Rebecca Fox

Investigating how McCann's skinks give birth has been made possible for a University of Otago student through an environmental scholarship.

A previously unknown penguin species roamed South Island shores until a few hundred years ago, DNA from prehistoric bones has shown.

The six young native parrots released at Orokonui Ecosanctuary nearly a fortnight ago are getting stronger every day, general manager Chris Baillie says.

Otago Forward is on "probation" with the Otago Regional Council, as some of its economic development initiatives begin to move forward.

Nothing but "untouched, uninhabited landscape for miles in every direction", is how Dunedin artist Claire Beynon describes her summer home in the Antarctic.

As pots tumbled out of the kiln, a group of Dunedin artists looked on, pleased their experiment at raku firing had worked, even if it needed a bit of "fine tuning".

Excavating under the 140-year-old Pukehiki Church to remove tonnes of earth, in the wet and cold for the past eight to 10 months, has not dampened the spirits of a group of Otago Peninsula teenagers, who celebrated the end of the undertaking at the weekend.

Where else can you be on top of a mountain in a life-threatening situation and an hour later be having a beer in a pub?

Many of those who arrived to stay at Glendining Presbyterian Children's Homes remember their arrival as being "scary".

With 11 Newall siblings attending Wakari School it was well known that if you picked on one of them, then they would all come after you.

Having sewage flowing into Dunedin waterway's during heavy rainfall is unsatisfactory, says the Otago Regional Council.

All the winter debris has been cleared away and the water in St Clair Salt Water Pool is sparkling - ready and waiting for the first swimmers of the season.

Dunedin musician Bevan Gardiner has swapped the bright lights of the stage for quiet study time as he returns to student life after four weeks on the road with John Denver tribute show Whisper the Wind.