I first read Dr Janine Krippner’s column in this paper when I was thinking about making a podcast for the Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management Group.
Janine’s ability to communicate the history and the science through great storytelling is outstanding, and rare.
Drew Mehrtens
We connected through this paper and I asked her if she’d be open to being part of the Volcano episode of our podcast: A Waikato Thing. Cut to: Janine, sitting near the top of Mt Ruapehu, on the breathtaking lava field, hiding from the wind behind a giant chunk of sharp rock talking into my microphone.
The resulting podcast has no host or interviewer, but it’s a series of stories told by multiple scientists like Dr Krippner, all intercut, weaving a single thematic narrative making up each episode.
We all made A Waikato Thing from a place of curiosity, a sense of home and a desire to help our Waikato communities.
Researchers, scientists and experts, like Janine, have generously explained our most powerful natural phenomena.
In addition, we pull back the curtains on the psychology of warning messages with Sally Potter. Discover the future of AI for flood forecasting with Dr Phil Mourot. Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) scientist Brad Scott will take you to the geothermal areas of the Taupō Volcanic Zone and explain some of those things you hear but may never have had a chance to ask a volcanologist or geologist, such as: what is earthquake weather? Why have people reported waves in footpaths during earthquakes when no concrete was cracked?
Principal scientist – and dad – Graham Leonard takes us even deeper, with insights from the 10 year supervolcano Eclipse Project, while also giving us fun ways to teach kids how volcanoes work. Rick Liefting and Whitney Mills from our Hazards Technical Advisory Group, give us insights about flooding, earthquakes and tsunami.
For those on the west coast, get an insight into giant underwater landslides from our past that shaped our coastline. See the Waipā and King Country in ways you may never have before. Travel east across the Waikato into the scarps you encounter when travelling toward Morrinsville and through the Piako. Then across the Hauraki Plains to the Coromandel where you’ll understand more about our flood protection systems and a different kind of tsunami to what people often expect.
In addition to these and more from our science community, you’ll even get a masterclass on our region’s mātauranga Maōri from Waikato-Tainui’s Rahui Papa. Unlock the secrets of a form of storytelling known as pūrākau where clues to our event history are embedded in epic stories.
And I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s in the podcast. We even have bonus interviews with our experts explaining how they became who they are today – inspiration for any interested in trying something new at any age.
It’s been a fascinating journey for me.
I invite you to discover your own at WaikatoCivilDefence.govt.nz/podcast. Episodes drop every Friday for the month of June.
Janine Krippner checks her camera settings while on volcano watch. Photo: Drew Mehrtens.
