26 June 2019
Te Arawa Lakes Trust is currently hosting primary school teacher Andrew Doyle from Lynmore School as part of the Royal Society Te Apārangi Science Teaching Leadership Programme.
The programme was established with funding from MBIE to increase the capability of teachers in science teaching.
This is done by science organisations hosting teachers so they are exposed to the application of science in the “real world”.
Teachers are then expected to go back into their school to establish a science programme to lift the understanding of the other teachers and to ensure students are getting good science teaching.
Through Te Arawa Lakes Trust Mr Doyle has already had the opportunity to help with the catfish problem on Lakes Rotoiti and Rotorua. He has had hands-on participation with the catfish netting, been part of discussions on how to deal with the problem, visited schools to increase awareness and to recruit volunteers. He has also had the opportunity to go out on the lakes with scientists to monitor koura and to observe scientists at work in the field.
"I would like to give a huge thanks to Te Arawa Lakes Trust for hosting me and enabling me to meet with the scientific networks that they engage with, including Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Waikato University, Fish and Game and others.
"I hope the relationships I build in the community I can call on when I am back in the class in July so that the children can have a deeper understanding of their lakes," Mr Doyle said.
