Te Aka Tauira, Issue five, July 2023

Te Aka tauira

Recovery through adventure, YouTube success and Winning 100k on Tracked

Contents

4 from Zombie Fungi to kororā with henry the

paleoguy

It all started in 2018 when Henry was in Year 12 and saved up for a microphone. and the rest is (natural) history.

8 What’s on in July

Re:Ori + new recycling days.

10 Anna Parsons: The next chapter

“It gave me hope, and a goal. I kept thinking to myself - I have my mind, I can do this.”

14 We had to keep it hush hush for a while... but we won!

TV screens across the nation beamed out their joyful faces on Tuesday night as Jones announced that, after eight tense episodes, they had bagged the $100,000 prize.

18 important notices

20 A message from your ousa president

WWW.OTAGO.AC.NZ/OTAGOBULLETIN/UNDERGRADUATE/

The new leaning Lodge hut being helicoptered into place on top of the Rock and Pillars range.

from Zombie Fungi to kororā with henry the paleoguy

Otago undergrad Henry Scott things to say about everything from Zombi fungi to Dinosaur lips and his 86,200 YouTube subscribers love to hear it.

It all started in 2018 when the Zoology and Marine Science tauira was in Year 12 and saved up for a microphone.

The rest is (natural) history.

He thought his interest in. palaeontology and other scientific pursuits was quite niche, but once he started posting videos, he quickly realised that there was a huge potential audience, from Jurassic Park enthusiasts to young earth creationists.

YouTubers can earn money through a ‘partner programme’, in which they are paid for hosting ads on their videos.

Henry says a surprise subset of these watchers helped his channel to pass the 1000k subscribers and 4000 hours of watch time required to monetise.

“In November of 2019 I made a video talking about the misconceptions people have about Neanderthals,

and it was pretty popular - by April 2020 it had 10k views.

“Suddenly it was picked up by the algorithm and it blew up.

It was flooded with views from angry young earth creationists who don’t believe in evolution, and by the end of the month it had 430k views.

“It was perfect timing really, it got me right past the barrier for monetisation, and really boosted the channel at a moment where everyone was at home watching videos- lockdown.”

That meant the channel was able to be both educational and the income could support his study.

His experience during the pandemic really shaped his YouTube career, and his studies.

He began university a few weeks before the first lockdown was announced in early 2020 and decided to return home to do his first term online.

That proved to be tricky for him, and because of a range of factors, studying at home didn’t work out.

He says he was “very” stressed at the time, but that in the end everything turned out well.

“Having to retake those papers, which made my degree four years of study instead of three meant that

I was able to meet so many people I wouldn’t have met if I had just sailed through.

“Without the struggles I faced at the beginning, I wouldn’t be doing the cool things I am doing now.

“It all just worked out.”

Throughout 2020 the channel went from strength to strength, with the algorithm particularly loving a video about the Spinosaurus.

Henry now has 86.2k subscribers, which sometimes gives him pause.

“I think, who are all these people? That’s a lot of people, its more than the population of North Dunedin!”

He says he decided not to show people his face until he reaches 100k subscribers;

That way he knows that people are already coming to his channel for the content and will maybe then engage more with him as a person from there.

He hopes to do more ‘in person’ investigations after the face reveal, building on the success of his ‘NZ bird of the week’ series and exploring the “amazing” native plants and animals Aotearoa New Zealand has to offer.

When asked about his methods Henry summarised them succinctly:

“I just compile as much information as possible. I work to make it simple, accessible and interesting- and I always reference all of my sources.

“I want my videos to be the go-to place for information about a given topic.”

Anna Parsons: The next chapter

When Anna Parsons returns to America next month, she will take her climbing ropes and a new point of view with her.

The Otago marine science tauira and keen adventurer heads to Canada to resume study plans disrupted for a year after a life-altering climbing accident.

In August of 2022 she fell 24 meters while climbing Snake Dike in Yosemite and broke her spine, pelvis, ribs, neck and both feet, one of which was subsequently amputated.

Since leaving Burwood spinal unit in Christchurch, where she rehabilitated for six weeks, she has been focused on continuing her recovery and getting back into nature.

Anna says she has trouble with the concept of people calling her journey ‘inspirational,’ because when you’re in a tough situation you ‘just have to keep going’ but calls fellow adaptive climber Rachel Māia ‘‘a badass’’.

Anna is undoubtedly also “a badass”.

She describes Rachel coming to stay with her in Christchurch, giving her her first climbing foot and climbing alongside her in a competition.

“She just really leads with confidence. I appreciate that so much. We really bounced off each other.”

Anna has been pursuing her love of marine science and ecology via her work with the Otago Regional Council

this year, travelling all over Otago taking syringe samples from 50 bodies of water to test E-DNA for information about what species live in the water.

“Normally it’s quite nice and I am in streams and rivers in Hāwea, Glenorchy, or Wānaka, but today was freezing - and I think my wrists and elbows are thankful that it was my last site,” she says.

When she had her accident, Anna was two days into the trip of a lifetime, with plans to mountain bike and climb in America before beginning a term abroad on exchange at Bamfield Marine Science Centre in Canada.

Bamfield is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to education and research in coastal marine sciences, and it’s the dream location for the final term of Anna’s BSc.

She says a Bamfield representative emailed her immediately after they found out about the accident, reassuring her they had held her place, refunded her deposits, and that she could come whenever she was ready.

“It gave me hope, and a goal. I kept thinking to myself - I have my mind, I can do this.”

Anna is setting off back to America next month for some “low-key” adventures before starting her long-awaited term at Bamfield, including bike-packing around Vancouver Island.

“I am keeping expectations low but planning on doing lots of climbing and biking.

“I’m excited to see some big mammals, that’s something New Zealand doesn’t have much of!” she said when asked if she was worried about bears.

She is looking forward to the mahi at Bamfield, especially the paper on diversity of seaweeds.

“I love kelp, to be honest,” she says.

“I want to learn about marine plants in marine reserves, and specifically how marine reserves can be implemented in New Zealand.”

When she returns she wants to apply for a Masters at Otago, for which she has been in talks with the ‘’kelp gurus’’ in the Marine Science department.

She says her biggest struggle has been the loss of some of her independence since losing her lower leg.

“I’ve lost some independence, but I have gained so much empathy. I am so much more aware now of the experiences of people who use wheelchairs or who have had spinal injuries.”

Anna explains that the thing with her injury is that it's often immediately visible.

“Part of my recovery has been acceptance, accepting that people might stare or look and think ‘that's not a real leg.’

“At the start you struggle wearing shorts, but I have developed some great strategies. Usually, I just make eye contact and stare back, people are just innately curious.”

Anna is so thankful to everyone for the support they extended during her recovery, she says that knowing she had such a strong support network back home helped her to persevere in hospital in the States and at Burwood.

“I didn’t realise I had made an impact on so many different communities, and then when I got home I was just enveloped by all these facets of my life.

“So many people, groups and businesses gave their time, money, mahi and aroha and I couldn’t be more appreciative.

“I am just so thankful to the whole Dunedin community.”

We had to keep it hush hush for a while... but we won!

“I don’t think anything could have motivated us harder than Vinnie’s hands in the air and that box sitting up there [with $100,000 inside].

Could you survive in New Zealand’s most rugged wilderness with only your best friend for company, and two elite trackers on your tail?

That’s exactly what Otago tauira Gabe Ross and his best friend Riley Meason, both 19 at the time, had to ask themselves last year when they applied to be on the first season of reality show Tracked, hosted by British celebrity Vinnie Jones.

It turns out they could! TV screens across the nation beamed out their joyful faces on Tuesday night as Jones announced that, after eight tense episodes, they had bagged the $100,000 prize.

On the show, Jones announced gruffly, “well done, well done, well doneyou made it,” as he hugged the pair at the final extraction point.

Gabe, a third year BCom tauira, studying marketing and entrepreneurship, said it was the experience of a lifetime.

“It’s been a pretty crazy roller coaster. It’s definitely the most incredible opportunity we have ever had.”

For the last few years, Gabe and Riley have been putting their entrepreneurial skills to the test with a content creation business called The Weekend Mish.

They make short form videos about hunting, fishing, and trekking in the great outdoors.

Gabe says they want to use their winnings to turn The Weekend Mish into a full-time job, hoping to score a TV show off the back of their newfound fame.

It helped grow my friendship with Riley, he says.

“It was amazing that we didn’t have any squabbles or arguments during the process - the whole thing just solidified that we are on the same page with everything: values, trust, communication and whatnot.”

“We feel ready to tackle any kind of physical or mental challenge together now.”

The TV show airing internationally

He says the Business School was really supportive and thinks maybe it was because the show tied in so well with his entrepreneurial endeavors.

“For a term I just took a few less papers, and my tutors and lecturers were really good about it. They just let me do everything remotely so on the days off from filming I did all my assignments.

“I would find somewhere quiet, put my headphones in and sit down for a few hours of work on the travel days too!”

was another big incentive for them to push themselves, Gabe says.

“One of our biggest drivers was representing New Zealand on an international stage - and being Kiwis, we definitely had a competitive edge.”

“We would have found it so much harder being dropped somewhere in Australia or in a desert - knowing the native bush and how long it takes to travel through beech trees or monkey scrub and the ponga forests helped us a lot.”

Getting outdoors and into the bush is a key part of Gabe’s life, he says, and he thinks everyone should get out there as much as they can.

Anyone could do it anytime.

“We all have to start somewhere.”

Have you got a story you want us to feature here or on our socials?

Maybe you have a friend doing amazing things on or off campus?

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Tertiary area kerbside recycling and rubbish changes

Housekeeping

w/ Quintin Jane

Kia ora koutou, Congratulations on making it through Semester 1!

Exam grades have just come out, and regardless of if they went the way you hoped, you should be proud of just getting there.

This semester has been a whirlwind, couple that with a few very disrupted years past and you should give yourself credit for making it this far.

Over this semester break you should make the most of the opportunity to take a break, rest, repose and catch up with friends.

Semester 2 can feel like its dragging on sometimes, so do use this time to recharge for the year ahead.

I also encourage everyone to make sure they’re enrolled to vote, and have updated their election details to their relevant electorate.

For most students, this is the Dunedin electorate.

If you’re looking to vote on the Māori electoral roll then you’ll need to get in quick, as your last opportunity to switch rolls is Matariki.

You can do all this, and find out more information by heading to vote.nz.

It’s worth remembering coming into the election season that students are a very large part of the voting bloc.

Your vote can make a huge difference. So do make sure to engage, ask questions, and make your priorities known.

OUSA will be hosting a large number of events leading up to the election period to help you to inform your vote, so stay tuned for those across all our social media.

As always, if you ever need help with anything in the realm of student or university life, my door and emails are always open

Ngā mihi,

Quintin Jane, OUSA President