From HeroRATs to cancer-detecting canines, Dr. Tim Edwards is using the super-sniffing power of animals to save lives. While working for humanitarian organisation APOPO, Dr Edwards was responsible for the research behind the organisation’s HeroRATs – pouched African rats capable of smelling out landmines and tuberculosis. Now at the University of Waikato, he is continuing…
Kathleen Dabell’s precise work helped develop the internationally recognised Southern Hemisphere calibration curve, which converts radiocarbon measurements into real time. As Technical Coordinator of the University of Waikato’s Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory, Kathleen’s attention to detail means the quality of the lab’s small radiocarbon analyses (AMS) match the world’s best. Her innovative methods helped revise the…
Dr. James Carson’s findings on the behaviour of heat are the biggest research breakthroughs in this field since 1866. By developing new models for the way heat moves through like and unlike materials (such as you might find in various parts of a machine) as well as through food, Dr. Carson has made a massive…
Dr. Richard Bulmer’s research has advanced methods for managing mangroves and clarified how the gnarly estuarine plants could help us meet CO2reduction targets. The impact of rising carbon emissions on global warming has increased interest in identifying ecosystems with high carbon storage capacity. Richard’s initial research focused on how much carbon is stored in healthy…
Self-healing bio-concrete technology sounds like it has stepped straight out of a sci-fi movie. University of Waikato researchers Aydin Berenjian and Mostafa Seifan have cracked a problem that has been plaguing scientists and the construction industry worldwide. Concrete is a versatile and widely used building material but it is vulnerable to damage and requires monitoring…
Pastoral 21 delivered practical, science-backed strategies to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus losses from commercial dairy farms. Nitrogen and phosphorus losses from farmland influence water quality. By comparing the performance of a ‘current’ system with a modified ‘future’ system on four farmlets, over the space of five years, the Pastoral 21 research programme developed robust options…
Dr. Jade Tamatea is an emerging leader in endocrinology and thyroid disease in the Waikato region. An excess of thyroid hormones can have a number of undesirable effects on a person’s physical and mental health. Radioactive iodine is the common, definitive treatment for an over-active thyroid. Dr. Tamatea’s work has shown that this treatment is…
Health care that better meets the needs of Maori patients is the focus of Dr. Jacquie Kidd’s work. One of Dr. Kidd’s early projects explored the whanau ora health experiences of over 50 Maori men who had a chronic disease or cancer and led to the development of a unique evaluation framework – Te Korowai…
Renowned dermatologist, Amanda Oakley has dedicated her career to life-saving, early detection of melanoma. Melanoma accounts for 80% of skin cancer deaths. Over 4,000 people are diagnosed with a form of melanoma every year in New Zealand and around 350 a year die from it. Our rates are the world’s highest and would be higher…
Waikato-based research has set a global benchmark for energy-efficient milk powder processing and has potential to improve energy use in a range of industries here and overseas. As a result of work by the University of Waikato’s Energy Engineering Research Group, New Zealand milk powder processing plants are leading the world in terms of their…