New Zealand's Geological Survey, the forerunner to GNS Science, was conceived in Auckland in 1864 and based in Wellington from August 1865.
But its birthplace, on April 1, 1865, was in Dunedin, Dr Hamish Campbell, a Wellington-based GNS scientist, said.
Dr Campbell, who grew up in Dunedin, said the establishment of the national Geological Survey was ''especially significant'' because it marked the start of organised government-funded science in New Zealand.
Dr Campbell, who attended Otago Boys' High School and is a University of Otago graduate, said almost every major component of the New Zealand science sector today could be traced to origins in the country's Geological Survey, and its founding director, Sir James Hector, a former Dunedin resident.
These included the seven Crown Research Institutes, the Royal Society of New Zealand and Te Papa, the national museum, Dr Campbell said.
On his arrival in Dunedin in 1862, Sir James Hector (1834-1907), provincial geologist with Otago Province, had a purpose-built Otago Geological Survey office built on flat land at the edge of town, in Arthur St.
This site is now on OBHS land, near the school swimming pool.
Dunedin's link with the establishment of the New Zealand Geological Survey was marked by an illustrated talk given yesterday by GNS Science chief executive Dr Mike McWilliams, at an OBHS assembly.
Dr McWilliams noted that GNS Science - a Government-owned firm, which now has nearly 400 employees and undertakes cutting-edge research - had grown from humble beginnings.
Dr Campbell said the New Zealand Geological Survey pre-dated all the country's universities, most of its banks and, indeed, its own currency.
The national Geological Survey had been initially based at the Otago Geological Survey office.
Teaching had begun at OBHS in 1863, but the school moved to its present site only in 1885, he said.
