Rockfalls – Out There Learning

Rockfall impacts from the Christchurch ‘Quake

Leave a Comment / Earth Science, Julian's Blog / Julian Thomson / Christchurch, Earthquake, Landslides, Natural Hazards, Rockfalls

Today I have been in the Port Hills of Christchurch with Chris Massey, an engineering geologist in the GNS Science Active Landscapes team. Chris is part of a team undertaking a detailed study of the rockfalls that have been triggered in and around Christchurch as a result of the recent earthquakes. The aim of his […]

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Rockfalls and slips in Christchurch

This week I have been with Garth Archibald, surveying areas in Christchurch that have been affected by rockfalls and slips. These surveys provide data which is used to calculate the stability of cliffs and slopes, and this provides useful information to planners and geotechnical engineers. At Redcliffs, Garth set up his laser scanner to make

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.