We invite all members to attend our Annual General Meeting, which will be held just before our July public lecture.
A key item on the agenda will be the review and approval of our updated Constitution, in line with the Incorporated Societies Act 2022. This is a significant step in maintaining our legal and charitable status, and we need your voice in shaping the way our branch moves forward.
Your feedback and participation are essential. Please take the time to review the proposed changes—details will be shared with members ahead of the meeting.
Let’s keep our branch strong, compliant, and future-ready. We look forward to seeing you there!
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.
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.
