Wednesday 28 November 2012

PhD week 38: Otago Museum

Loganburn Reservoir, Otago, New Zealand

Last week I had the opportunity to visit Otago Museum. This was something of an achievement, as the museum has a reputation for being difficult to access. I had two days in their collection, looking through the weevil material primarily. I found a good number of Irenimus specimens, including some from some rather exciting and remote locations. However, it was a case of quality over quantity, with most specimens being represented by fairly small series.

While I was in Dunedin I also had the opportunity to go out collecting with a bunch of the AgResearch Invermay crew. We had a very pleasant morning up on the Rock and Pillar plateau, in the vicinity of Loganburn Reservoir. We did a combination of vacuum sampling and soil turves for extraction in the lab. It was a beautiful morning, as well as being a valuable experience for me, experiencing how AgResearch go about their sampling.

I returned from Dunedin in time to catch the big Christchurch Tango weekend, with six milongas over three days, organised by Tangovibe and La Luna. Once it was over, we worked out that we spent 16 hours dancing over the course of the weekend. An excellent way to round off an enjoyable week.


Read:
   Brown CG. 2010. What was the Religious Crisis of the 1960s? Journal of Religious History 34(4): 468–479

Websites:
Ubuntu Forums—Create ISO from USB drive
B & F Papers—Goatskin Parchment

Listened:
Martin GRR. A Clash of Kings audiobook read by Roy Dotrice