Nanogirl’s tour in doubt after burglary
One of New Zealand’s best known scientists — Nanogirl — has had her Auckland office ransacked with the thieves caught on camera stealing valuable equipment for an upcoming tour.
The Ponsonby office of Dr Michelle Dickinson — better known as Nanogirl — was broken into at 3am yesterday by a man and a woman who stole a substantial amount of equipment crucial for the business’ theatre tour, including computer gear and cameras.
The thieves were caught on security camera, and Dickinson, who is also a Weekend Herald columnist, posted across her social media platforms in a bid to track them down and recover the gear.
“Last night this couple chose to visit our Nanogirl office in Ponsonby & take things important to our work,” Dickinson posted. “As a tiny social enterprise trying to do good in the world, being reunited with our property would be amazing so if you know these people could you ask them to give it back.”
The theft has left Nanogirl’s small team of staff scrambling to source the replacement technical scientific equipment necessary to their stage show.
Nanogirl co-founder Joe Davis said the business was scheduled to begin a national schools tour in November, and the theft was a major setback but they were determined to carry on.
“I’m going to make sure it goes ahead,” Davis said. “During last year’s tour we engaged 50,000 children around New Zealand over the course of a month.
“There’s no way we’re going to let the kids of New Zealand down.”
Davis said they were hoping to retrieve the stolen equipment, as a month was not long enough to replace everything for the November tour.
“Everyone’s just a bit shaken and deeply frustrated that people think it’s okay to break in and steal and make our lives harder when we’re doing everything we can to help children around New Zealand.”