Gravity Always Wins: What information is needed for landslide risk reduction?

Speaker: Dr Saskia de Vilder, Engineering Geologist at GNS Science

Date: Tuesday, 1 July 2025, 6pm

Venue: Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (159 Dalton Street, Napier)

Admission: Gold coin donation

Landslides of all types and sizes occur across Aotearoa New Zealand. As we saw during Cyclone Gabrielle, they can have devastating impacts—causing loss of life, damaging and destroying homes, and isolating communities long after the rain has stopped. To plan effectively, invest wisely, and reduce our landslide risk, we need to know where and when landslides might occur, how large they could be, who or what they might impact, and what the consequences are likely to be. In short, we need national-scale maps of landslide hazard and risk that can support both emergency response and long-term planning.

This talk explores how the Hōretireti Whenua | Sliding Lands research programme is advancing Aotearoa’s ability to understand and reduce landslide risk. The programme aims to transform information about rapid landslide hazards into knowledge about vulnerability and risk—built on an understanding of how people perceive: (1) landslide phenomena, (2) community and individual vulnerability, and (3) model capabilities and outputs.

The presentation will also highlight how data from the record-breaking landslides triggered by Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023 are being used to test and improve these models. By combining end-to-end modelling with integrated hazard, risk, and impact information—and drawing on social science insights—Sliding Lands is working to ensure that when gravity does its worst, we’re better prepared.

Dr. Saskia de Vilder is an Engineering Geologist at GNS Science with expertise in landslide hazard and risk modelling, rock slope failure, and the interface between science and policy. Her research focuses on understanding how and why landslides occur, how far they travel, and the risks they pose to people, infrastructure, and the environment.
She led the development of a national natural hazard risk framework for the Department of Conservation, supporting consistent assessment of life-safety risks across public conservation lands. Saskia is also a lead author of the Landslide Planning Guidance, which helps land-use planners incorporate landslide hazard and risk into planning decisions to reduce exposure and build resilience.

Behind the Scenes: Visit T&G’s High-Tech Apple Packhouse

Date: Thursday, 22 May 2025

Time: 5:30pm

Location: T&G Global, Whakatu (access details will be provided to confirmed attendees)

Booking Required via Eventfinda – Limited to 40 People. Bookings will open on 22 April.
This is a members-only event. You must be a paid-up RSNZ HB Branch member with membership valid through to March 2026.

Join us for an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of T&G’s cutting-edge $100 million apple packhouse in Whakatu, which opened in May 2023. This state-of-the-art facility is nearly fully automated, using advanced technology for apple washing, grading, packing, palletising, and storage. Some apples are even packed by robots – though humans still do it faster!

This is a rare opportunity to see one of New Zealand’s most advanced post-harvest facilities in action.

Visitor Requirements:

  • Wear hi-viz if you have it (T&G will provide hair and beard nets)
  • Wear flat, fully enclosed shoes
  • No jewellery or watches (plain wedding bands without stones are permitted)
  • No photos allowed – please leave your phone in the car

Generative AI – a lecture series in May and June 2023

Four lectures on this topical and important subject are being broadcast free of charge by the Faculty of Science, University of Auckland

Thursday, 11 May: 2023 Gibbons Online Lecture – AI and the New Creative Revolution

www.eventbrite.co.nz

The 2023 Gibbons Lectures series is intended to describe ongoing research in Computer Science to a wider public, organized by Faculty of Science, University of Auckland.

Tim Gibson, Stolen Glances Studio

Thursday 11 May, 6:30pm

Venue: Lib B15 Lecture Theatre General Library Basement, (109-B15) The University of Auckland 5 Alfred Street, Auckland CBD, register your place here.

This lecture will be available to livestream here.

Generative Artificial Intelligence like ChatGPT and its visual equivalents Dall-E, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion have shaken up the creative workforce, often producing industry level copywriting, editing, illustration and design at a fraction of the time and cost of a human worker. Their capabilities have set off a technological arm’s race at the world’s largest tech companies while simultaneously building a user base of enthusiasts faster than the most popular social media platforms.

What can Generative AI be used for, how powerful is it really, how could it be used ethically, and what impact will it have on our creative industries and the people who work for and engage with them?

What could a world look like where creativity is ‘free’? 

In this talk, Tim will showcase some of the current technologies’ capabilities, the hot takes and debates from within the creative industries and attempt to predict what is next for creative Generative Artificial Intelligence.

Tim Gibson is a Creative Director, Animator and Illustrator who has worked for companies big and small across film, television, comics, branding and packaging design. His work has appeared for Garage Project, Weta Workshop, Le Monde Diplomatique, Penguin Random-House, Te Papa Tongarewa and more.