Rotorua Schools’ Tour – Out There Learning

I am in Rotorua this week visiting a number of the schools to tell the children about the Rotomahana Project.

It is wonderful to witness the excitement and engagement of the kids, and the enthusiasm of the teachers helping them to learn about the unique history and geology of the local area.

I have been describing some background of New Zealand’s volcanic landscapes, the reasons why scientists want to understand the geothermal activity, the history of the Tarawera Eruption of 1886 and also the way we will be investigating the lake with the Autonomous Underwater Vehicles.

The photos show GNS Scientists at work studying our volcanoes and geothermal activity in New Zealand

Welcome to my site

Hi I’m Julian Thomson and I am involved in science communication and education in ways that link geoscientists with teachers and students, mostly in New Zealand, but also in Asia. This includes consultancy with school faculties and individual teachers around their earth science, ecology or outdoor programmes, running geoscience workshops and field trips, creating school learning resources, making educational videos and authoring web pages.

In my work I love to highlight the wonders of the natural world and ways that we can explore, become fascinated and never lose the sense of awe. I am also very interested in ways we can best safeguard ourselves from Natural Hazards which are a continual issue in New Zealand, sitting across a collision plate boundary as we do.

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