Student Scientists Tackle Mauri Restoration at Ngati Otara Creek
October 2015
Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate students, in collaboration with AUT University, have a dream to restore the Mauri to the
Ngati Otara Creek. As one of six projects funded under the Participatory Science Platform- South Auckland Pilot, the
students and AUT scientists are a step closer to again using the creek that runs adjacent to their school fields for
recreation and fishing.
Gerschen Van Niekerk, Senior School science teacher says “this project is such a great opportunity to get students
hooked into science that has real, tangible meaning for their lives. It’s also a great opportunity to link the teaching
and learning between all the core subjects, and get collaboration going between Science, Technology, Engineering and
Mathematics (STEM) teaching at the Junior, Middle and Senior school levels.”
The Collegiate team are working with local community groups and council in addition to Dr Armagan Sabetian, head of
Applied Ecology from AUT University, and will be holding a community showcase day on the 7th November for the students
to share their science journey with the wider local community.
“We’re really thrilled to have a SouthSci project at our school- it’s a brilliant opportunity to further invigorate our
science teaching and build on our network with local STEM professionals” says Senior School Principal, Peter Uys.
The students will use state of the art water quality analysis equipment and pair their laboratory tests with a wider
understanding of the Mauri of the creek and surrounding area. They hope to monitor the area long term, and see changes
in their testing as a result of native-tree planting, rubbish collection and other supplementary activities.
The group of students taking part in the project will meet several times over the next couple of months, learning how to
use the equipment, seeing examples of restored creeks, and collecting data. The wider project team will be looking into
how to get local business and industry partners that share the creek space with the school interested and engaged in the
project.
SouthSci Project Manager, Dr Sarah Morgan says “it’s an ideal site for a combined effort from not only the wider school
community, but the businesses that have premises in the East Tamaki area, who may have interaction with the creek – even
if it’s just storm water drainage from the land around their factories: everyone can take ownership for the state of our
environment.”
ENDS