Aotearoa, the Māori name for New Zealand, is usually translated as “land of the long white cloud.” In this issue of Eos, we explore some of the dynamic Earth systems that make the country such a valuable site for white clouds, blue seas, muddy sediments, and FRED.
The Moana Project braids Māori Traditional Knowledge with Western science for a more sustainable ocean, write scientists João Marcos Azevedo Correia de Souza, Julie Jakoboski, Jonathan Gardner, Maui Hudson, and Malene Felsing. This uniquely Kiwi undertaking aims to bolster the blue economy, enhance societal well-being, and safeguard ocean health.
While the Moana Project, named for the Māori word for “ocean,” gathers observations from the seas surrounding Aotearoa New Zealand, data from “Sedimentary Basins Tell Zealandia’s Ancient Story,” as native New Zealander Kate Evans reports in a short chronicle of the evolution of Earth’s eighth continent. The collection of deep-sea sediment cores from these basins serves as “this little climatic dipstick sitting in glorious isolation in the southwest Pacific,” explained geologist Kyle Bland.
Finally, meet FRED, Aotearoa New Zealand’s Fossil Record Electronic Database. New Zealand is the only country in the world that has an essentially complete, open-access database of its known fossil record. Here Evans explores FRED from its unlikely inception nearly 80 years ago to its possibly imperiled future in a world of slashed science funding.
Long white clouds, deep blue seas, muddy ocean sediments, and FRED: Aotearoa New Zealand is a precious place, and you don’t need to visit Middle Earth to appreciate it.
Scientists developed ocean temperature sensors that were deployed in collaboration with the commercial fishing industry, local communities, crew aboard educational and research vessels, amateur scientists, and others to help monitor ocean conditions around New Zealand. Credit: Moana Project Read more 
A fleet of small fishing boats docked in Lampung Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. Globally, humanitarian crises are often tied to environmental disruptions, such as the collapse of fisheries, which can erode food security and undermine livelihoods. Credit: J. Lubchenco Read more 
Fossils in the FRED database span species and time. Credit: GNS Science Read more 
The spread of mosquito-borne illnesses is often analyzed by geopolitically defined regions such as states or counties. But researchers say there may be more power in using ecological regions instead. Credit: James Gathany via the CDC Public Health Image Library, Public Domain Read more
—Caryl-Sue Micalizio, Editor in Chief