Research and data projects
Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake invests around $20 million in research annually, via our competitive and non-competitive research funding programmes. The projects listed below represent our current projects (still in progress) and recently completed (in the past 12 months).
If you are looking for the full list of NHC Toka Tū Ake research papers and publications, search all research reports.
Current research projects
| Investment type | Title | Principal investigator | Organisation |
| Biennial Grants | Cascading coastal inundation losses on Māori assets in the southern Marlborough district: Integrating Te Ao Māori with contemporary science to quantify compounding coastal inundation losses for adaptive resilience | Dr Shaun Williams | NIWA |
| Biennial Grants | A history of fault activity in the vicinity of Aotearoa’s supervolcano | Dr James Muirhead | University of Auckland |
| Biennial Grants | Virtually flooded: Improved risk communication through immersive virtual reality | Prof Matthew Wilson | University of Canterbury |
| Biennial Grants | Dynamic Volcanic Ash Damage Forecasting for Aotearoa-New Zealand | Dr Josh Hayes | GNS Science |
| Biennial Grants | Geophysical imaging of the Paeroa Fault for improved earthquake modelling | Dr Brook Keats | GNS Science |
| Biennial Grants | Geological Modelling the Hamilton Basin to Improve Earthquake Ground Motion Simulation | Dr Andrew La Croix | University of Waikato |
| Biennial Grants | High spatial resolution simulation platform for integrating land use, economics, and infrastructure | Dr Robert Cardwell | Market Economics Ltd |
| Biennial Grants | Insurance settlement following the 2016 Kaikōura/Hurunui earthquake: a comparison of rural, town and city claimant experiences and behaviours | Mr Cameron Eade | Resilient Organisations |
| Biennial Grants | Comparative Analysis of Lifetime Costs: Base Isolated Buildings vs. Conventional Buildings | Dr Alex Shegay | University of Auckland |
| Biennial Grants | Slope hazard hotspots in Aotearoa's changing climate | Dr Katherine Yates | University of Canterbury |
| Biennial Grants | Lava flow impacts on buildings and infrastructure: taking lessons from La Palma to New Zealand | Dr Geoff Kilgour | GNS Science |
| Biennial Grants | InSAR monitoring of slopes to build back safer | A/Prof Martin Brook | University of Auckland |
| Biennial Grants | A national landslide risk assessment for residential housing | Dr Tom Robinson | University of Canterbury |
| Biennial Grants | Quantifying corrosion to improve Aotearoa’s built environment resilience to future volcanic eruptions | A/Prof Carol Stewart | Massey University |
| Biennial Grants | Risk-Targeted Design for Functionality | Anne Hulsey | UoA |
| Biennial Grants | Seismic Hazards from Earthquakes in the Locked Zone Offshore Wellington | Martha Savage | VUW |
| Biennial Grants | Improving school-based hazards education outreach programmes towards enhancing alignment with schools and communities | Marion Tan | Massey |
| Biennial Grants | Long-term communication of volcanic risk for effective decision-making | Julia Becker | Massey |
| Biennial Grants | Changing societal expectations and risk appetite, exploring influences on building earthquake resilience in lower seismic hazard zones | Lauren Vinnell | Massey |
| Biennial Grants | Climate Risk and the Insurance Sector, The Law, Policy, and Economics of Climate-related Financial Disclosures | Ilan Noy | VUW |
| Biennial Grants | Sensing unrest in New Zealand’s largest city detailed mapping of seismicity in Auckland | Calum Chamberlain | VUW |
| Biennial Grants | Let’s talk about risk Enhancing community engagement on natural hazard risk | Charlotte Brown | Resilient Organisations Ltd |
| Biennial Grants | MĪMIRŪ: The application of an endangered indigenous construction practice onto a prototype timber portal frame to assess seismic resilience and impact for use on future wharenui |
Anthony Hoete | UoA |
| Biennial Grants | Embodied Carbon: A driver for change towards seismically resilient high-density housing | Charlotte Toma | UoA |
| Biennial Grants | Papa Wiri: Te Ao Māori Disaster Risk Reduction through Participatory Co-Design of Educational Tool | Kristie-Lee Thomas | UC |
| Biennial Grants | Low-cycle fatigue, strain-ageing, and residual-capacity testing of reinforcing steels to guide repair strategies and support functional recovery |
Geoffrey Rodgers | UC |
| Biennial Grants | More Resilient Wall Building Structures | Santiago Pujol | UC |
| University Research Programme | NHC Toka Tū Ake Programme in Earthquake Seismology and Tectonic Geodesy | John Townend | VUW |
| University Research Programme | Next-generation seismic hazard analysis for New Zealand | Brendon Bradley | UC |
| University Research Programme | Building resilience through earthquake and landslide multi-hazard research in New Zealand | Timothy Stahl | UC |
| University Research Programme | Assessment and Mitigation of Liquefaction Hazards | Misko Cubrinovski | UC |
| University Research Programme | Seismic hazard of the southern South Island the neglected provinces | Mark Stirling | UoO |
| University Research Programme | Engineering for stronger homes and better land in Aotearoa New Zealand | Liam Wotherspoon | UoA |
| Post Graduate programme | Integrated Intelligent Structural Control and Health Monitoring Using Innovative Methodologies | Sherif Beskhyroun | AUT |
| Targeted Science Investment | Practical dynamic analysis techniques for seismic resilient structures with friction connections | Ashkan Hashemi | UoA |
| Targeted Science Investment | Its Our Fault | Nicola Litchfield | GNS |
| Targeted Science Investment | DEVORA | Graham Leonard | GNS |
| Targeted Science Investment | National Lifelines Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment 2022 Edition | Roger Fairclough | NZLC |
| Targeted Science Investment | Te Toi Whakarururhau o Aotearoa | Cassie Kenney | Massey |
| Targeted Science Investment | Tribunals and Post-Disaster Dispute Resolution: A Christchurch Case Study | Toni Collins | UoC |
| Targeted Science Investment | Identifying and forecasting earthquake- and rainfall-induced movement patterns of large, populated landslides: A Nelson case study | Chris Massey | GNS |
| Loss Modelling/Impact Estimation | Chimney Damage Fragility Function | Virginie Lacrosse | Tonkin & Taylor |
| Loss Modelling/Impact Estimation | Lower Hutt Scenario Modelling | Virginie Lacrosse | Tonkin & Taylor |
| Loss Modelling/Impact Estimation | New Zealand Volcano Hazard and Risk Model (NZVHRM) | Graham Leonard | GNS |
| Loss Modelling/Impact Estimation | GNS Contribution to Residential fragility, liquefaction and topographic amplification modules (SOW4) | SR Uma | GNS |
| Loss Modelling/Impact Estimation | Tsunami impact and loss modelling in Hawkes Bay | Bill Fry and William Power | GNS |
| Loss Modelling/Impact Estimation | Land Use Planning - Riskscape Case Studies | Edith Bretherton | GNS |
| Loss Modelling/Impact Estimation | National Liquefaction Model | Virginie Lacrosse | Tonkin & Taylor |
| Loss Modelling/Impact Estimation | Machine Learning - Mis-Prediction of Liquefaction Damage | Virginie Lacrosse | Tonkin & Taylor |
| Science to Practice | Assessment of Plan Irregularity Limits in NZS 1170.5 | Max Stephens | UoA |
| Science to Practice | ATC 145 Guide for repair of earthquake damaged buildings to achieve future resilience | Nicholas Brooke | Compusoft engineering limited |
| Science to Practice | Slope Stability Guidance | Richard Justice | NZGS |
| Science to Practice | Low Damage Seismic Design Technical Information - Gap Analysis | Hamish McKenzie | SESOC |
| Science to Practice | Whole-of-Building Approach to Improve Seismic Retrofits of Buildings in New Zealand | Santiago Pujol | UoC |
| Other | GeoNet | GNS |
Recently completed
| Investment type | Title | Principal investigator | Organisation |
| Biennial Grants | A fuzzy approach to understanding multi-fault earthquakes | Tim Stahl | UC |
| Biennial Grants | Seismic performance of multi-storey cross-laminated timber shear wall structures with high-capacity anchoring systems | Minghao Li | UC |
| Biennial Grants | Geodetic and hydrological controls on seismic velocity changes after large earthquakes | Martha Savage | VUW |
| Biennial Grants | High resolution basement mapping beneath Wellington City based on gravity anomaly and borehole data | Tim Stern | VUW |
| Biennial Grants | Community led low-cost micro-seismic sensor network applications for Earthquake Early Warning | Raj Prasanna | Massey |
| Biennial Grants | Frictional strength and stability of greywacke fault zones | Carolyn Boulton | VUW |
| Biennial Grants | Paleoseismology of the newly discovered Te Puninga Fault, Hauraki Plains | Pilar Villamor | GNS Science |
| Biennial Grants | Determining ability for ground improvement to improve seismic foundation performance through full scale field testing | Lucas Hogan | UoA |
| Biennial Grants | Seismic strengthening of reinforced concrete walls in existing buildings with fiber-reinforced polymer materials | Enrique del Rey Castillo | UoA |
| University Research Programme | The Economics of Financial Natural Hazard Risks and Changing Insurance Markets | Ilan Noy | VUW |
| Post Graduate programme | Countdown to eruption - Timescales of magmatic processes in the crust | Michael Rowe | UoA |
| Post Graduate programme | Delineation of landslide hazard and development of mitigation tools in a vulnerable city | Jan Lindsay | UoA |
| Post Graduate programme | Performance Objectives for Seismic Design | Kenneth Elwood | UoA |
| Post Graduate programme | Quantitative hazard and risk modelling approaches for volcanic crisis management | Jan Lindsay | UoA |
| Post Graduate programme | Deformation map of New Zealand | Rupert Sutherland | VUW |
| Post Graduate programme | Economic impact of a more stringent design philosophy in New Zealand | Enrique del Rey Castillo | UoA |
| Targeted Science Investment | Kaikoura Claims Settlement Research | Eric Bird | Tonkin & Taylor |
| Loss Modelling/Impact Estimation | National Seismic Hazard Model | Matt Gerstenberger | GNS |
| Loss Modelling/Impact Estimation | Robust Building System Testing | Gregory MacRae | UC |
| Loss Modelling/Impact Estimation | EQC Regional Tsunami Risk Exposure Study | SR Uma / Finn Scheele | GNS |
| Science to Practice | Risk Based Planning Review | James Beban | Urban Edge Planning Ltd |
| Science to Practice | Guidelines for Cost-Benefit Analysis for Building Code Changes that Decrease Seismic Risks | Ilan Noy | VUW |
| Science to Practice | Updating the NZS1170.5 Parts and Components Approach | Timothy Sullivan | UC |
| Science to Practice | Structural resilience and lifecycle cost implications of designing to various international standards | Max Stephens and Kenneth Elwood | UoA |
| Science to Practice | Seismic Design of Low-Rise and Mid-Rise Hybrid Residential Buildings | Angela Liu | BRANZ |
| Science to Practice | Guide on post-earthquake assessment | Nicholas Brooke | Compusoft Engineering |
| Science to Practice | Resilient Buildings Project | Helen Ferner | NZSEE |
| Science to Practice | Whole-of-Building Approach to Improve Seismic Retrofits of Buildings in New Zealand | Santiago Pujol | UoC |
| Other | Level 3 Tsunami Modelling in Hawke’s Bay | David Burbidge, et al. | Hawke’s Bay Regional Council |
| Other | New Zealand Geotechnical Database | Tonkin & Taylor |