Niwa technician Steve Wilcox (centre) camped in the Antarctic after installing tidal stations at Possession Island, one of the first landing places in Antarctica. Photo: Supplied / Niwa
Scientists are hopeful a supercharged weather forecaster will be one of the winners in the biggest overhaul of the science sector in 30 years.
Today marks a "new era for science" as six of the seven Crown Research Institutes (CRI) officially transition and merge into new Public Research Organisations (PRO).
The mega science entities were heralded by the government as part of the major science reforms following Sir Peter Gluckman's review of the science system, which also included the disestablishment of Callaghan Innovation - with funding for most of its functions signalled to end on 30 June.
The shake-up waves goodbye to Niwa and GNS, which now form the Earth Science Institute, and includes cherry-picked parts of Callaghan Innovation and ultimately the weather forecaster, MetService.
The Bioeconomy Science Institute unites AgResearch, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, Plant & Food Research, and Scion, while Environmental Science and Research (ESR) transforms into Public Health and Forensic Science.
The mergers have been funded by the cannibalisation of research and innovation funds in Budget 2025.
Formal legislation for the PROs will follow in 2026, which is when the science minister expects the fourth organisation, focused on advanced technologies, to be up-and-running.
The Association of Scientists says while it supports the mergers in principle, in the absence of significant funding, it's sceptical the reforms can deliver systemic change for the sector.
While nerve-wracking for some staff, those leading the transition say they are excited by the opportunity for greater collaboration - and in line with government directives - the potential economic benefits.
Not the first shake-up for scientists
Marine technician Steve Wilcox remembers a time when Niwa - known, among other things, for its marine and oceanographic science - had no research vessel.
He said in the first four years after it formed in 1992, money was "amazingly tight" and the organisation was forced to charter ships - with the year on a Russian vessel proving memorable for its "fantastic characters, cultural challenges", and unusual sewerage system.
"[It] wasn't so good. They had little rubbish bins beside the toilet which they emptied at three o'clock in the morning ... and the toilets were next door to the kitchen."
It was not until 1996 when the Ministry of Fisheries research division merged with Niwa that ocean research kicked into gear, he said.
Niwa marine technician Steve Wilcox (left) under the Niwa vessel Tangaroa replacing seafloor-mapping transducers. Photo: Supplied / Niwa
Wilcox said the merger granted Niwa scientists access to the ship Tangaroa, which enabled regular sea floor mapping of the Ross Sea in Antarctica.
He said the "silos" - a relic from the merger - were initially a massive challenge but were ultimately ironed out and he anticipated the same outcome in the new Earth Science PRO, which he described as a "superb coming together".
While he could not comment on the prospect of jobs being lost in the process, he emphasised researchers had been through it all before.
"Thirty-three years ago when Niwa was formed money was amazingly tight. We lost our research ship, science was impacted, but over time ... we've managed to keep the business going, keep the science going, and do some amazing stuff - and I imagine that's what's going to happen in the future."
He believed the recent tough financial years in the wake of Covid were "just a short blip" and said the merger would be a springboard for huge research opportunities.
"There's going to be science undertaken in areas that we're not even thinking about at the moment."
According to colleague and fisheries scientist Phil Jellyman, such research was likely to benefit from technological leaps - a change he had already seen in the technique for tracking salmon, with today's digital tag and receiver, a far cry from his scientist father's method; chasing fish up-river in a jet boat.
Computer power was fundamental to much of today's science, with the current accuracy and realism of climate, flood, and sea-level rise models, inconceivable 10-20 years ago, he said.
Although quick to point out it was not his area of expertise, Jellyman said the public would likely see the advantages of the merger in weather forecasting - through the combination of climate research, short-term forecasting knowledge, and access to the same computational power.
"Those sorts of advancements only continue to grow, and the forecasts just get better and better and more realistic. Undoubtedly, they'll be making breakthroughs and producing more accurate and better products for New Zealand.
"The number of people that are reliant on good daily forecasting information - for so many of the decisions that are made around the country ... the level of importance it has on the economy, it's really impressive to think about."
Jellyman said while there was uncertainty about how the organisations would unite, there were clear positives in bringing science together, and many of the researchers had gone through similar upheavals.
"We've got people that were here before Niwa, MetService, GNS, that have been working with us before the 90s that are still with us now, and they'll still be with us in the new organisation.
"You don't get that in too many industries - that longevity of career - and being able to draw upon that as we move into these new organisations is going to be fantastic."
Niwa freshwater fisheries scientist Dr Phil Jellyman tagging fish. Photo: Fish & Game / Richard Cosgrove
Transition execs herald 'new era for science'
Earth Sciences transition chief executive John Morgan said "the start of a new era for science" would bring together more than 1200 people in the new PRO providing an opportunity to "create world-class research" that would include helping society adapt to climate change, build resilience to natural hazards, and "unlock the economic potential of the world around us".
It was a sentiment echoed by the Bioeconomy transition chief executive Mark Piper and Public Health and Forensic Science chief executive Dr Ashley Bloomfield.
Piper said the pipeline of work over the next six to 12 months ran the gamut of the mechanical - such as setting up a website and changing email addresses - to the more detailed aspects of uniting the organisations without "dropping the ball" on the science that was already being done.
He said while there was some nervousness, overall the vibe had been positive.
"A lot of these people know each other across the organisations and if they want to work together, they have to write a contract. Come Tuesday, they'll be able to pick up the phone."
Piper said that none of the CRIs pre-merger were in a financial position to invest in salaries and capital, and while he would always look to reduce costs, job cuts were not a primary focus.
Meanwhile, Bloomfield said he did not anticipate another restructuring following the loss of about 40 roles last year at ESR.
He said despite not merging, the overhaul of the science system was significant, and the transition into the institute of Public Health and Forensic Science was more than a rebranding.
In addition to the usual "service science" - infectious disease surveillance and forensic testing for police - the shake-up would promote greater collaboration, in particular with universities on cross-disciplinary research projects, Bloomfield said.
Niwa marine technician Steve Wilcox under the Niwa vessel Tangaroa replacing seafloor-mapping transducers. Photo: Supplied / Niwa
'An exciting moment for science' - Reti
Science Minister Shane Reti said "the biggest reset in the last 30 years" was an exciting moment for science, and claimed the size of the new Bioeconomy organisation had already piqued the interest of venture capitalists.
While the commercial merger happened legally today, uniting the organisations operationally would take longer, he said.
Progress was being made on the establishment of the fourth PRO which he expected to be fully-fledged in the next year and which already comprised superconductor specialists the Robinson Research Institute, Reti said.
He said its ultimate purpose and composition would be a primary focus of the newly formed Science and Technology Advisory Council when it met in a few weeks' time - but said it would likely include quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and synthetic biologies hubs.
In response to questions about funding the merger by repurposing money for research in Budget 2025, Reti defended the move, maintaining the system needed to be established before money was poured into it.
"[The] first step needed to be ... get the structure right. We wouldn't want to put new money substantively into a structure that clearly wasn't working."
The new set-up would "more accurately identify priorities and monitor accountabilities" which would help the argument for more overall science funding, he said.
"We know we compare poorly to other OECD countries ...
"We should have ambitions towards improving the amount of funding that we have, now that we've shown we can do a good job with what we've got."
While the New Zealand Association of Scientists acknowledged that the former Crown Research Institutes had not delivered the economic benefit promised, it was sceptical of the increased focus on commercialisation of science and "deeply concerned that these new organisations, faced with ever-tightening funding constraints, will not deliver systemic change".
Co-president professor Troy Baisden said the best-case scenario would see the PROs make the case for more government support and stable funding.
"Without that foundation, we can't compete with other nations to attract investment and won't generate spin-off and spill-over benefits."
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