Introducing PhD student research projects

Some students are fully funded by our programme, others have received university scholarships. Some studies are 100% focussed on the goals of Raranga Whāriki Papa Moana, while other students are conducting aligned and/or complementary research. 
We’d like to introduce you to some of the BTW PhD cohort members:

Kieron Wall, University of Canterbury, PhD Candidate
Kieron is studying serious learning game design for volcanic tsunami risk communication. His research interest began in geological sciences, with a focus on Disaster Risk and Resilience, and he is adding the use of technology and learning games to these interests. Keiron is co-designing an immersive game for children to communicate hazards of volcanic activity and tsunami to school-aged children.

Jacqueline Grech Licari, Victoria University of Wellington, PhD Candidate
Jacqueline’s research project is investigating the pyroclastic eruptive histories and ashfall hazards from New Zealand’s nearshore volcanoes. She is examining marine cores collected from the seafloor around Tūhua and Whakaari volcanoes, and is analysing the tephras in these marine cores for major and trace elements. The data obtained will then be used to calibrate models and simulate past and future ashfall scenarios from the two volcanoes, to determine the probabilistic likelihood of onshore ash impact.

Maia Kidd, Massey University, PhD Candidate
Maia is examining the link between hydrothermal alteration and physical rock properties, and developing non-destructive methods for quantifying strength and porosity via hyperspectral imaging.  She will examine altered rocks at different spatial resolutions, from micro-scale structural changes using SEM and synchrotron analysis, to landscape scale using airborne hyperspectral imaging. Her focus is on understanding how post-eruptive processes like hydrothermal alteration and erosion affect how volcanic rocks behave in the landscape.

Daniel Sturgess, Massey University, PhD Candidate
Daniel is working on hyperspectral-based mapping of volcano outgassing, across multiple volcanoes, including Whakaari, Ruapehu and Tongariro for model development which will be applied to assess hydrothermal alteration processes at Whakaari. 

Jeff Robert, Massey University, PhD Candidate
Jeff is investigating how highly destructive pyroclastic density currents are interacting with water bodies. With the PELE facility, his research focuses on how pyroclastic density currents propagate across the water surface and generate tsunamis. 

Rae Sanchez, Massey University, PhD Candidate
Rae’s research focuses on the physiochemical conditions and spatiotemporal history of hydrothermal alteration at Tongariro, utilising petrographic analyses, geochemistry, and mass balance modelling techniques. The results can provide insight into the timescales of hydrothermal alteration associated with phreatic eruptions and flank collapse.  

Juliette Vicente, Massey University, PhD Candidate
Juliette’s research combines numerical modelling, rock mechanics and quantitative analysis to investigate volcanic debris avalanches from pre-failure to emplacement. By analysing failure conditions and their effects on flow dynamics (e.g. runout distances, velocities and inundation depths), she aims to improve volcanic hazard assessment.