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The Deep South’s Impacts and Implications Programme is gearing up with a recent researcher workshop and the recruitment of a new science lead – Dr Suzi Kerr.

As one of New Zealand’s foremost climate economists and researchers, Suzi, a research fellow at Motu, brings a wealth of experience and strong networks to the Challenge.  Her new role involves being a key member of the Challenge’s Science Leadership Team and leading the Challenge’s Impacts and Implications Programme (I&I).

The I&I programme will help New Zealanders thrive in a changing climate by bolstering and coordinating New Zealand’s capacity to anticipate potential impacts, understand the implications, and plan and adapt accordingly. It will build on the Climate Changes, Impacts & Implications for New Zealand (CCII) programme in some areas.

Suzi, who led economic research for the CCII programme, is focused on developing a research base for the I&I programme that is useful to end users. “I’m excited about working with the Deep South team and researchers in New Zealand to develop a strategic plan,” she said.  “Our modelling should be directed toward specific questions and produce regular outputs that are immediately useful to a specific end user.  These results can be tested with stakeholders before more resources are put into further model development and refinement of results.” 

Suzi takes over from Dr Daniel Rutledge who emigrated to The Netherlands with his family in June.  Her appointment follows a series of successful introductory webinars for I&I in June that reached around 120 stakeholders and researchers, and a workshop in Wellington in August. At the workshop, 35 climate researchers from around New Zealand met to discuss the I&I programme goals, potential projects and plan a collaborative approach.  

Outgoing Challenge Director, Professor Dave Frame, who led the workshop, said: “It was really great to bring people together for very constructive conversations. The level of collaboration in the room was very exciting.”

Mike Beare, a Science Group Leader at Plant and Food Research, who attended the workshop on behalf of the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge, added: “It was a very interesting and productive discussion. I came away feeling very enthusiastic about the opportunities to bring a climate change perspective (through the I&I programme) to the Our Land and Water Land Use Suitability programme.”

Troy Baisden, a Senior Scientist at GNS, added: “The I & I workshop was a positive experience. The process got everyone’s ideas on the table first, and created an inclusive pathway forward for developing proposals and assigning leadership. Before I arrived I wouldn’t have imagined we’d leave the room with good connection between Deep South and Our Land and Water NSCs. The workshop generated a great deal of clarity and handed the task of developing workable proposals back to research leaders, where it should be.”

The Deep South is featured this month in a supplement of the top science journal Nature.  The supplement, Naturejobs Career Guide Asia Pacific, provides a guide for overseas scientists interested in working in New Zealand.

The article describes the opportunities New Zealand offers international scientists and highlights the work of Olaf Morgenstern (pictured above), originally from Germany, who is leading the Deep South’s Earth System Modelling and Prediction Programme.

Olaf, who arrived in New Zealand in 2008, works for the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) as a Principal Scientist – Atmosphere and Climate. He has also worked in the development of atmospheric chemistry and chemistry climate models in the UK and Germany, and had obtained his PhD degree in Switzerland.

His work for the Deep South involves working with collaborators to build New Zealand’s first Earth System Model. The model will improve New Zealand’s ability to predict future climates.  

Further to this, Olaf is a Principal Investigator of the Clouds and Aerosols project which will improve representation of clouds and their interactions in the Southern Ocean region. He also leads a stratospheric chemistry project which will improve the representation of the ozone layer in the model.

The Deep South has transformed the research landscape in the area of global climate modelling in New Zealand, giving researchers like Olaf new opportunities to develop their work across disciplinary boundaries.

Further reading

• Earth System Modelling and Prediction Programme
• Naturejobs Career Guide Asia Pacific

The Deep South National Science Challenge is delighted to announce two new key appointments to the team that is charged with enabling New Zealanders to adapt, manage risk, and thrive in a changing climate.

NIWA physical oceanographer Dr Mike Williams (pictured on the left above) has been appointed director of the challenge, taking over from Prof David Frame, who is returning to pursue academic research opportunities at Victoria University of Wellington.

Dr Williams has been associated with the challenge since its inception, and has been a key member of its leadership team as Science Leader for the Processes and Observations programme. His main research interests are in ice-ocean interaction, and the impacts of a changing Southern Ocean on Antarctica.

After completing his PhD in Tasmania, he worked as an assistant research professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, before returning to New Zealand to work at NIWA.

Dr Williams says the opportunity to take on the directorship of the challenge was too good to pass up.

“It is a privilege to lead something that will have huge benefits for New Zealand as the impacts of climate change take hold. This role feels like a natural progression from the challenge development work I was involved in and I am keen to keep the challenge moving forward.”

One of his first jobs is to establish the final parts of the challenge over the rest of this year, including the Impacts and Implications programme.

Meanwhile, the second new appointment is Dr Suzi Kerr who will lead the Impacts and Implications programme.

Dr Kerr was founder of Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, and is New Zealand’s leading climate change economist. Her Harvard PhD was on international environmental agreements and emissions trading schemes, which remain a strong interest for her, but she has also conducted many studies into other aspects of climate change, particularly those relating to the land sector.

The Impacts and Implications programme will bolster and coordinate New Zealand’s capacity to anticipate potential impacts, understand the implications, and plan and adapt accordingly.

“I’m excited about working with the Deep South team and researchers in New Zealand to develop a strategic plan,” she said.

“Our modelling should be directed toward specific questions and produce regular outputs that are immediately useful to end users.”

Deep South is one of 11 Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment-funded initiatives aimed at taking a more strategic and collaborative approach to science investment.

One of the key aims of the challenge is to develop New Zealand’s first world-class numerical Earth System Model that will simulate current climate and possible future climates under different scenarios of future global greenhouse gas emissions. This will ultimately give New Zealanders a greater level of certainty in planning and decision making in the face of a changing climate.

Contact

Dr Mike Williams, Ph 021 044 7645

Dr Suzi Kerr, Ph 04 939 4250

The Deep South National Science Challenge is proud to support this year’s Climate and Business Conference

The conference, to be held in Auckland on October 11-12, is expected to draw 200-300 delegates from business, governments and society. The event builds on the success of last year’s conference with topics such as adaptation, finance, business strategies and carbon markets.

Prof Dave Frame, Director of the Deep South, will present at the conference and the Challenge will have an exhibition table.

Other conference supporters include:

• Climate Change and Business Centre (CCBC)
• Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA)
• Environmental Defence Society (EDS)
• Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ)
• Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC)
• Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ)
• Sustainable Business Network (SBN)
• International Emissions Trading Association (IETA)
• The programme outline is now available and registration is live

Visit the Climate and Business Conference website

This is the first of a series of blogs where we explore the people, the science, and the purpose of the Deep South National Science Challenge.  Lorraine Taylor takes a look at an Antarctic world sculpted by artist Gabby O’Connor.

“Oh wow, this is much better than the Antarctica exhibition you were going to take us to!”

This is fairly high praise from my 13-year-old son who is unenthusiastic about his mother’s holiday activities these days.  However, his comment also illustrates the success that Gabby O’Connor’s current art installment at Porirua’s Pataka art space is enjoying with the many young visitors who have attended.  I let him revel in the moment, watching the light bounce off the ice, the replica platelets as unique as snowflakes, and the continuous mesmerising video playing like a kaleidoscope in a large corner of the room, before I let him know this is indeed the Antarctica exhibit and unfortunately he might learn something this afternoon.

Studio Antarctica represents the biggest exhibition for Gabby O’Connor, a milestone in itself, and has been a dream in the making.  Gabby has long been intrigued by icebergs and Antarctica, and didn’t hesitate to accept an invitation to ‘take photos’ as part of research project led by NIWA’s Craig Stevens, a marine physicist studying wave action underneath Antarctic ice sheets.

This dream trip for Gabby, has catalysed new inspiration for Gabby, who has been invited back to Antarctica later this year.  As an artist, Gabby uses different tools than a scientist to document and capture her observations but shows that there are many synergies between art and science:  both the artist and the scientist look very closely at phenomena around us, inviting others to look closely, too.  Gabby herself says that for her art was a way of making sense of the world.  Art can provide a window to a world that might not be obvious to the viewer, and can also provide an entry point to scientific endeavours.

The exhibit provides an engaging window into the Antarctic world.  One installation allows the viewer to lie on the carpeted floor, looking up at the underside of an undulating ice sheet covered in platelets sculpted by the artist in surprising materials: packaging tape and plastic sleeves.  The artist’s use of light, silk and plastic and uncountable hours of creation, allows the viewer to imagine themselves floating under the ice, looking up at thousands of crystal like platelets.  On this occasion I lie beneath the large sculpture flanked by my son and a few of his friends.   We chat easily, about icebergs, sea ice and platelets, imagining Antarctica, and what scientists might be researching there. 

Despite his initial reluctance, my son is now fully engaged in the activity, at least for the moment, wooed by the artist who with her work invited him into another world and said, ‘hey, come look at this… look closely’.

Find out more

For more information about the Studio Antarctica Exhibition at Pataka

Hear more about Craig Stevens’ work in Antarctica

Listen to Gabby talk on Radio NZ about Antarctica, ice platelets and the opening of her exhibition – standing room only – in June

Take a look at Gabby’s online gallery

Read about Gabby’s Antarctic adventure in her blog.

The Deep South National Science Challenge has announced new funding for seven new scientific research projects to help New Zealanders better understand their future climate. 

Associate Professor Sandy Morrison

The seven projects are worth $1.5 million in total and range from investigating Antarctic sea ice using drones, to improving predictions and understanding of the drivers of New Zealand’s climate, to exploring the cascading impacts and implications of climate change for Aotearoa New Zealand.

One of the projects is Te Tai Uka a Pia ‒ Iwi relationships with Antarctic and the Southern Oceans to enhance adaptation to climate change, and is being led by Associate Professor Sandy Morrison from the School of Māori and Pacific Development at the University of Waikato.

Associate Professor Morrison says different tribes and iwi have their own Antarctic stories. “According to Ngāti Rārua and Te Ati Awa, it was the Polynesian explorer Hui Te Rangiora who was the first human to travel to the Antarctic and he’s remembered at the meeting house Tūrangapeke at Te Awhina marae at Motueka. But this is just one version. I want to find out the other stories held by hāpu and iwi, particularly from the South Island – Te Waipounamu and the Chathams.”

Associate Professor Morrison says this body of mātauranga Māori will expand the range of Māori historical references to Antarctica. “We can then use this knowledge alongside science when preparing communities for climate change impacts, through awareness-raising, adaptation and mitigation strategies.”

As principal investigator on the project, Associate Professor Morrison will lead interviews with representatives from different iwi, hosting hui with communities or individuals in the top of the South Island, the West Coast and the Chathams.

“We will also hold a workshop with scientists involved in the Deep South Challenge to discuss what key science messages should be shared with Māori communities and explore how these can be connected with Māori relationships and references.”

Associate Professor Morrison will be working closely with Aimee Kaio from Ngai Tahu, and the research is expected to be completed by June 2018.

Challenge director Professor Dave Frame said these are bold and exciting projects. “The physical science projects will help us improve climate models, which is important since climate models are the only tools that allow us to develop a coherent understanding of climate drivers and how they interact. It’s also good to be able to fund proposals which link Deep South research to society in constructive and useful ways.”

This funding is the latest allocation of money for the Challenge, which is one of 11 Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment-funded initiatives aimed at taking a more strategic and collaborative approach to science investment.

Read more about the School of Māori and Pacific Development at Waikato University.

Read the Deep South project brief

What’s the next best thing to a visit to Antarctica?  Attending the New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute’s (NZARI) Winter School.  Deep South Partnerships Director Susan Livengood goes back to school to find out more about Antarctica.

The Winter School, held on Great Barrier Island in May, provided a fascinating insight into cutting-edge science in Antarctica and an opportunity to take part in hands-on experiments with New Zealand scientists.

NZARI teams up with Antarctica New Zealand annually to give media, policy analysts, educators and sponsors a solid level on understanding of pressing issues for Antarctic ecosystems and how Antarctic research is contributing to a broader understanding of climate change.

This year’s theme was ‘Antarctic Ecosystems in a Changing World’.  The school opened with an entertaining introduction to Antarctica by comedian Te Radar. This was followed by an overview of what climate change predictions mean for Antarctica by Professor James Renwick of Victoria University.

The next sessions examined how terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems may respond to climate changes such as warming, increased carbon dioxide and ocean acidification. These sessions were led by several Antarctic scientists: Professor Craig Cary, of the University of Waikato; Dr Vonda Cummings, a marine ecologist at NIWA; and Professor Ian Hawes of the Gateway Antarctica Research Centre at the University of Canterbury.

Professor Gary Wilson, Director of NZARI and Professor of Marine Science at the University of Otago said, “Winter School aims to take a practical approach to help those who communicate Antarctic science to the wider-public through a series of speaking sessions which all have a practical component – for example learning how to model and interpret data, thus better understand the science.

“It is one of many efforts NZARI is making to improve the communication of topical Antarctic and Southern Oceans research to the wider community.”

Find out more 

Visit the NZARI website

Visit the Antarctica NZ website 

Search for them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

The Deep South National Science Challenge today announced new funding for seven new scientific research projects to help New Zealanders better understand their future climate.

The new projects, worth $1.5 million, range from investigating Antarctic sea ice using drones, to improving predictions and understanding of the drivers of New Zealand’s climate, to exploring the cascading impacts and implications of climate change for Aotearoa New Zealand.  This follows an announcement of $9 million last November for six projects to begin the process of developing New Zealand’s first world-class numerical Earth System Model. This will simulate current climate and possible future climates under different scenarios of future global greenhouse gas emissions. The New Zealand Earth Systems Model will help advance understanding of Southern Hemisphere influences on the global climate and ultimately give New Zealanders a greater level of certainty in their planning and decision-making in the face of a changing climate.

The new projects:

• Improving the simulation of stratospheric chemistry in the New Zealand Earth System Model, led by NIWA, Wellington
• Seasonality of Southern Ocean Dynamics from Antarctic radiocarbon observations, led by GNS Science
• Climate model evaluation using satellite simulators: A like for like methodology, led by University of Canterbury
• Te Tai Uka a Pia – Iwi relationships with Antarctic and the Southern Oceans to enhance adaptation to Climate Change, led by University of Waikato
• Cascading impacts and implications for Aotearoa New Zealand, led by Victoria University of Wellington
• Versatile 4D drones for observations of Deep-South key Earth system processes, led by University of Canterbury
• Developing capacity in process assessment and improvement in NZESM through the use of the single column version of the model, led by Bodeker Scientific

Challenge director Prof Dave Frame said: “These are bold and exciting projects and we’re looking forward to seeing them get underway. The physical science projects will help us improve climate models, which is important since climate models are the only tools that allow us to develop a coherent understanding of climate drivers and how they interact. It’s also good to be able to fund proposals which link Deep South research to society in constructive and useful ways.”

This funding is the latest allocation of money for the Challenge, which is one of 11 Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment-funded initiatives aimed at taking a more strategic and collaborative approach to science investment.

For more information contact:

Lorraine Taylor, Engagement Coordinator                         Ph 04 463 5474, [email protected]

Prof Dave Frame, Deep South Challenge Director             Ph 04 386 0838, [email protected]

Gabby O’Connor’s exciting new exhibition is inspired by the science that is in constant motion on the icy continent. It is being held at at Pātaka ART+MUSEUM in Porirua from 19 June – 18 September 2016.

[Pātaka] Gabby O’Connor’s Studio Antarctica installation is the result of a creative collaboration between contemporary fine art and cutting edge scientific research. In 2015 O’Connor spent several weeks in Antarctica working in a shipping container laboratory on sea ice 4 metres thick over 500 metre deep McMurdo Sound. While making and researching her art, O’Connor helped world-renowned scientific research team, K131, document ice platelet structures found in these sub-zero oceans. This is part of a long-term art + science alliance that explores intersections between the two disciplines.

Studio Antarctica, the installation, is in three interconnected parts that reveals the processes of the project through photography, painting and drawing, a multi-channel video projection and a site specific sculptural work made from packaging tape and light.

The Deep South National Science Challenge is proud to be associated with this exciting project!

For more information

• Pātaka ART+MUSEUM
• Gabby O’Connor’s Website

Deep South Director Professor Dave Frame joins Dr Daniel Rutledge in a public webinar to introduce the Deep South’s developing Impacts and Implications programme.

A series of public webinars were held early this month to introduce the Deep South’s developing Impacts & Implications Programme.

At least 120 people from 65 stakeholder or researcher organisations participated in the webinars to hear more about the Impacts and Implications programme. The programme will help New Zealanders thrive in a changing climate by bolstering and coordinating New Zealand’s capacity to anticipate potential impacts, understand the implications, and plan and adapt accordingly.

Programme leader Dr Daniel Rutledge said: “We were very pleased with the level of interest and representation from around the country, and with the thoughtful questions and discussion that resulted.”

The webinar began with an introduction to the Deep South National Science Challenge from its Director, Professor Dave Frame. This was followed by an overview of the Deep South’s Impacts & Implications Programme by Dr Daniel Rutledge.  Daniel described the programme’s focus on extreme weather events, drought, sea level rise and shifts in temperature, rainfall and wind statistics. He outlined opportunities for funding and partnership.

The webinar format was chosen to maximise the potential for participation by keeping travel costs and time commitment low.  It was welcomed by participants who were thankful for the opportunity to participate.

Those unable to participate in the webinar are invited to view a video of the webinar, available here shortly, and a copy of the presentation is at the end of this article. Questions and answers in relation to the webinar are available here.

To register as a potential partner and to find out more about the Impacts and Implications Programme, please send an email to [email protected] and register your interest as follows:

Potential Partner – you want to actively engage in future programme development  and potentially become a partner by leading or contributing to a bid to the funds

Representative User – you want to actively engage in and help direct future I&I development on behalf of your community, organisation, industry, iwi, etc. but do not intend at this stage to lead or contribute to a bid to the funds

Updates only – you want to be kept abreast of developments in The Deep South via electronic updates and alerts. Alternatively you can sign up to receive the Challenge newsletter here

Please understand that registering interest as a Potential Partner or Representative User does not guarantee your active participation. As signalled at the webinar, we need to be strategic about how we proceed to achieve balance between our broad remit and resources.