NewsHub alerted New Zealanders to the loss of some of our best quality soils to urban expansion [watch the story here]....


"Ravaged Beauty" wins prestigious Sherrard Award
Last week I learned that my first book, Ravaged Beauty: An environmental history of the Manawatu, has won the major award (sole winner)...


Geomentality: seeing the world in different ways
Recently I attended a hui to discuss landscape assessment in New Zealand. The discussion turned to the view of "landscape" from a te ao...


The narrowing 'margin for environmental miscalculation'
I feel compelled to share more gleanings from Lynton Caldwell - I am simply astounded by how strongly his ruminations still resonate...


'Public interest' = political power?
I have been reading an article by American professor of government, Lynton Caldwell. The article, published in 1963, is thought to be the...


Is the world as it appears... or not really?
Keeping with the 'word of the day' theme, this one is a blinder. verisimilitude I encountered this one in Rebecca Solnit's A field guide...



















