Active Land Talk: Resilient people, buildings and communication

The unique geological position of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington places the city at increased risk to natural hazards, including earthquakes, tsunami, and severe weather events. We know that these events will happen, and we know we should prepare for them – so why don’t we?

Join three speakers from the Joint Centre for Disaster Research at Massey University, as they discuss the psychology and behaviour of people and natural hazards. How to keep yourself safe, the common barriers to preparing your workplace and home against hazards, what to do in the days after an event and how we can build resilience for our homes, communities, and selves.

This event will be livestreamed – see below for details.

Speakers

Lauren Vinnell is a Lecturer of Emergency Management at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University, Wellington. Her background is in applied social psychology, which means she is interested in understanding people’s thoughts and behaviour around natural hazard risk. Her research explores motivators of preparation as well as what people do during events such as earthquakes, and how we can better look after those who have been impacted.

Catalina Miranda is a Research Fellow at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University. With international expertise in earthquake engineering, Catalina’s research focuses on understanding and reducing damage to residential houses due to natural hazards. Her areas of expertise include structural, timber and earthquake engineering, seismic strengthening, and community resilience.

Julia Becker is an Associate Professor at the Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Massey University. She undertakes research and teaching on a range of natural hazard and environmental issues. Her areas of expertise include perceptions, preparedness, community resilience, emergency management and warnings for earthquakes as well as other perils. She has undertaken research extensively in New Zealand on events (e.g. Canterbury and Kaikoura Earthquakes) and internationally (e.g. US, Australia, Japan).

The Active Land talk series highlights the diverse range of cutting-edge research into natural hazards happening in Wellington. This series is hosted by Te Papa in partnership with the Natural Hazard Commission (NHC) Toka Tū Ake. NHC Toka Tū Ake helps build New Zealand’s resilience to natural hazards through investment into research, modelling, advocacy and public education programmes. NHC Toka Tū Ake is a Te Papa partner and has generously supported Te Papa exhibitions and education programmes for more than 25 years.