Wednesday 9th August
Movie - Everything's Cool
at 7pm,
Waimarie Community Centre,
53 Wellington Street, Hamilton East
For the past two decades researchers, activists, scientists, and progressive politicians have struggled to rouse the public and the federal government to take action on global warming. Concurrently, naysayers, industry funded think-tanks and lobbyists have worked tirelessly to challenge, convolute and dismiss the issue as hysterical. Everything's Cool tells the harrowing story of what it takes to talk about global warming -- the art of duking it out with collective denial, the struggle to communicate the urgency of the crisis to an indifferent public and a laggard United States government. We follow a cadre of messengers who are passionate, exasperated, driven by fear, hope and a deep appreciation for the ever shrinking window of time we have to stop global warming.
TEREX is coming 11 to 13 August
Pukemokemoke Declares War on Privet
We have as much as three hectares of both tree and Chinese privet at Pukemokemoke. (See map for location) Having spent years hand cutting, poisoning and planting we have agreed to take the initiative and have commissioned Vegetation Control to bring in a Terex mulcher to show us how to grind it up and spit it out. This will take place on Wed to Fri 11 to 13 August, this week:
You are invited to join us to see the demonstration and more particularly to discuss with us and have input into our plans to get on top of the weed. We are doing this at this time of the year so we can catch and treat the spring regrowth.
Come anytime on these 3 days, but preferably on Thursday 12 August at 10.30-12.30 am for a cup of tea and inspection/demo, followed by BYO lunch and discussion on how best to revegetate this riparian area with native plants over the next year or so.
Bring your gumboots, high-vis jacket and ear muffs. The gate over the bridge will be open so drive right into the log hauler site and gazebo.
RSVP to Alan Leadley mualleadley@xtra.co.nz
Or Warwick Silvester silvester@hnpl.net
Monday August 16
Hamilton Organic Group Meeting
At our meeting this coming Monday we’re delighted to be hosting organic grower and educator Peter Downard. Peter is a great speaker and has heaps of experience in the field.
Environment Centre, 7.30pm
Also don’t forget to bring along any spare seedlings, etc for the plant table.
See you on Monday! Enquiries Alice 8566271
Tuesday 17th August 7.30pm
Cafe Scientifique
Environmental oestrogens –the ultimate biochemical feminists
Ian Shaw, University of Canterbury
In the early 1990s it became apparent that hormone-related effects explained some of the strange phenomena being observed in both wildlife (e.g. decreased length of alligators’ penises) and humans (e.g. decreased sperm count). The hormones concerned were not natural, but instead were oestrogen (female sex hormone) mimic pollutants and food components. How do these pollutants, such as the polycarbonate plastic monomer, bisphenol-A, and natural food components such as genistein from soy, switch on the oestrogen receptor and result in biochemical feminisation? What does this mean for fertility in New Zealand and elsewhere? What motivates someone to measure the length of an alligator’s penis anyway? Ian will discuss studies in humans and animals, and will wander off into the world of computer-aided modelling of the oestrogen receptor which reveals all!
For more information about future Cafés in Hamilton, contact Marcus Wilson,
Phone 838 4834, e-mail science@waikato.ac.nz
http://www.sci.waikato.ac.nz/cafescientifique
