Adapting to the online environment

31 March, 2021

As classes and meetings moved online in March as Aotearoa New Zealand entered Level 4 lockdown, we adapted our community outreach activities to the virtual environment.

Digital Regional Lecture Series

This year’s annual Regional Lecture Series was based on our successful ‘Materials: Fact or Fiction’ collaboration with RNZ’s Nights, running as a series of webinars tailored to each audience group. Audience members tuned into the events via Zoom, either in the comfort of their own home, or science societies.

Our researchers took their science fiction knowledge to the regions - Hawke’s Bay, Tauranga, Wanaka and Nelson. These researchers were Dr Mike Price, Principal Investigators, Professor Penny Brothers, Professor Duncan McGillivray, Professor Bill Williams, and Associate Investigators, Dr Chris Bumby, Dr Michel Nieuwoudt, Dr Krista Steenbergen, and Dr Erin Leitao.

We also ran a couple of Zoom sessions with Year 7/8 school students – turning the ‘Materials; Fact or Fiction’ template into a interactive school session. The students had lots of questions and feedback was outstanding.