Mapping coastal marae and urupā Tēnā koe Akuhata. Can you tell us about your iwi affiliationsā Yes, my iwi affiliations are Ngāti Whakaue, Tūhourangi, Ngāti Tutetawhā, and Ngāti Tāwhaki. What motivated you to pursue your current research on climate threats to coastal marae and urupā? At the end of 2019 I graduated with my Bachelor […]
Caitlin Carew
Student Profile: Ben Jones
Investigating coastal archaeological vulnerability in Aotearoa Tēna koutou katoa Ko Crocodile te awa E hono ana ahau ki Royal Oak Tāmaki Makaurau Ko Ben Jones tōku ingoa He Kairangahau ahau ki te Whare Wānanga o Tāmaki Makaurau He mihi nui, he mihi aroha! I was born in South Africa in a small rural community. At […]
Improving volcanic ballistic projectile hazard assessments
By Dr Rebecca Fitzgerald Volcanic ballistic projectiles (VBPs) are fragments of solid rock or molten lava ejected out of a volcano in explosive eruptions. They are one of the most common causes of deaths and injuries on volcanoes, as they can travel up to hundreds of metres a second, range up to tens of metres […]
How iwi and hapū management plans can enhance the planning process
By Gavin McCleave, science communications intern Research by Dr Wendy Saunders and Lucy Kaiser explores how iwi and hapū in the Bay of Plenty prepare and use iwi and hapū management plans (IHMPs), and how well councils and third parties use the IHMPs during planning processes. Their research looked at the extent to which natural […]
The growing wildfire risk at the urban margins
By Gavin McCleave, science communications intern Fires on the margins of urban areas in Aotearoa New Zealand have been relatively rare in the past but are becoming more common. Climate change is making the country hotter and drier, and land usage at the rural-urban interface (RUI) is rapidly changing as subdivisions are creating more than […]
Research provides guidance on coastal infrastructure and rising seas
New research from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington addresses the adaptation of stormwater and wastewater infrastructure in coastal areas as sea levels rise and heavy rainfall events increase in frequency – significant risks identified in New Zealand’s National Climate Change Risk Assessment. The research, funded by the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges National Science Challenge […]
New ‘synthetic’ earthquakes are deepening scientists’ understanding of earthquake risk
Ground-breaking new research has created a million-year catalogue of ‘synthetic’ earthquakes that could shape future earthquake and tsunami hazard models for Aotearoa New Zealand. “The full cycle of New Zealand’s earthquake activity spans thousands of years,” explains Dr Bill Fry of GNS Science, co-leader of the research programme. “Modern observations and data only cover the […]
Managed retreat – by whom and how?
By Gavin McCleave, science communications intern Many communities around Aotearoa New Zealand are faced with increasing risks from storm surges, flooding, rising sea levels, and the prospect of being forced to leave behind their homes, land and community. In recognition of this, the Government recently announced a new Climate Change Adaptation Act will form part […]
A legacy for Christchurch: Ten years since February 22 earthquake
By Richard Smith, Resilience Challenge Director The ten-year anniversary of the February 22nd Christchurch earthquake will be stirring memories for many in Canterbury, and those affected around the country. We acknowledge those who suffered loss on that day, and the communities of the Canterbury region still dealing with damage, disruption, and change. For Aotearoa New […]
Student profile: Ngawaiata Turnbull
Maungapōhatu – A history of resilience, Rua Kēnana and Iharaira Ka moe, ka moe a Te Maunga rāua ko Hinepūkohurangi ka puta ko Ngā Tamariki o te Kohu. Ko Ngawaiata Turnbull taku īngoa he uri whakaheke nō roto i ngā tātai, tāheke kōrero ō Iharaira-Tamakaimoana, ō Ngāti Tāwhaki ki Te Urewera, o Te Whānau Pani […]
Don’t just think about earthquakes, prepare for them
Findings from Dr Lauren Vinnell’s PhD research will help fine-tune the kind of advice communities need to better prepare for earthquakes and other natural hazards For her PhD in Psychology, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s Dr Lauren Vinnell studied how the thoughts and beliefs people hold about preparing for natural hazards influences their behaviour. […]
Using data sensors to understand tourist disaster risk
Mat Darling is a PhD student at the University of Canterbury funded by our Rural programme, and his research seeks to better understand the disaster risk exposure of tourists in New Zealand. Mat is using new data sources to track real time movements of tourists, in order to help emergency managers plan more accurately […]
Q&A with Prof Tim Sullivan
Q. Tēnā koe Tim. Can you tell us how you got into Civil Engineering? Were you always interested in building things? Kia ora! As a kid I always thought I would become an architect. I loved playing with lego and art and thought that being an architect is sort of like combining the two. However, […]
Volcano mapping using hyperspectral remote sensing
By Dr Gabor Kereszturi, Massey University New Zealand is not short of composite volcanoes that can produce volcanic hazards from a range of eruption styles, pyroclastic density currents, rockfall and ballistics, lahars, and flank collapses, among others. Based on the geological record, Mt Ruapehu and Mt Tongariro have produced many of these impactful hazards in […]
Recipients of the Urban Resilience Innovation and Collaboration Hub
In the first half of 2020 the Urban programme established the Urban Resilience Innovation & Collaboration Hub, a round of contestable funding with the purpose of supporting research and research-related activities that promote urban resilience in New Zealand. The fund provides up to NZD $10,000 for projects that add value to the existing work within […]
Impact case study 2019-20: Responsive science for national emergencies
Resilience to Nature’s Challenges has a unique role among National Science Challenges, with obligations under the National Civil Defence Management Plan (2015) to enable coordination of post-event research activity. As we have demonstrated in 2019-20, we’re able to add significant value by linking and coordinating across the science system, and supporting the direct input of […]
Impact case study 2019-20: Partnership as the pathway to impact
Interdisciplinary science is an approach well suited to natural hazards research. It is almost never the case that an exclusively engineering, social, or geological research output is the solution to a resilience need. Multiple perspectives and diverse knowledge must be integrated to facilitate change and achieve impact. The coordination necessary for success requires leadership by […]
Impact case study 2019-20: Science for resilience policy and practice
In 2019-20 we saw several examples of direct application of Resilience to Nature’s Challenges (RNC) research findings into policy and practice. The GNS Science report Reducing risk through the management of existing uses: tensions under the RMA by Emily Grace, Ben France-Hudson and Margaret Kilvington, was primarily funded by our Phase 1 contestable fund. The report looks […]
Impact case study 2019-20: Models and tools for decision-making
How did Resilience Challenge research have an impact in 2019-2020? Central to our mission to accelerate natural hazard resilience is the development of new models and tools to quantify hazards and impacts in more realistic ways, providing better assessments of resilience options to decision-makers. Development of new models is iterative, requiring repeated testing and validation, […]
Charting risk governance trends in New Zealand
How can we chart the future by unpacking what has influenced us to date? By Prof Iain White There’s a lot of research looking at how individuals perceive and respond to natural hazard and climate risks and how this changes in response to signals, we wanted to do the same for a country. So how […]