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Prenatal cannabis exposure is associated with alterations in offspring DNA methylation at genes involved in neurodevelopment, across the life course
No full textPrenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) is of increasing concern globally, due to the potential impact on offspring neurodevelopment, and its association with childhood and adolescent brain development and cognitive function. However, there is currently a lack of research addressing the molecular impact of PCE, that may help to clarify the association between PCE and neurodevelopment. To address this knowledge gap, here we present epigenome-wide association study data across multiple time points, examining the effect of PCE and co-exposure with tobacco using two longitudinal studies, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) and the Christchurch Health and Development Study (CHDS) at birth (0 y), 7 y and 15–17 y (ALSPAC), and ~27 y (CHDS). Our findings reveal genome-wide significant DNA methylation differences in offspring at 0 y, 7 y, 15–17 y, and 27 y associated with PCE alone, and co-exposure with tobacco. Importantly, we identified significantly differentially methylated CpG sites within the genes LZTS2, NPSR1, NT5E, CRIP2, DOCK8, COQ5, and LRP5 that are shared between different time points throughout development in offspring. Notably, functional pathway analysis showed enrichment for differential DNA methylation in neurodevelopment, neurotransmission, and neuronal structure pathways, and this was consistent across all timepoints in both cohorts. Given the increasing volume of epidemiological evidence that suggests a link between PCE and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in exposed offspring, this work highlights the need for further investigation into PCE, particularly in larger cohorts
Crimson and Ash: a post-qualitative inquiry into women’s becoming with bipolar
No full textWomen diagnosed with bipolar navigate complex entanglements of biomedical categorisation, gendered expectations, and socio-material conditions (Barad, 2007; Fullagar et al., 2019). The situated, embodied knowledge that frames these women has co-produced misrepresentation, oppression, and marginalisation (Burrows, 2010). Historical narratives that link femininity to emotional excess and irrationality continue to shape contemporary understandings (Barad, 2007; Ussher, 2011). Psychiatry itself carries a troubling legacy. In Aotearoa New Zealand, institutional practices involved coercive treatments and incarceration, and they were underpinned by eugenic ideologies (Coleborne, 2001; Stace, 1998), with many buried in unmarked graves (Stevens, 2024). This violent past remains materially entangled in contemporary psychiatric practices and in women's becoming with bipolar (Barad, 2007).
Today, women with bipolar are expected to self-manage their wellness, often within frameworks that obscure systemic and historical forces (Fullegar et al., 2019). This project uses a post-qualitative approach and Barad’s (2007) agential realism to reconceptualise women’s “becoming” with bipolar through an ethico-onto-epistemological lens. This study challenges biomedical reductionism and reframes how women with bipolar are understood in both research and practice. Bipolar is not an isolated pathology but emerges through entangled intra-actions with psychiatry, history, and material-discursive forces (Barad, 2007; Deacon, 2013).
Research Questions
● What new knowing might be generated for women’s “becoming” with bipolar in thinking with concepts from Karen Barad’s (2007) agential-realist framework?
● How does gender intra-act with the phenomenon of “psychiatry” in relation to treatment for women with bipolar?
● How are traces of the past entangled with women’s present identities of bipolar?
Aims and Objectives
By employing post-qualitative inquiry and agential realism, this project aims to challenge dominant misconceptions and reimagine women's becoming with bipolar. It contributes to feminist new materialist literature by exploring how identities emerge through entangled meanings, practices, and histories.
Methodology
This post-qualitative inquiry resists rigid methods, instead engaging in “thinking with theory”. Concepts from Barad’s (2007) agential realism, such as intra-action, spacetimemattering, and entanglement are deployed to reconfigure knowledge. Ethics, ontology, and epistemology are seen as materially co-produced.
I engaged with seven women diagnosed with bipolar through intra-views and creative workshops. Participants brought photographs of meaningful objects related to their experience with bipolar. Across three sessions, these images were incorporated into a sculpture of the female form. Additionally, I conducted a diffractive policy analysis of the Mental Health (Compulsory Assessment and Treatment) Act 1992 and the Lunatics Act 1868. An ontology of hauntology was embraced to visit the former asylum grounds and cemeteries to trace suppressed histories. All data was interpreted through diffractive analysis.
Key Findings / Conclusions and Implications
A key finding is that matter actively participates in psychiatric treatment. Objects used to seclude or regulate women with bipolar are not passive; they persist in shaping contemporary experiences. Hauntological analysis reveals how the mistreatment of institutionalised women
continues to reverberate in psychiatric settings. These material entanglements carry the weight of memory, forming fractured lineages in women's becoming.
The medicated body is marked by intra-actions between pharmaceuticals, diagnostic tools, and sociocultural expectations. These embodied effects are central, not incidental to psychiatric care. This research unsettles neoliberal notions of individual responsibility, instead proposing an ethical reconfiguration of response-ability that acknowledges the broader assemblages shaping care, harm, and diagnosis.
Agential realism opens space to rethink how women with bipolar are treated and conceptualised, offering a framework that challenges dominant psychiatric logics and affirms complexity, relationality, and historical accountability.
Conclusion
This project reimagines how women with bipolar are understood, moving beyond biomedical models that isolate pathology. It offers an alternative lens grounded in agential realism to explore how care, identity, and response-ability can emerge beyond psychiatric authority. The implications are significant for women with bipolar, for mental health practice, and for future feminist research
Evaluating microclimate and horticultural drivers of growth and physiology in sugar maple (Acer saccharum) saplings grown in New Zealand.
No full textThe fundamental principles of the collection and refinement of syrup from sugar maple (Acer
saccharum) have remained unchanged since syrup production's early days, with
improvements primarily in the technology used. During late winter, temperature-induced
physiological processes occur in maple trees such that wounding a tree results in a natural
flow of sap that can be collected and processed into maple syrup. Climate change has the
potential to alter air temperatures in these areas, affecting the harvest timing and amounts
collected. Research from the Proctor Maple Research Center (PMRC) showed that it was
possible to collect maple sap from sugar maple saplings with milder air temperatures, which
were able to facilitate sap harvesting. Using sugar maple saplings and planting them in a
highly intensive style (PMRC method) could make it possible to develop a maple syrup
industry in regions with milder climates, such as New Zealand.
The objectives of this thesis were to develop an understanding of two key domains that have
the potential, when combined, to derisk the introduction of maple sap collection outside of
their home range: 1) The in-situ measurement of sap flow in response to varying air
temperature of New Zealand-grown sugar maple saplings and 2) the application of coppicing
to create a favourable tree structure as defined in the PMRC methods and its effects on tree
growth and physiology.
The first domain initially focused on modifying and calibrating a non-invasive sap flow
sensor to measure bidirectional flow, with minimal heat input. Multiple tree species were
examined to understand the sensor's ability to measure sap flow in species with varying
microstructure. Sugar maple and paper birch (Betula papyrifera) were examined due to their
winter dormancy-related sap flow, in addition to white poplar (Populus alba). Calibrations
of these resulted in empirical multipliers () of 1.60 (R2 of 0.96), 1.99 (R2 of 0.89), and
1.04 (R2 of 0.92), respectively, during this study. This then moved to exploring the in-situ sap
flow responses of whole sugar maple saplings under laboratory conditions to varying
degrees of freezing temperatures in a cooling enclosure. Here, the likelihood of internal sap
movement, measured as sap flow velocity, was seen to be highly correlated with the
exotherms and endotherms of the internal tree temperature. A positive sap flow velocity
(roots to the crown) was observed to occur near the onset of the exotherm (chamber air
temperature of ~-4.5℃, and internal tree temperature between ~-2.8℃ and ~-3.5℃). A
corresponding negative sap flow velocity (crown to the roots) was then observed to occur
near the onset of the endotherm (chamber air temperature of ~1℃ and internal tree
temperature between ~0.5℃ and ~2℃). The presence of the exotherm and endotherm in
the internal tree temperature diminished as the freezing temperature was increased, with
no observable exotherm or endotherm in the trees with -2℃ and 0℃ minimum freezing
temperatures. Comparisons were then made to saplings experiencing natural freeze/thaw
cycles in a sugarbush near Hanmer Springs, New Zealand. These results are some of the first
to show in-situ sap flow directionality synonymous with that seen during sap exudation, in
whole sugar maple saplings, and maple trees grown in New Zealand.
The second domain examined the potential of coppicing to foster the development of a multistemmed
tree structure and its subsequent effects on the growth and physiology of the trees
compared to non-coppiced individuals. Structure from Motion and Multi-View-
Stereo photogrammetry (SfM-MVS) was investigated as a technique to measure linear and
volumetric tree metrics non-destructively. Linear measurements were shown to
underestimate root-collar diameter by 9.2% and 8.7% at the time of coppice and two-year
period, respectively, and underestimate height by 1.1% and 1.5% at the same time periods.
While above-ground stem volume results were presented, when comparing these results in
tandem with the errors produced in the 3D models, current iterations of SfM-MVS lack the
fidelity for confidence in volumetric measurement of trees in this setting. So, it was not
investigated further. Through the coppicing technique described in the PMRC method,
evidence showed coppiced sugar maple trees to produce co-dominant multi-stemmed
structures, with stems primarily forming from buds in the top half set of nodes at the time of
coppicing. Though the number of stems could not be predicted from buds before the coppice
application. Growth rates of the coppiced trees were greater than those of the non-coppiced
trees with various tree metrics, particularly with above-ground stem volume proxies.
Results from the cumulative cross-sectional stem area at 1 m and 1.5 m showed a reversion
to the average crown size of the stand, which is considered a success in such a short amount
of time, with some indication of a greater crown size seen at 1 m. However, it is too early to
see the definitive effects of the coppice treatment.
Finally, as a proof of concept, it is demonstrated that sap can be extracted from a detopped
stem of a PMRC-style coppiced sugar maple sapling, grown in New Zealand, using a vacuum
extraction. On two occasions over the course of a three-day period, sap was collected during
thaws after previous night freezing air temperatures. The resulting sap's sugar and organic
acid composition was then analysed and shown to be comparable to sap extracted in the
sugar maple's home range.
The research presented in this thesis has offered a comprehensive understanding of the
techniques outlined in the PMRC method for managing and harvesting sugar maple saplings.
Additionally, it has initiated the process of mitigating risks associated with the development
of potential PMRC-style sugarbushes in New Zealand. Future research should aim to enhance
site selection for these sugarbushes by employing ground temperature modelling across the country and into the future, optimising the predictability of the coppicing method and
exploring the feasibility of extracting sap on a larger scale from multiple PMRC-style trees
Tree Canopy Cover in Taupō 2023
No full textThis report was prepared by Professor Justin Morgenroth and Dr. Ning Ye at the School of
Forestry, University of Canterbury. The aim of this report is to provide local authorities in New
Zealand with a basic understanding of the urban tree canopy cover within their cities and towns
Quantifying Reductions in Carbon Emissions at RAD Bikes. Report prepared part of the GEOG309 Research for Resilient Communities and Environments course, University of Canterbury, 2025.
No full textThis report will cover the research conducted with community partner RAD (Recycle a Dunger) Bikes. The aim of the research was to understand RAD’s contribution to carbon emission reduction while also looking into topics surrounding the social impacts of RAD as a community service. This will include an overview of the relevant literature, methodology of the research conducted, ethical considerations, as well as the results of the surveys and interviews with a discussion on their relevance to RAD Bikes and greater scale.RAD Bikes is a community bike workshop located in Christchurch’s central city area. Bike workshops like RAD aim to provide people with access to bicycles that are affordable for the purpose of contributing to both individual and community wellbeing (Yu et al., 2024). RAD does this through offering second hand bikes for a lower cost, accepting and selling donated bikes and parts, as well as holding workshops to teach repair skills. Besides the community aspect, they work towards diverting second-hand parts from waste streams and getting people onto the zero-carbon transport mode of cycling (RAD Bikes, 2025).This research was conducted with the request from Jess Smale, coordinator at RAD Bikes. She expressed a need for quantitative information surrounding carbon and waste emission reductions from RAD. As RAD becomes a more established organisation, funding granted for novelty becomes harder to apply for. Their current workshop space at 160 Lichfield Street is right by the new in-progress stadium, Te Kaha, and will not be a viable long-term option as demand for this area rapidly increases. Our research would be to support their funding applications for Christchurch City Council grants.Additionally, Christchurch City Council (2025a) has a goal for Net zero emissions by 2045. Transport represented 54% of gross emissions between 2019 and 2023. The cycle counters are one of the council’s indicators for carbon emissions. Cycling culture and infrastructure has been on the rise in Christchurch contributing to a healthy environment by reducing air and carbon pollution (Christchurch City Council, 2025b). Quantitative evidence, particularly related to the Christchurch City Council emission reduction plan, is a secure way to ensure their financial and operational sustainability.From here the research question ‘How can a method be developed and applied to quantify RAD bikes carbon emissions in Christchurch?’ was developed. This covered quantifying current data provided by RAD as well as looking into future methods for RAD to be able to do this independently.Research Question: How can a method bedeveloped and applied to quantify RAD bikes carbon emissions in Christchurch
User-centered design for alpine waste management at Aoraki/Mount Cook
No full textHuman waste carryout products are used by people visiting remote areas without access to toilets. Alpinists
at Aoraki/Mount Cook, New Zealand have limited options for viable human waste carryout products. The
current solution offered by the New Zealand Alpine Club, the Poo Pot, does not fulfil the identified
essential user needs of leakage prevention, odor-containment, and compactibility. Using sports equipment
design methodology, a user-centered design approach was undertaken focusing on functional prototyping
incorporating user feedback through each iteration. The result is the Stash!t; a multi-bag, reusable carryout
solution that prioritizes functionality and ease of use for alpinists in extreme conditions. Users determined
the Stash!t to be a more viable option than the Poo Pot due to its functional performance and alignment
with the New Zealand Alpine Club’s goal of encouraging and promoting mountaineering and to support
the enjoyment and conservation of mountainous regions
Packaging, processing, and perceptions : what drives consumer food choices?
Full text linkThere is growing evidence that ultra-processed foods are detrimental to health and the
environment. This study explored factors influencing food purchase decisions among New
Zealand consumers, with a focus on ultra-processed foods. A sample of 316 undergraduate
psychology students completed the Schwartz Value Questionnaire and analysed 28 food
product images to examine the influence of values and product attributes on food choice.
Previous research revealed that, on average, participants noted affordability (price) and
pleasure to consume (sensory appeal) as the primary factors influencing their food purchase
decisions, with less emphasis on processing and environmental friendliness. This reflective
self-evaluation was somewhat confirmed through a policy-capturing analysis in which
participants had to evaluate products on a range of dimensions and indicate their purchase
intentions. Pleasure to consume was by far the strongest predictor of purchase intention,
followed by healthiness, affordability and environmental friendliness. Values were
investigated as a potential moderating factor, but no significant effect was found between
values and packaged food decision-making. Additional analyses indicated that participants
struggled to accurately identify ultra-processed foods, products with higher Health Star
Ratings were perceived to be healthier, and more processed foods were perceived to be less
environmentally friendly. The current study adds a unique perspective on food decision-making
by New Zealand consumers by incorporating health and environmental factors, using
real food products, and focussing on ultra-processed foods. Understanding the key factors
that shape decisions about ultra-processed foods can pave the way for significant
improvements in both health and the environment in New Zealand
