Local Opinion

I often say that part of a volcanologist’s job is to understand not just the obvious scenarios when a volcano stirs, but also the less predictable ones. Here’s a powerful example of how things can…

In my much earlier seagoing days I crossed the South Pacific 21 times – this during the early to mid-1960s on ships that carried mainly passengers and sometimes cargo. Today as I write this I…

Waikato Regional Council (WRC) recently approved a submission on the government’s proposed new wastewater environmental performance standards that are intended to be rolled out across New Zealand. Taumata Arowai is the water services regulator for…

Good Friday and Easter Sunday are the central events of Easter.  While many of us enjoy the holiday and perhaps justify the opportunity to indulge in a bit of chocolate and a hot cross bun…

I’m back. After a six month hiatus working in Hamilton I have decided there is “no place like home” and I have returned to my substantive position as community constable for Te Awamutu. I particularly…

We don’t predict eruptions – we forecast them. I sigh every time a headline boldly claims that new research will allow us to predict volcanic eruption. The word predict implies precision: saying exactly what will…

I’m writing this from Nepal as I set my sights homeward in the next few days. By the time this column is published, I will have my feet planted back firmly on the beautiful land…

We say that neighbours are the best guardians to help keep our local community safe. Last Wednesday that was the case, when an eagle-eyed member of the community saw an unknown male on a nearby…

I’ve been thinking about the vast, interconnected processes that shape our world. As a geoscientist – someone who studies the Earth – I work across scales that range from thousands of kilometres down to microscopic…

Each fortnight I am driven to sit at my computer and settle on a suitable subject for this opinion piece. Sometimes it is obvious – but on other occasions I must dig deep to emerge…