New Zealand-based Gibraltarian Ecologist to host special lecture

Dr Laurence Barea will be delivering a special museum lecture at the John Mackintosh Hall on the pressures facing New Zealand birds 

Dr Barea is a Gibraltarian living and working in New Zealand, and he will present his talk entitled ‘Bird Conservation in New Zealand: Predators and Prospects’ on Tuesday, July 16 at 7pm. 

He has been interested in nature, particularly birds from a very young age, and completed a BSc and MSc with research into the ecology of the New Zealand falcon. 

After working for the New Zealand Department of Conservation and as a consultant in the USA, he moved to Australia with his family where he completed his PhD on the relationship between painted honeyeaters and their primary resource, mistletoe. 

He is now a Principal Ecology Advisor for the New Zealand Department of Conservation where his work sits between science and policy and development of new environmental legislation. 

In his presentation, Dr Barea will provide an overview of the struggles faced by New Zealand birds.  

Using a case study on the native Kōkako, he will show how understanding these pressures and managing them can prevent the extinction of New Zealand’s unique birds.  

The presentation is open to the public and is free of charge.