University co-locators collaborate to restore the Hauraki Gulf

In the face of systemic challenges like marine overfishing, climate change, and biodiversity loss, the key to real progress is radical collaboration. By bringing together conservation organisations like Revive Our Gulf (ROG) and The Nature Conservancy, researchers like Dr Jenny Hillman from the University of Auckland, and iwi groups like Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust, it’s possible to create lasting, meaningful change in our environment.

To date, they have transplanted over 475 tonnes of mussels over three projects in the Hauraki Gulf, which filter 358 billion litres of water per year.

Revive Our Gulf is working on several innovative projects to restore mussel reefs in the Hauraki Gulf. Based out of a lab in the Newmarket Innovation Precinct (NIP), they are pioneering a niche use-case for remotely operated vehicle (ROV) technologies: surveying the health of mussel reefs and marine ecosystems.

The project includes a strong educational component, with community members and iwi groups learning to operate the ROVs, enabling them to actively engage with local mussel reef restoration and, more recently, monitor invasive species such as caulerpa.

The University, through the Faculty of Science, plays a key role in supporting the research that informs these restoration efforts, particularly in understanding how to make environments habitable for mussel repopulation.

A team of PhD researchers from the School of Marine Science have been evaluating the strength of rock surfaces, and more recently, the science behind the removal of caulerpa with UV light.

This has led to consideration of the future means for the application of solutions underwater. ROG adviser Peter Miles has begun a collaboration with the Centre for Automation and Robotic Engineering Science (CARES) to develop tools that can act underwater.

Fourth-year Engineering student Sam Reedy and his supervisor Trevor Gee worked with land-based robotic sensing technologies developed by the centre for agricultural applications, to see how they might perform in an ocean environment.

Project manager Katina Conomos values the opportunity NIP provides to bring the entire team together on one site, proximate to researcher collaborators and other research-focused organisations. The co-location at NIP enables a more cohesive and responsive approach to problem-solving between team members than before.

For Dr Jenny Hillman, ROG’s chief science adviser and marine scientist at the University of Auckland, operating out of the Newmarket Innovation Precinct has provided Revive Our Gulf not only with much-needed access to facilities but also with opportunities for new collaborations with computer scientists and engineers at the University.

Philanthropic funding, such as that provided by the Mussel Reef Restoration Trust, is supporting both research and practical applications in the workshop. Moving forward, the goal is to deepen the existing research relationship with the University and foster new collaborations with the Faculty of Engineering, particularly with regard to growing student involvement within these initiatives.