A chilly breeze whips up Col Lyall on Campbell Island – enough to encourage donning another layer, but not quite enough to budge the mist that has settled on the top of the ridge. The southern royal albatrosses scattered among the tussock can only be made out as large white blobs. So, not a day for sightseeing. But that doesn't bother Una Drayton – she's got work to do.
Una Drayton from Ohakune giving peat core sampling fieldwork on Campbell Island two thumbs up! Photo: RNZ
Una is part of the Sir Peter Blake Trust 2023 expedition to Campbell Island, one of 11 students working with scientists to experience what fieldwork in wild places is like. Today she is helping Dr Greer Gilmer of GNS Science Dunedin to extract a peat core sample.
This peat holds clues about what the climate was like at these southern latitudes from the present back to the last glacial maximum – an estimated period of about 14,000 years.
Dr Greer Gilmer of GNS Science Dunedin shows off some of the peat core sample she has collected. Photo: RNZ
It's just one of three scientific aims that the Sir Peter Blake Trust has for this expedition, though the wider goal of the Trust is to encourage the next generation of conservationists to look after our environment, says expedition director Jacob Anderson.
Listen to the episode to learn about the work of the Trust, the goals of the 2023 expedition, and just what Greer is hoping to learn from the peat samples she retrieves.
To learn more:
- This is just a small part of the work that happened on Operation Endurance, a New Zealand Defence Force and government agency collaboration to enable research in remote New Zealand territories. However, the operation was cut short when the navy ship, the HMNZS Canterbury, was recalled to help with the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle. You can hear about the whole experience in the full length Our Changing World episode for this week.
- Read about the work of the Sir Peter Blake Trust on their website.
