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**__ Welcome to Karen's Wiki __** If you are here, then you are either interested in what I'm doing while I am not in my classroom at Onerahi Primary School or you are keen to learn more about the native and endangered black mudfish, //Neochanna diversus// (pictured below).

 Firstly, I'm on leave from OPS because I have been awarded a six-month science teacher fellowship by the Royal Society of New Zealand. The fellowship is targetted at teachers who have been in-service for 3-7 years and hold a leadership role within their school. My host for the duration of the fellowship is NorthTec, in Whangarei, and my objective is to explore and experience as much science as I can during the six months. This is where the black mudfish come in. As part of my fellowship, I will conduct a research project to search for populations of the endangered species in the Wairua River Catchment of the Hikurangi Swamp which is approx 14km north of Whangarei. At the beginning of February I met the other five "fellows" in Wellington for an induction day at the Royal Society. At the end of April we will meet up again to attend a five day "Enhancing Leadership" course at Otago University. The other fellows are primary and secondary teachers from Nelson, Kapiti, Wellington and Auckland.