Dr Lucy Stewart
@lcsnz.bsky.social
Fan of weird microbes, Pākehā nō Pōneke, dilettante crafter, co-President @nzscientists.bsky.social. All opinions my own etcetera.
ORCID: 0000-0001-7352-3329
ORCID: 0000-0001-7352-3329
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
I’m humbled & on cloud nine to have been awarded the NZ Assoc Scientists Cranwell Medal in Science Communication. I could not have done this level of sci comm without the support of my family & wonderful lab group. This award is as much for you as it is for me www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...
Prestigious medal for science communicator
www.otago.ac.nz
November 26, 2025 at 5:55 AM
I’m humbled & on cloud nine to have been awarded the NZ Assoc Scientists Cranwell Medal in Science Communication. I could not have done this level of sci comm without the support of my family & wonderful lab group. This award is as much for you as it is for me www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroo...
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
We hope to see you tomorrow at our conference and awards, in person in Wellington. If you can't make it, we'll have some limited streaming including the opening session and awards. Check the webpage for details.
scientists.org.nz/nzas-confere...
scientists.org.nz/nzas-confere...
November 24, 2025 at 11:10 PM
We hope to see you tomorrow at our conference and awards, in person in Wellington. If you can't make it, we'll have some limited streaming including the opening session and awards. Check the webpage for details.
scientists.org.nz/nzas-confere...
scientists.org.nz/nzas-confere...
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
The Cook Islands allowed over a hundred shadow fleet tankers trafficking sanctioned Russian and Iranian oil. A Big Read from me looking at the curious case of Maritime Cook Islands with an investigation employing big data analysis and fieldwork in Raro. www.nzherald.co.nz/business/com...
The dark fleet hiding in our own backyard: How the Cook Islands sold its flag to Moscow and Tehran
SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: How shadow fleets made the Cook Islands flag inconvienent.
www.nzherald.co.nz
November 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The Cook Islands allowed over a hundred shadow fleet tankers trafficking sanctioned Russian and Iranian oil. A Big Read from me looking at the curious case of Maritime Cook Islands with an investigation employing big data analysis and fieldwork in Raro. www.nzherald.co.nz/business/com...
Really wish the academic quoted in this article was being asked some more direct questions about exactly what 'harm' she thinks might be done if a teenager starts and then decides to stop puberty blockers. The fearmongering in the guise of concern is very tiresome.
One of the things cis women have long fought for bodily autonomy with are cries such as "get your laws off my body" & "my body, my choice" ... trans folks are no different.
This is why the ban on puberty blockers for trans folks is so incredibly stupid and ideological.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
This is why the ban on puberty blockers for trans folks is so incredibly stupid and ideological.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...
Halt to puberty blockers curses 'young transgender women to stigma'
That's the reaction of a model who used puberty blockers as a teen to rules halting new prescriptions for young people.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 21, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Really wish the academic quoted in this article was being asked some more direct questions about exactly what 'harm' she thinks might be done if a teenager starts and then decides to stop puberty blockers. The fearmongering in the guise of concern is very tiresome.
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
This was always a great radio programme. Informative, well-researched. I always learned something. It's disgraceful it is being cancelled.
The UK govt's attitude to the World Service is profoundly stupid. The BBC is one of the greatest projections of soft power for the UK
The UK govt's attitude to the World Service is profoundly stupid. The BBC is one of the greatest projections of soft power for the UK
For 61 years the #BBCWorldService has been broadcasting the latest in science via its weekly Science in Action programme. That dies in the next half hour, with this final edition, reflecting on the fall in trust in expertise driven by malign interests over recent years.
October 30, 2025 at 10:22 PM
This was always a great radio programme. Informative, well-researched. I always learned something. It's disgraceful it is being cancelled.
The UK govt's attitude to the World Service is profoundly stupid. The BBC is one of the greatest projections of soft power for the UK
The UK govt's attitude to the World Service is profoundly stupid. The BBC is one of the greatest projections of soft power for the UK
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
Great work @kirstyjohnston.bsky.social on this article, which shines a light on how short-sighted scrapping of good initiatives around energy by this current government led to us being painted into a corner that makes it seem our “only” option is importing gas.
#nzpol
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
#nzpol
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
The fuel of ‘last resort’: How imported gas became New Zealand’s first choice
It's expensive, vulnerable to price shocks and terrible for the planet. So why are we importing gas?
www.rnz.co.nz
November 17, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Great work @kirstyjohnston.bsky.social on this article, which shines a light on how short-sighted scrapping of good initiatives around energy by this current government led to us being painted into a corner that makes it seem our “only” option is importing gas.
#nzpol
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
#nzpol
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
tfw you and your wife simultaneously realise the day after that you forgot the wedding anniversary (it's been a very busy month)
November 14, 2025 at 10:02 PM
tfw you and your wife simultaneously realise the day after that you forgot the wedding anniversary (it's been a very busy month)
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
Fully support the universities in this. But if they are genuinely committed to ensuring "free public access to the research...taxes had funded" maybe those that limit access to electronic copies of theses to current staff or students could open them up to the public.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Universities in 'battle of the century' with journal publisher Elsevier
One New Zealand university told its staff all universities in New Zealand and Australia would "lose some degree of access" to the publisher's 1600 titles from the start of next year.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 14, 2025 at 4:29 AM
Fully support the universities in this. But if they are genuinely committed to ensuring "free public access to the research...taxes had funded" maybe those that limit access to electronic copies of theses to current staff or students could open them up to the public.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Always comforting when people feel they need to say things like this in so many words (end sarcasm tag) (this is from a MBIE email on the ongoing science reforms today)
November 13, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Always comforting when people feel they need to say things like this in so many words (end sarcasm tag) (this is from a MBIE email on the ongoing science reforms today)
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
Michael Archer, no stranger to media hype (see: resurrecting thylacines), has invented the "drop croc" based on the solid palaeotological evidence of…fossil eggshell. There's no evidence that any terrestrial croc could climb, let alone drop out of trees like a leopard. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Evidence of ancient tree-climbing 'drop crocs' found in Australia
Scientists say the crocodiles hunted like leopards by climbing trees and killing prey below.
www.bbc.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Michael Archer, no stranger to media hype (see: resurrecting thylacines), has invented the "drop croc" based on the solid palaeotological evidence of…fossil eggshell. There's no evidence that any terrestrial croc could climb, let alone drop out of trees like a leopard. www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
Folks, here's my take on the @methanesat.bsky.social project - TLDR: they tried for all three of "good, fast and cheap" and wound up with none...
Lost In Space: New Zealand's $30M Participation Trophy
"Good, fast and cheap" MethaneSAT tried for all three and got none.
MBIE and the New Zealand Space Agency missed red flags in the initial bid.
The MethaneSAT project did not keep promises of ope...
excursionset.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Folks, here's my take on the @methanesat.bsky.social project - TLDR: they tried for all three of "good, fast and cheap" and wound up with none...
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
always a good time to review this @katebeaton.bsky.social comic, gloriously entitled, “Every Lady Scientist Who Ever Did Anything (until recently)” 🧪
November 7, 2025 at 10:05 PM
always a good time to review this @katebeaton.bsky.social comic, gloriously entitled, “Every Lady Scientist Who Ever Did Anything (until recently)” 🧪
Re: James Watson - my overwhelming association with him is reading his biography as a science student in my early 20s, thinking at first 'wow, he sounds so much like me as a kid!', and the sinking realisation as I kept reading that he would have been utterly incapable of seeing that commonality.
November 7, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Re: James Watson - my overwhelming association with him is reading his biography as a science student in my early 20s, thinking at first 'wow, he sounds so much like me as a kid!', and the sinking realisation as I kept reading that he would have been utterly incapable of seeing that commonality.
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
I still remember my anthropology professor’s favorite joke from college:
“What did Watson and Crick discover?”
“Rosalind Franklin’s notes.”
“What did Watson and Crick discover?”
“Rosalind Franklin’s notes.”
Hey folks, as news of Watson's demise spreads, please don't set aside his weighty legacy of misogyny and racism. He was truly among the worst of us. www.vox.com/2019/1/15/18...
DNA scientist James Watson has a remarkably long history of sexist, racist public comments
“People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty,” he said in 2003. “I think it would be great.”
www.vox.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:28 PM
I still remember my anthropology professor’s favorite joke from college:
“What did Watson and Crick discover?”
“Rosalind Franklin’s notes.”
“What did Watson and Crick discover?”
“Rosalind Franklin’s notes.”
I do want to say, I actually don't think this is an *intended* consequence, in that it was a goal of the changes; I think the people who made this decision just don't *care* about these consequences. But they should.
I'm sure it's totally coincidental that the AoNZ government's changes to the Marsden Fund have been followed by successful applications led by female investigators dropping from 55% to 33%, and successful applications led by Māori investigators dropping from 13% to 5%. 🫠 🧪
Information on the 2025 Marsden Fund round
Information about the number of funded proposals in the 2025 Marsden Fund round broken down by research area and institution, also including gender and ethnicity data
www.royalsociety.org.nz
November 6, 2025 at 7:29 PM
I do want to say, I actually don't think this is an *intended* consequence, in that it was a goal of the changes; I think the people who made this decision just don't *care* about these consequences. But they should.
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
![Comic. [Person sitting at desk with laptop with machine labeled E-21 making “click click” noises on the floor behind] VOICE FROM LAPTOP: Hey all! Does your E-21 humidifier make an annoying clicking noise? Mine did, but I finally figured out that there’s an easy fix, so I made this video in case anyone else… PERSON AT DESK: Oh my god. Yes. *Yes.* [caption] I know there’s more important work in the world, but I feel like these people deserve, at minimum a statue.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreifdjde6wgflkeil7kf4kdh3zqk32k55rkljlwu6arzbw557ogbulu@jpeg)
November 5, 2025 at 10:03 PM
I'm sure it's totally coincidental that the AoNZ government's changes to the Marsden Fund have been followed by successful applications led by female investigators dropping from 55% to 33%, and successful applications led by Māori investigators dropping from 13% to 5%. 🫠 🧪
Information on the 2025 Marsden Fund round
Information about the number of funded proposals in the 2025 Marsden Fund round broken down by research area and institution, also including gender and ethnicity data
www.royalsociety.org.nz
November 5, 2025 at 9:16 PM
I'm sure it's totally coincidental that the AoNZ government's changes to the Marsden Fund have been followed by successful applications led by female investigators dropping from 55% to 33%, and successful applications led by Māori investigators dropping from 13% to 5%. 🫠 🧪
Alternatively, NYC election results are now spoilers for The City We Became, I guess
Apparently all you needed to do to predict the NYC election results was read that one N.K. Jemisin novel.
November 5, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Alternatively, NYC election results are now spoilers for The City We Became, I guess
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
good morning specifically to the FBI agent who introduced Mamdani’s dad to Marx
November 5, 2025 at 2:21 PM
good morning specifically to the FBI agent who introduced Mamdani’s dad to Marx
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
NZ First MPs keep proposing laws they have no intention of passing, and the media falls for it every time.
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/06-...
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/06-...
The brilliant performative politics of NZ First’s fake members’ bills
NZ First MPs keep proposing laws they have no intention of passing, and the media falls for it every time.
thespinoff.co.nz
November 5, 2025 at 4:41 PM
NZ First MPs keep proposing laws they have no intention of passing, and the media falls for it every time.
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/06-...
thespinoff.co.nz/politics/06-...
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
When I wrote this just two-ish months ago, the premise was that the architecture of the CCRA (zero carbon act) remained, but the policies that sustained it had been hollowed out.
With the CCRA changes today, I feel like that no longer holds
www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-dept...
With the CCRA changes today, I feel like that no longer holds
www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-dept...
How Jacinda Ardern’s ‘groundbreaking’ climate law has become ‘a shell’
The Zero Carbon Act promised to lock climate ambition into law. But with key policies repealed, delayed or watered down, the once 'world-leading' legislation has become a husk of its former self.
www.rnz.co.nz
November 5, 2025 at 12:08 AM
When I wrote this just two-ish months ago, the premise was that the architecture of the CCRA (zero carbon act) remained, but the policies that sustained it had been hollowed out.
With the CCRA changes today, I feel like that no longer holds
www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-dept...
With the CCRA changes today, I feel like that no longer holds
www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-dept...
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
Misogynist slurs, dis/misinfo whipping up online harassment, threats of violence, death = online gender-based violence. Note also the appearance-based abuse (women are far more likely to be subject to this). When we will we stop expecting women public figures to protect themselves from this?
It’s nuts the crap people believe about me. Someone even thinks I leafleted schools to scare boys into getting vaccinated! That may just sound silly, but misinformation and disinformation like this means some people want me and others like me jailed or even dead. It’s heartbreaking.
November 4, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Misogynist slurs, dis/misinfo whipping up online harassment, threats of violence, death = online gender-based violence. Note also the appearance-based abuse (women are far more likely to be subject to this). When we will we stop expecting women public figures to protect themselves from this?
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
"more than 90 per cent of the time we are indoors, be at home, office, school … so it is indoor air which is the most important for our health.
"This is the problem right now — we must establish indoor air quality standards, and mandate those standards."
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
"This is the problem right now — we must establish indoor air quality standards, and mandate those standards."
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
World expert in air quality and COVID wins Australia's top science prize
Lidia Morawska, an internationally renowned expert in air quality and its impact on human health, has won Australia's most coveted prize for scientific research.
www.abc.net.au
November 3, 2025 at 8:21 PM
"more than 90 per cent of the time we are indoors, be at home, office, school … so it is indoor air which is the most important for our health.
"This is the problem right now — we must establish indoor air quality standards, and mandate those standards."
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
"This is the problem right now — we must establish indoor air quality standards, and mandate those standards."
www.abc.net.au/news/science...
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
Reposted by Dr Lucy Stewart
Morning peeps! I’ve written a piece for @thespinoff.bsky.social on why I ended up taking legal action against my employer and a little bit about how it played out. The whole story needs a book to tell but this is a good start 😂 thespinoff.co.nz/society/01-1... thespinoff.co.nz/society/01-1...
Siouxsie Wiles: Why I’m crowdfunding despite winning my legal battle
'Between the ERA and the Employment Court, my husband and I have spent over $632,000.'
thespinoff.co.nz
October 31, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Morning peeps! I’ve written a piece for @thespinoff.bsky.social on why I ended up taking legal action against my employer and a little bit about how it played out. The whole story needs a book to tell but this is a good start 😂 thespinoff.co.nz/society/01-1... thespinoff.co.nz/society/01-1...