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Te Pūnaha Matatini

@tepunahamatatini.bsky.social
1.9K followers 447 following 857 posts

The Aotearoa New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence for complex systems. From complexity to possibility.

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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
One of the goals at Te Pūnaha Matatini is to encourage transdisciplinary research that transcends the normal boundaries of our disciplinary training to create something new 🧵🧪
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
We're looking for a postdoctoral fellow to work at the intersection of ecology and data science 🧪 www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/posts/postdo... #movingtonewzealand #movingtonz
tepunahamatatini.ac.nz
Postdoctoral fellowship in ecology and data science
Join the Centre for Sustainability Research at the University of Otago as a postdoctoral research fellow in ecology and data science.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
The first recording from the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 is now available online. Tanya Allport and Tom Johnson share how Indigenous-led research can shape the way complex systems are understood, navigated, and changed → www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hhv... #cccss26 #complexsystems 🧪
youtube.com
When Te Ruru calls, the system must listen: Seeing the unseen in complex systems
YouTube video by Community Research
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
'Ongo mei he fonua – Sounds of soil (contamination)', the artwork created by our inaugural guest artist Sione Faletau, is on display at Pātaka Art + Museum in Porirua until 19 July → pataka.org.nz/whats-on/exh...
Sione Faletau's artwork Ongo mei he fonua – Sounds of soil (contamination) on display at Pataka Museum in Porirua.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
At Café Complexité this month, Kristi Palmer spoke about the enablers and barriers that determine whether initiatives survive long after government attention moves on and what it takes to make change actually stick in complex systems.
Kristi Palmer presents at Café Complexité in Wellington.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
Te Pūnaha Matatini is delighted to announce that Professor Melinda Allen has accepted a role as kairangi, recognising her long‑standing contribution to the centre and her leadership in interdisciplinary, community‑engaged research → www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/posts/melind...
tepunahamatatini.ac.nz
Melinda Allen accepts role as kairangi at Te Pūnaha Matatini
Professor Melinda Allen has accepted a role as kairangi at Te Pūnaha Matatini, recognising her long-standing contribution, and her research leadership.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Complex systems approaches have huge potential to improve our ability to predict, prepare for and recover from increasingly frequent extreme weather events. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
rnz.co.nz
Extreme weather scientists warn of impending funding drought
'Some nerd sitting in an office' doesn't seem like exciting research to fund but it's answering urgent questions about severe weather, a climate scientist says.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
On Saturday our Kaumātua Professor Tom Roa was invested as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori language and education 🏅
Dame Cindy Kiro and Professor Tom Roa smile warmly at Tom's investiture as a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
😎
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
English is spoken by 95% of people in New Zealand, yet a bill to grant it the same official status as te reo Māori and New Zealand sign language is now heading to select committee and likely to become law 🧪🧵
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
If you want to keep the kōrero flowing after the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium, head along to Café Complexité on Thursday morning at The Atom → www.wgtn.ac.nz/complexity-s...
wgtn.ac.nz
Café Complexité | Te Maheno / Chair in Complexity Science | Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington
Learn more about Café Complexité—a relaxed, pre-work meet-up to engage with complexity science.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Mackay Price went along to the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium, and it got him thinking: what does it take to change complex systems? Read his reflection on what it means to fundamentally change systems while being constrained to work within them → www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/posts/comple...
Mackay Price presents at the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026.
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vt-sci-ctzn.bsky.social @vt-sci-ctzn.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
It's not about the data; it's about the STORY: the data provide the raw materials, but the story is what conveys the message. It is what embodies the communication of meaning and appropriate action.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Real-time analysis of epidemic trends and forecasts can help support public health planning and the response to seasonal respiratory disease 🧪 Here are two models that were used in a 2025 New Zealand winter situational assessment programme for three respiratory pathogens → arxiv.org/abs/2603.01374
arxiv.org
Multi-pathogen situational assessment and forecasting of respiratory disease in Aotearoa New Zealand
Real-time analysis of epidemic trends and forecasts can help support public health planning and the response to seasonal respiratory disease. Here, we present two models that were used in a 2025 New Z...
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
"We have to learn to operate under extreme levels of uncertainty." Te Pūnaha Matatini Principal Investigator @jdtonkin.bsky.social joined @jessedamiani.bsky.social on @urgentfutures.bsky.social to discuss his pivot toward solutions for biodiversity loss 🧪 www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTv7...
youtube.com
Biodiversity on the Brink: Ecological Rhythms & Human Urgency - Jonathan Tonkin | RR #20
YouTube video by Jesse Damiani
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Anyone tuning into political debates about the recently introduced English Language Bill might be led to think New Zealand’s most widely spoken tongue is endangered 🧵
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 08/03/2026
Repping @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social in the desert of New Mexico.
The poster, wearing a black Te Pūnaha Matatini shirt against the white dunes of White Sands National Park
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Michael Plank @michaelplanknz.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
🎓We are advertising three 2-year research+teaching positions in applied maths or stats. These have a reduced teaching load (50 lectures a yr) compared to a standard academic position so applicants can gain teaching experience while having time for research jobs.canterbury.ac.nz/jobdetails/a...
jobs.canterbury.ac.nz
Lecturer / Postdoctoral Fellow in Applied Mathematics or Statistics (2-year fixed-term) - University of Canterbury | Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
The poster is an excellent conference format 🧪🧵
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
In the summer of 2022, extreme heat and unprecedented drought drove parts of the world’s third largest river, the Yangtze, to dry up 🧪🧵
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Jonathan Tonkin @jdtonkin.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
What do floods, droughts, heatwaves and compound events actually do to river ecosystems? My latest post walks through nine real-world impact pathways — from reaching physiological limits to cascading network‑wide effects. A guided tour of a rapidly changing reality.
predirections.substack.com
Nine ways extreme events reshape river biodiversity
How floods, droughts, heatwaves, and compound events are impacting life in rivers
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Complexity Science Hub @csh.ac.at · 03/03/2026
📢 We’re hiring! The Complexity Science Hub is opening 2–3 Postdoc positions in our #CSHPostDocProgram. 🌟 1 year funding to build your own research agenda 🎯 Training in leadership, science communication & more 🎡 Vibrant community in one of the world’s most liveable cities csh.ac.at/education/po...
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Last week 160 researchers and practitioners gathered in Aotearoa New Zealand for the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium #cccss26 #complexsystems 🧵 🧪
Photograph showing a lecture theatre full of smiling complex systems researchers and practitioners.
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Bridget Williams Books @bwbnz.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Longlisted in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards! 'The Covid Response' by Shaun Hendy – an insider's account of New Zealand's pandemic response, unpacking the science behind high-stakes decisions and the lessons they hold for the future. Available now: bwb.co.nz/books/the-covid-re...
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment says New Zealand’s environmental data needs to be consolidated and made public before the new resource management system kicks in, if politicians want it to work as intended → newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/02/e...
newsroom.co.nz
Environment watchdog reveals top priority for consenting reform
Simon Upton says NZ needs to sort out its messy data environment before it can make good decisions about its natural environment, writes Fox Meyer.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Te Tira Maurikura member Natalia Albert is concerned that political messaging is being oversimplified to the point of nonsense. Last night she joined Emile Donovan for the first of her weekly half-hour slots on Radio NZ to talk politics: www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...
rnz.co.nz
How useful are State of the Nation speeches?
Political scientist Natalia Albert has been digesting them, and shares her thoughts with Emile Donovan.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
It's the last day of #NetSciX2026. Thanks to this wonderful group of people from around the world for joining us in Tāmaki Makaurau to understand the weaving of the world through network science 🌐
A group of NetSciX participants stand on stairs at the University of Auckland.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 19/02/2026
I've had such a marvelous trip through Aotearoa New Zealand. Today at the University of Auckland wonderful—seeing Sam, @kecain.bsky.social, @nicholaraihani.bsky.social, @billhanage.bsky.social (visiting from the states), and more. Thank you to @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social for bringing me here.
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Markus Luczak-Roesch @mluczak.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Afternoon keynote on day 3 at #NetSciX2026 by Yukie Sano covering a breadth of work on dynamics of collective attention and memory online
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Lewis Mitchell @lewismath.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
It me! This was so much fun, and such a huge honour. #NetSciX2026 is fantastic.
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Markus Luczak-Roesch @mluczak.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Science of science thematic session at #NetSciX2026 kicking off with a talk by @kylehigham.bsky.social about work on research-policy ecosystems supported by @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
And we're off with day two of #NetSciX2026 in Tāmaki Makaurau!
Michael Small opens day two of NetSciX 2026
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
#NetSciX2026 kicked off yesterday with a network science school day, deep diving into meso-scale organisation of networks, Indigenous data sovereignty, ecological networks, and a gentle introduction to deep graph learning for network scientists from Ingo Sholtes (pictured) 🤷‍♂️
Ingo Sholtes delivers a lecture at NetSciX 2026
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Shaun Hendy @hendysh.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Looking forward to talking about this next week at CCCSS. I'll be asking how our pandemic response might have been different if we'd used complexity thinking. Without wanting giving too much away, it's a trick question ...
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 15/02/2026
Hi Auckland friends, I'll be in town and giving a couple of seminars this coming Thursday. Details below.
SBS Seminar Series 2026. Professor Carl Bergstrom. 

Seminar 1: Information foraging in a social media world. 11am-12pm

Seminar 2: Modern day oracles or bullshit machines: How to thrive in a ChatGPT world. 1 pm -2 pm

Venue: 114-G14
Time: 11 am - 2 PM
Thursday 19 February
Light refreshments 12pm-1pm
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
Mathematical models are often employed as devices for prediction or optimisation. But when models are applied to complex systems they can become elements within the systems they seek to represent. Explore complex systems in action with @hendysh.bsky.social at #cccss26 → bit.ly/3O4FNee
bit.ly
Keynote: Complex systems in action
When models are applied to complex systems in action, they can influence decisions and trajectories, becoming elements within the systems they seek to represent.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 14/02/2026
I really enjoyed this interview with Mihingarangi Forbes. In 20 minutes we managed to touch on numerous issues relating to how AI is changing society, issues I've been grappling daily in conversations with colleagues here in New Zealand.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
"Nothing like this has existed before, and we don't quite know what it does to people." @carlbergstrom.com spoke to Mihingarangi Forbes about living with AI on Saturday Morning this morning → www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro... #cccss26 🧪
rnz.co.nz
Professor Carl Bergstrom: Living with AI
Internationally acclaimed scientist Carl Bergstrom on why humans are so psychologically wired for online and whether we are living with "modern-day oracles or bullsh*t machines."
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
The idea that there is a “science of learning” (singular) currently holds considerable policy sway. Join Rosemary Hipkins at #cccss26 as she uses insights from the complexity sciences to explore learning as a non-linear, highly contextualised and nuanced phenomenon → bit.ly/3ZrEpVn
bit.ly
Keynote: Framing learning as a complex phenomenon
A complexity framing highlights challenges for education policy.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
For his keynote at the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium, @carlbergstrom.com will present a trio of mathematical models to explore why scientists are reluctant to propose and conduct high-risk research → bit.ly/4r0UM7s 🧪 #cccss26 #complexsystems
bit.ly
Keynote: The impediments to high-risk, high-return science
Scientific researchers may be driven by curiosity, but they are constrained by the realities of the scientific ecosystems in which they operate and motivated by the incentives with which they are confronted.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Health inequity, climate breakdown, and institutional failure are not simply products of flawed systems. Join us at #cccss26 to explore how place-based Indigenous frameworks, particularly those grounded in Māori knowledge, are reshaping the study of complexity → bit.ly/3MypHcf
tepunahamatatini.ac.nz
Keynote: When Te Ruru calls, the system must listen
Seeing the unseen in complex systems.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
The registration deadline has been brought forward to Monday 16 February #cccss26 #complexsystems
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Registrations for the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium close on Monday 16 February at 12pm NZDT. There's not many tickets left, so get in there if you want to come → www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/conferences/... #cccss26 #complexsystems
Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 24-25 Feb 2026
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 09/02/2026
NZ shorebird and seabird thread. I'm going to go ahead and post some shots before carefully editing and sorting; I'm already falling hopelessly behind. Let's start with a variable oystercatcher chick and parent. 🪶
Dark oystercatcher chick facing the camera, spread down against the rock, as a watchful parent with bright orange bill and red eye-circle looks over it.
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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 11/02/2026
I had the most delightful conversation around AI, social media, and human values this afternoon with researchers at Otago University.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
@carlbergstrom.com is in Aotearoa and generously sharing his expertise with our early career researchers 🙌
A selfie with Carl Bergstrom and a group of early career researchers in a university room.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Championing a very large worm for #bugoftheyear led a group of Te Pūnaha Matatini researchers on a journey of invertebrates, bioluminescence, te ao Māori, mātauranga Māori, and outreach and engagement → www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/posts/champi... #votelength 🧪
tepunahamatatini.ac.nz
Championing the North Auckland worm for Bug of the Year
A Bug of the Year campaign has combined passions for invertebrates, bioluminescence, te ao Māori, mātauranga Māori, and outreach and engagement.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
While there are many definitions of systems thinking, most ignore the “thinking” part. Join us at the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium to hear Diane Finegood explore what it means to apply systems thinking in practice → bit.ly/4rFTBKr #complexsystems #cccss26
tepunahamatatini.ac.nz
Keynote: Confessions of a recovering reductionist
Join Diane Finegood at the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium.
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
We live in a world more complex, interdependent, and entangled than at any point in human history — from shifting climates to fragile democracies 🧪🧵
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Te Pūnaha Matatini @tepunahamatatini.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
It’s more than a metre long and can expel glowing yellow ooze from its anus. Doesn’t that sound like Bug of the Year material to you? 🧪 #votelength #bugoftheyear thespinoff.co.nz/science/09-0...
thespinoff.co.nz
Siouxsie Wiles: Why this giant worm should be crowned New Zealand’s best bug
It's more than a metre long and can expel glowing yellow ooze from its anus. Doesn't that sound like Bug of the Year material to you?
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