Students may now apply for a very limited number of places in the one-year Postgraduate Diploma in Natural History Filmmaking and Communication. Applications need to be in by 31 October 2008 for the 1st round. Read More...

Larry Sanger addresses PCST-10 in Malmo, Sweeden


During the semester break, staff from the Centre for Science Communication have been attending overseas conferences. Jean has been in China, while Lloyd attended PCST-10 in Sweden.


The Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference held in Malmo, Sweden (and nearby Copenhagen) is one of the largest international conferences devoted to science communication. Lloyd took part in two sessions focusing on the teaching of science communication programmes at universities. It’s apparent that the University of Otago’s approach to the teaching of science communication is at the forefront of current best practice, blending theory and practice.
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View to the Apusilak Glacier (Photo: J. Mactavish)






Last week Jinty MacTavish had the premiere of her short film on Greenland. It was done for the Royal Society of New Zealand’s “Freemason Big Science Adventures”. The film was a feature at the RSNZ’s Science Honours Dinner held in Dunedin. The film covered the journey of three Otago Girls’ High School students to Greenland to confront the issues associated with global warming. Jinty cleverly documented the girls’ reactions using a mixture of beautifully lit studio interviews and sequences of the girls’ in situ.
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The veil of secrecy to rival a Bond film was finally lifted today and University of Otago was revealed as the first New Zealand university to become part of iTunes U – the part of the iTunes store devoted to universities and their material. Today saw the simultaneous launch of seven universities from this area of the globe (6 from Australia in addition to us), which collectively had been known as “The Secret Seven” while all the behind-the-scenes preparations went on.
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Student Film in SCINEMA 2008





A image from A Moment of Clarity – a film by Sarah Cowhey and Louise Davidson
A Moment of Clarity (by Louise Davidson and Sarah Cowhey from the Class of 06/07) has been selected for the SCINEMA 2008 Festival of Science Film in Australia.

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Student Films on the Documentary Channel
A 13-part series of our students’ films is currently on air on the Documentary Channel (Sky Television, Channel 74). The films have been getting rave reviews. Not bad for homework! Coming up Tuesday is “Singing Wood” by Sina Walker and Wiebke Finkler. Read More...

Sandy Crichton (left) graduate of the Postgraduare Diploma in Natural History Filmmaking and Communication

Sandy Crichton graduated from the Postgraduate Diploma in Natural History Filmmaking at the University of Otago. While doing the diploma he simultaneously began work on a film about New Zealand falcons. After graduating he went on to continue making the film and in the process set up Catskill Films, a video production company.



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Finlay MacDonald (left) chats with Assoc Prof Ian Jamieson before delivering his Distinguished Communicator Lecture

Finlay Macdonald chose to give a lecture based on an amalgam of his columns for the Sunday Star Times. He’s been described as “New Zealand’s premier journalist” and he was certainly being provocative in his talk, which drew parallels between the political hype around Barack Obama in the USA and that surrounding John Key in New Zealand.




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Finlay MacDonaldPhoto courtesy of TVNZ).


Finlay Macdonald – former editor of The Listener, provocative columnist in the Sunday Star Times, and host of TVNZ’s Talk Talk show will be giving the second in our Distinguished Communicator Lecture Series:






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Claudia Babirat at launch of The Business of Documentary Filmmaking . (Photo courtesy of Tanya and Longacre Press).


Graeme Wilson, Chairman of the New Zealand Screen Council, launched “The Business of Documentary Filmmaking” at a celebration last night for the opening of the Centre for Science Communication. The book is by Claudia Babirat (the first graduate of the University of Otago’s new Master of Science Communication) and her supervisor, Lloyd Spencer Davis.


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The Centre for Science Communication launched

Kath Dickinson and Kevin Gould, who both teach in SCOM 406, enjoy a celebratory drink with Prof Colin Townsend (Photo courtesy of Tanya).












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The cover of the new book on documentary filmmaking by Claudia Babirat and Lloyd Spencer Davis




The new Centre for Science Communication is to be launched officially on 21 February. As part of the launch, the first Masters of Science Communication graduate from the programme, Claudia Babirat, will launch her book (with Lloyd).






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Ian McGee clutching his well-deserved Emmy (Photo courtesy of NHNZ).

The Centre for Science Communication is very pleased to announce the appointment of Ian McGee as its new Director of Filmmaking.





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Nic with a Kakapo, New Zealand’s critically endangered flightless parrot (Photo courtesy of TVNZ).


Nicola Vallance (from the inaugural call Class of 2001) is fronting a new series of mini documentaries to feature on TVNZ’s new digital channel (Channel 6).




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