Author Archives: Antony Steiner

Christchurch Earthquake: Restoration of buildings and applicability in Napier

Posted on by

5.30pm on Wednesday 17 February 2016
National Aquarium of NZ, 546 Marine Parade, Napier
Entry: gold coin donation

The Hawke’s Bay Branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand, in partnership with the Hawke’s Bay Chapter of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand, presents The 1931 Hawke’s Bay Earthquake Commemorative Lecture, with guest speakers Andrew Masterson and Guy Lethbridge.

Andrew Masterson is Business Development Manager of Mainmark Ground Engineering (NZ) Ltd in Christchurch. They were the lead contractor who worked with a consortium of international experts from New Zealand, Australia and Japan, to re-level the Christchurch Art Gallery following the February 2011 earthquake, using technology that was developed as a result of the Japanese earthquakes. Guy Lethbridge is a Director of Strata Group Consulting Engineers Ltd in Hastings, a structural engineering consultancy involved in strengthening buildings in Hawke’s Bay and Christchurch.

Their talk will describe re-levelling of the Christchurch Art Gallery and the potential application of levelling technology in Napier after an earthquake event. They will comment on the latest geological mapping underway in Hawke’s Bay and potential implications, and compare pre- and post-earthquake foundation designs, processes and outcomes.

Art Gallery Composition HR JOG + JG A5[1]

The Christchurch Art Gallery, with a graphic of the Jet Grout Machines installing the cement stabilised columns, and the JOG Computer Controlled Grout Injection system lifting the building back to its original inclination.

Contribute to New Zealand research to discover life-saving medicines

Posted on by

Experts predict that within ten years we will have run out of antibiotics. As antibiotics are used to prevent infections in patients having surgery and cancer chemotherapy, as well as to treat infectious diseases, Director General of the World Health Organisation Margaret Chan has called this “…the end of modern medicine as we know it”. The world urgently needs new antibiotics, and the Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab at the University of Auckland needs our help to find them. Microbiologist Dr Siouxsie Wiles, who gave one of our lectures in Napier on 12 November, heads the Superbugs Lab.

Most antibiotics come from microbes living in the soil, beginning with the discovery of penicillin from the fungus Penicillium. New Zealand has a treasure trove of unique fungi that have never been searched for new antibiotics. The Bioluminescent Superbugs Lab is working with scientists from Landcare Research to find new antibiotics, by screening their collection of fungi for species that can kill antibiotic-resistant superbugs like MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and E. coli. It costs approximately $250 to test each fungus, and they have over 9,000 fungi to test, so please support them and help discover more of these life-saving medicines.

You could do some fund-raising within your school (e.g. a mufti day) and donate the money you raise to this research. $250 will enable them to test one fungus, and the Lab will tell you how far the fungus you sponsored progressed through the tests. It does not have to be $250 – every dollar helps towards testing another fungus, and potentially finding a life-saving antibiotic.

To make a donation, go to: www.givingtoauckland.org.nz/fungi

Zealandia: Earth’s 8th continent

Posted on by

The Geoscience Society of New Zealand’s 2015 Hochstetter Lecture

Dr Nick Mortimer, GNS Science, Dunedin

Thursday 15 October 2015 at 7.30 pm
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council, corner Vautier and Dalton Streets, Napier

Entry: gold coin donation

WorldContinents are the largest solid objects on the Earth’s surface. In this illustrated talk Nick will summarise the scientific case that there are not seven but eight continents: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America and Zealandia. Although Zealandia is 4.9 million square kilometres in area, it has literally lain hidden because 94% of it is under the sea. In the talk Nick will also speak about how Zealandia became the world’s most submerged continent and why its continental identity is important to science and to society.

Nick MortiNick Mortimermer is a geologist at the Dunedin office of the Crown Research Institute GNS Science. He first graduated in geology in 1980 and was awarded a Ph.D in geology in 1984. In his 26 year career he has carried out land- and ship-based field work throughout the length and breadth of New Zealand and Zealandia and has gained expertise in many aspects of geology, including structural geology, tectonic evolution, geochemistry, geochronology, mineralogy, petrology.   He recently co-authored a Penguin book on Zealandia with his colleague Hamish Campbell. He is a senior editor for the NZ Journal of Geology and Geophysics.

Geoscience Society Each year the Geoscience Society of New Zealand chooses as its Hochstetter Lecturer a New Zealand earth scientist who has recently completed a major study, and who has a reputation as a good, informative speaker. Emphasis shall be on the dissemination of new concepts and/or of important information which modifies existing interpretations. The lecture is given at major centres around the country and should be of interest to both professional and amateur audiences.

Download flyer

Fossils: Rock Legends

Posted on by
Reply

 

Fossils: Rock Legends

A presentation by James Crampton of GNS, Lower Hutt, and School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University, Wellington

rocksPaleontology is the science of fossils.  Like all science, it is concerned with discovery and interpretation of the world (and universe) around us.  For paleontology, that discovery starts in the layers of rock exposed on mountainsides and in river beds, where we find fossils that have been preserved and hidden for millions to hundreds of millions of years.  Fossils are an incredible source of knowledge and understanding: from them we learn about the unique history of life on this planet, the wonderful coincidence of conditions that makes life possible, and the terrifying events that have destroyed life.  We also learn about climate change, sea-level rise, earthquakes, tsunamis, and the fossil fuels that sustain our society.  In this talk I will try to convey the excitement (and hazards!) of initial fossil discovery, and then give a tour through the sorts of scientific discoveries that follow.

Date: Tuesday 5 May 2015, 7.30pm

Venue: National Aquarium of New Zealand, Marine Parade Napier

Admission: Gold coin donation

James will be in Hawkes Bay to support the HBBRSNZ education programme Geology Rocks! with thanks to the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Hawkes Bay Branch of the Royal Society, Hawkes Bay Regional Council and TAG Oil.

Please direct any enquiries to HBBranchRSNZ@gmail.com