Date: Tuesday, 3 March 2026 Time: 6pm (doors open at 5.30 pm) Speaker: Dr Alessandra Vallim Venue: National Aquarium, Napier Admission: Gold coin donation
As part of Seaweek 2026, the annual celebration of our oceans, the Hawke’s Bay Branch of the Royal Society Te Apārangi warmly invites you to a special Seaweek Talk at the National Aquarium of New Zealand.
Join Alessandra Vallim, SeaKeepers South Pacific Program Manager and PhD researcher, as she shares her research on how large marine animals — including rays, sharks, and whales — reshape seafloor sediments and drive key ocean processes. Her work highlights these species as ecosystem engineers and connects science with community engagement through citizen science initiatives.
Date: Thursday, 23 April 2026 Time: 6pm (doors open at 5.30 pm) Speaker: Pilar Villamor, Earth Sciences NZ Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, EIT Taradale, Napier Admission: Gold coin donation
This year’s Geoscience Tour lecture will review 25 years of trenching active faults in volcanic environments and how a scientist’s perspective on tectonics close to volcanoes changed through that time, from the simple utilisation of volcanic stratigraphy as timelines for paleo- earthquake history to a realisation that volcanic and tectonic processes are so intimately connected that one cannot be understood without the other. Pilar will show paleoseismic evidence based on criteria that she developed to distinguish types of earthquakes–eruption associations. Paleoseismic data, combined with geomorphology, borehole data, and geophysics, revealed strong temporal links between fault ruptures and volcanic eruptions. She will also draw on worldwide historical examples and stress modelling to infer possible crustal processes that can explain these time associations. Collectively, these studies improve our understanding of how volcanic eruptions and unrest are linked to active faults and earthquakes in the TVZ.
Pilar is an internationally respected earthquake geologist and principal scientist whose research on active faults and volcano–tectonic interactions in Aotearoa New Zealand has had a transformative impact on our understanding of natural hazards. Pilar’s recent studies show that the recurrence of fault ruptures in the Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ) can be strongly modulated by volcanic activity, and vice versa. The novelty of her work lies in combining paleoseismic trenching with multidisciplinary approaches to demonstrate causal links between earthquakes and eruptions. This represents a paradigm shift for New Zealand hazard science.
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.
