Yearly Archives: 2020

The human gut is home to trillions of microorganisms, and research is finding that this microbiome has important impacts on our health and wellbeing. However, what do you do when you feel that your gut microbiome needs a boost? It is possible to change your microbiome, for both better and worse? University of Canterbury MSc Psychology student Jessica Heaton outlines interesting ways to improve our gut microbiome's bacterial diversity, and how this can impact our physical and mental health.

Are NZ fish oil supplements safe, true to label and can they provide a health benefit? I recently co-authored an article in the New Zealand Medical Journal looking at whether omega-3 fatty acids contained in 10 fish oil supplements sold...

For the past several years, through the NUTRIMUM study, Te Puna Toiora | UC’s Mental Health and Nutrition Research group has been investigating the effect that micronutrient supplementation, and maternal depression and anxiety can have on infant development. One...

It is often said that pursuing a PhD is a matter of choice, and I couldn’t agree more. It has almost been a year since I started my second doctoral degree at the University of Canterbury. Whenever I have...

One of my favourite groups of New Zealand plants are our native conifers. Most people don’t realise that we have 21 described species and two undescribed species. These are spread across ten genera in three of the six global...

Art and science are more intricately linked than we usually imagine. Both are driven by the innate human need to make sense of things. As artists and scientists, we want to understand the vast, complex world around us better....

The GEOL242 lab goes online with a kaleidoscopic new interactive learning experience.

The discipline of town planning spans back to when humans first started to live in permanent settlements. As anyone who has been flatting will know, once more than about two people start living together some decisions need to be...

In late February, University of Canterbury glaciologist Dr Heather Purdie led a field team on a research campaign to Tasman Glacier in the Southern Alps to undertake data collection for her Royal Society Te Apārangi Marsden Fast-Start project, which...

Not just a knock on the head A Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is caused by a trauma to the head that can cause damage to the brain. Data shows that the majority of TBIs are received from car accidents and...