Getting Started with Science Communication If you are wanting to get started with science communication you can think of it as a three step process. The first step involves weighing up your various choices about who you want to reach, the topic you want to focus on and the ways you hope to communicate about …
10 Highlights from a trip to Antarctica By Julian Thomson Recently I returned from about 6 weeks in Antarctica, assisting a science team researching the microbes that live within the sea ice. We were based near Scott Base, and I was privileged to have time to learn about the science and explore some of the …
How should you best communicate your geoscience research? This article is based on a presentation I gave to the 2020 conference of the Geosciences Society of New Zealand. It is aimed at researchers and aspiring science communicators. I have been a full time geoscience educator for 14 years, working for GNS Science, New Zealand’s government …
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New Zealand has thousands of active faults each of which will produce an earthquake of some magnitude when it ruptures. However the two giants are the Alpine Fault and the Hikurangi Subduction Fault. They each form a segment of the plate boundary – the Alpine Fault can be traced across land, the length of the South …
Tora is a small rural community on the Wairarapa Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. There are many interesting geological outcrops and landforms in the area. For me the most spectacular of these are in the area of sloping farmland just south of where the inland road meets the coast. On a recent …
The Wellington Fault is one of several large active faults in the lower North Island of New Zealand. From the Tararua Mountains and Kaitoke it runs the length of the Hutt Valley, the edge of Wellington Harbour, through Tinakori in the City and across the hills to Cook Strait. Earthquakes occur on the Wellington Fault …
Bitou – this small fishing village is about 70km north of Yilan City. Right next to it is the Bitou Geopark. Here you can take a clifftop walk above steep sandstone cliffs, or descend to the shore platform to see some strange mushroom like features at close quarters Here the shore platform is festooned with …
To find worthwhile locations that offer great learning opportunities in geology, you have to spend time exploring outcrops, trying to make sense of the geological features that are exposed and then think of ways that students can explore and make sense of them out of their own activity. This inquiry learning process can work well …
The teachers of CuXin school in Yilan, Taiwan have been interested to find a location for a week-long wilderness camp for the year 9 class. We wanted to design a camp where students will have to rely on good survival skills and self management. We also want them to be able to learn the lore …
During my stay in Taiwan I have been invited by the teachers to visit several areas that they consider to have educational potential for school camps. Iron and Copper minerals have stained the famous “Golden Waterfall” The first area was on the NE coast around Keelung Mountain which is an old dacite volcano. This area …