Welcome to Research Commons

Research Commons is the University of Waikato's open access research repository, housing research publications and theses produced by the University's staff and students.

Communities in Research Commons

Select a community to browse its collections.

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Recent Submissions

Invasive catfish linked to the decline of freshwater crayfish in two Aotearoa New Zealand lakes
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2026-06-01) Kusabs, IAK; Duggan, Ian C; Bruere, AC; Scholes, P; Te Kurapa, TW; Grant, TM; Burdon, Frank J
The introduction of invasive species can have profound impacts on ecosystems, especially where endemic species have evolved in isolation. However, determining the influence of invasive species on native biota can be difficult because long-term data are lacking. Our study examines the impact of invasive brown bullhead catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus) on native kōura (freshwater crayfish, Paranephrops planifrons) populations in two North Island, Aotearoa New Zealand lakes (Rotoiti and Rotorua). The invaded lakes were compared with two control lakes (Ōkāreka and Rotokākahi) where catfish are absent using a quasi-BACI (Before-After, Control-Impact) design. Long-term monitoring data in the invaded lakes (2005–2024) show significant declines in kōura abundances and biomass with changes in size structure after catfish establishment. In contrast, kōura populations in control lakes showed no significant changes in abundance or biomass in 2009 compared to 2021. Environmental variables (water quality, dissolved oxygen, and invasive macrophytes) showed minimal change in the same period. Netting data showed catfish abundances increased as kōura numbers fell, supporting the conclusion that catfish predation—rather than broader environmental degradation—is the main driver of kōura decline. The impact of catfish on kōura has severe cultural ramifications, to the extent that customary Māori fisheries are no longer viable in Lake Rotoiti. Restoration of kōura populations will require catfish control, habitat enhancement, and ongoing monitoring to prevent further spread of invasive species. More broadly, integrated invasive species management and habitat restoration are crucial to protect culturally and ecologically significant native species in Aotearoa New Zealand’s freshwater ecosystems.
Impact of abusive supervision on employee engagement and job burnout via organisational identification: The moderating role of mindfulness
(SAGE Publications, 2025) Arshad, Ayesha; Sun, Peter; Desmarais, Fabrice
This study explores the coping mechanisms of employees facing abusive supervision in two different countries: Pakistan and New Zealand. Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, we examine if the personal resource of employee mindfulness can buffer the destructive effects of abusive supervision on employees’ work engagement and job burnout via organisational identification. Our two separate studies reveal that organisational identification mediates the relationship between abusive supervision and employee work engagement but not job burnout in both countries. However, employee mindfulness only buffers the harmful impact of abusive supervision in the Pakistan sample. Our study reveals new insights into the impact of employees’ personal resources on abusive supervision in two different cultural environments, providing directions for future research and practice.
BIM-guided semantic fingerprinting for vision-based construction progress monitoring of cold-formed steel framing
(The University of Waikato, 2026) Ahmad, Muhammad; Lim, James Boon Piang
Construction progress monitoring remains largely dependent on manual inspection, limiting the frequency and reliability of updates on active sites. Existing automated approaches have demonstrated value but commonly rely on fixed camera infrastructure, depth sensing, or metric camera-to-BIM registration, requirements that are difficult to justify on budget-constrained residential projects, and most treat BIM as a passive post-detection reference rather than an active constraint during visual interpretation. To address this gap, this study proposes a BIM-guided semantic fingerprinting framework for element-level progress monitoring of cold-formed steel framing using standard monocular video. A custom YOLOv8m detection model identifies wall panels, doors, and windows across video frames; visual odometry provides temporal reasoning, detecting façade transitions and suppressing duplicate detections as the camera moves along the building. Accepted detections are aggregated into semantic fingerprints and matched against BIM-derived façade representations through a reward-based scoring system, enabling façade identification and element assignment without metric registration; wall-panel coverage is assessed separately as spatial continuity along each face. A gap correction mechanism recovers missed detections using BIM spatial context, and a pyRevit extension supports end-to-end BIM extraction and in-model progress visualisation. Evaluated on a single-storey residential cold-formed steel structure in Hamilton, New Zealand, the framework correctly identified all four building façades, matched element counts to ground truth, and reduced 2,050 raw detections across 983 frames to 20 unique element observations, a 99.02% reduction, without fixed infrastructure, depth sensing, or point-cloud reconstruction. The work is currently validated on a single proof-of-concept site, and further testing on independent projects is needed to establish broader generalisability.
Design, analysis, and validation of a custom planetary gearbox for a Formula SAE Hub motor
(The University of Waikato, 2026) Hies, Mark; McGuinness, Benjamin John; Lay, Mark C.
This thesis presents the analysis, design, manufacture, and validation of a custom in-hub planetary gearbox for use within a Formula Student electric vehicle powertrain. This work establishes a baseline for the transition from an inboard single power unit into a dual motor rear wheel drive architecture. Existing commercial transmission solutions were unsuitable for direct integration into a Formula Student platform due to their packaging limitations, excessive mass, and lack of optimisation for the specific operating case. The limited availability of documented Formula SAE specific solutions justify the development and validation of a custom gearbox solution. The gearbox was developed with consideration for manufacturability, packaging requirements, and future team integration. A stepped planetary configuration is used, achieving a gear ratio of 14:1. The design process focuses on the gear geometry selection, powertrain integration, as well as the stresses experienced through critical components under peak loading conditions. Experimental testing demonstrated that the gearbox was capable of operating under the predicted torque input of 8 Nm. The custom planetary gearbox was able to complete a full endurance length of 22 km fatigue test without structural failure or significant wear. A post-test inspection of the gearbox identified minor surface wear present on the gear faces with no evidence of any other damage to supporting components throughout the system. The developed prototype serves as an early stage foundation for future in-hub powertrain development within the Formula Student platform. With the gearbox validated, opportunities remain for improvement, particularly in the area of mass reduction, optimisation and long term durability validation.
The university experience that never was: First-time university students’ experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand
(The University of Waikato, 2026) Makuch, Shannon; Jackson, Dr Kimberly
The COVID-19 pandemic had an unfathomable impact on the world, leading to the deaths of millions of people, profound damage to health systems globally, and the disruption of society on a grand scale. Universities were not immune to this disruption, and university students commencing study in 2020 entered an environment characterised by uncertainty, online learning, and a significant lack of social interaction. This study explores how first-year students in New Zealand who commenced their studies in 2020 retrospectively made sense of their COVID-19 pandemic experiences. This thesis addresses a gap in the existing research regarding university students’ own interpretations of their experiences of studying during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilising interpretive qualitative methods and exploring retrospective sensemaking through repeat semi-structured interviews and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), this current study explores and illuminates the lived experience of five first-year New Zealand university students who commenced university in 2020. The thesis demonstrates how participants utilised memory and reframing in recounting their COVID-19 pandemic experiences. Participants’ stories highlight dynamic processes shaping their stories, such as temporally locating their emotional experiences in the past, simplifying what had happened, and attempts to seek closure. Reframing their stories, participants reposition themselves positively as adaptable and resilient, without naivety or complete closure. This thesis argues that the way participants chose to share their COVID-19 pandemic experiences enabled them to make sense of unprecedented circumstances and filter their experiences to preserve their sense of self. In addition, collective social narratives surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand provided resources for building their own sensemaking. However, the isolation participants experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have some persistent impacts on how they view themselves and their university experiences, including a tendency to blame themselves for issues that they had little control over. The thesis underscores the importance of foregrounding lived experience when considering future university responses to crises. This includes acknowledging the persistence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on some university students and what could be done to mitigate effects and support university students more effectively during and after future crises.