Beginners' Guides have arrived!

From the desk of Dr Barbara Anderson, Ahi Pepe - MothNet Project Leader

The guides arrived yesterday 26 BOXES!!! The Beginners' Guides have all been printed and folded into a nice little concertina booklet that is easy to use in the field. We have:

  • EIGHT guides covering
  • FOUR bio-regions and
  • TWO languages (Te reo Māori and English)

Its hard to put into words how amazing it is to see them finally completely finished after all the hours of work. Thank you to the good folks Landcare Research.

First and foremost of course my co-conspirator Robert Hoare (Dr Robert) for his love of Moths, his eye for detail and expertise that he has so willingly shares and contributes to this project. To Birgit for the amazing moth images that truly make these guide what they are. For Nicolette who painstakingly scaled each moth to life size (all 222 of them) and of course all of the good folk who share offices with me for enduring the last few months of stress and fretting.

Huge props to Sean Gilles the talented illustrator from the Otago Design School Otago Polytechnic for the fantastic illustration full of symbolism and deftly merging cultural reference with natural history and science.

The enthusiasm and thoroughness that our colleagues at Kāi Tahu Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu and Te Tumu - School of Māori, Pacific & Indigenous Studies brought to this project have been a constant source of inspiration.

Tiahuia and the tamariki of te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ōtepoti who convinced me this project needed taking on and who make the long hours worth while - these guides are dedicated to you.

Tahu Orokonui Ecosanctuary for her endless good sense and positiveness and Dr Ralf Ohlemuller (Department of Geography, University of Otago) who does a million things as a science sounding board and is the best colleague and husband you could wish for.

Updated versions of the guides are available here