About myself:

I grew up on my parents dairy farm in South Taranaki and then later on in the northern King Country where I attended high school. In 2006 I moved to Palmerston North to begin study at Massey University towards a BSc in Zoology and Animal Science and graduated in 2009. In 2009 I completed a postgraduate diploma in Zoology and I am currently working on my thesis towards completing a MSc in Zoology.

My Research:

This year I am completing research for my thesis. My study species are the Wellington tree weta, Hemideina crassidens, with particular interest in their diet. Little is known about the diet and implications of dietary choices. Tree weta seemed to be omnivores, eating a large variety of plant material and also scavenge for other invertebrates. The protein in animal tissue is assumed to be more available to the weta than the much smaller amounts of protein in leaves that make up most of their diet. I used growth experiments, with tree weta on different diets to look at the effect of protein quantitity in their diet, not only on their growth but also on their reproductive potential. The level or particular balance between carbohydrates and protein that tree weta strive to maintain is also of interest.

Publications:

Griffin MJ, Morgan-Richards M, Trewick SA. 2011. IS the tree weta Hemideina crassidens an obligate herbivore? New Zealand Natural Sciences (in press)

Griffin MJ, Trewick SA, Wehi PM, Morgan-Richards M. 2011. Exploring the concept of nche convergence in a land without rodents: weta as small mammals. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 35(3) (in press)

Scholarships
2009 -  Julie Alley Bursary
2010  - received a grant form the Entomological Society of New Zealand
          - received travel grant to the New Zealand Ecological Society conference in Dunedin, where I presented some data from my masters research