Janine Krippner
Last week I made the trek up to Auckland for the Geoscience Society of New Zealand annual conference and I’ll share a glimpse into how these events help science across Aotearoa. Conferences are a place for us to share our research and see people working on similar societal issues.
Janine Krippner
This event covered research topics in hazards including volcanology, seismology, and landslides, and aspects of our environment such as groundwater. Researchers spoke about advances in understanding the tectonic processes that form our land and the surrounding seafloor. Importantly, there was science around us – the people.
I spoke about my 2021 La Palma eruption work, on how variable damage is to homes around the lava flow edges. My most important point was the human side of this loss, the grief and suffering that is not covered by numbers.
I loved to see a session dedicated to mātauranga Māori and how it can, and should, be considered and applied in the geosciences. Understanding how we can be more resilient and take care of the environment that sustains life means understanding our history and looking at challenges with different lenses.
Rocky Coastline in Las Palma. Photo: Ronny Siegel, pexels.com
I heard about how there is a 10 per cent chance of an eruption in the Auckland Volcanic Field in the next 50 years. This one especially grabbed my attention with my goals of bringing lessons home from the La Palma eruption to increase our understanding of how Auckland could be impacted.
One fascinating talk busted a myth about an earthquake in Auckland, one that even has its own Wikipedia page. To balance that, I learned about how we need to do a lot more work to understand the seismic hazard in Auckland, because there actually are faults up there to keep an eye on.
Work has been progressing to understand how phreatic eruptions work – the eruptions driven by steam that can be deadly with little or no warning.
Through the days there was also an undercurrent of understanding that funding cuts have made progress more difficult. Progress that at the end of the day benefits all of us in this beautiful yet hazardous country. This aspect I know personally, having altered the recent course of my career.
After three days of intently listening to talks and chatting with people at their posters about their work, I have formed new potential collaborations and learned new things that I will be including in my own work. These events can cause our science to take a few leaps forward and have us ask new questions that can be the insight we need to be of use to society. So much of science happens quietly in laboratories and offices, this is a chance to talk about end results, progress that is not yet finished, or plans moving forward.
Collaboration is critical and this includes across disciplines and being in the same room allows us to form those connections that we otherwise might have missed. The progress made by scientists impacts our society as a whole, and this is one event that helps move it forward.
