Grace Prior

Previously unknown active faults have been discovered in Wairarapa, providing fresh insights into the region’s shaky past and future. A GNS Science team recently completed work to update Wairarapa’s known active faults using advanced LiDAR [light detection and ranging] technology. Wairarapa is situated in the Hikurangi Subduction Zone, where the Pacific and Australian Plates collide. […]

While Wairarapa – and New Zealand as a whole – has been working towards a goal of 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2030, Sweden has dumped its equivalent plan and is now opting to increase its nuclear power capacity in pursuit of a goal of net-zero emissions from power generation. Sweden changed its electricity […]

On the last day of June, I was heading to my father’s birthday dinner when someone suddenly stopped in front of me on the motorway, and my car was subsequently hit from behind at about 80kmh. I recently wrote about my reasoning for not going to the emergency department when I [probably] broke my toe. […]

Cyclone Gabrielle ripped through Wairarapa in February, leaving the community of Tinui isolated for days without power and numerous farms covered in silt. Now, four people have been appointed to the government inquiry into the North Island’s severe weather events response. Minister for Emergency Management and Wairarapa MP Kieran McAnulty announced further appointments to the […]

As climate change becomes a reality, local land holdings group Wairarapa Moana Incorporation is calling for better government engagement with Māori groups about adaptation. In a summary of submissions published by the Ministry for the Environment and Te Puni Kōkiri, the government’s policy advisor for Māori wellbeing and development, Wairarapa Moana representatives Anaru Smiler, Anne […]

A new package of government policies aiming to protect and restore biodiversity has received mixed reactions, with Greater Wellington Regional Council [GWRC] singing its praises, but Fish and Game New Zealand expressing concern about the implications for farmers. GWRC Environment Committee Chair Penny Gaylor said the measures, which include clearer rules on protecting biodiversity and […]

The Earth has now entered a new geologic epoch known as the Anthropocene because human activity has so fundamentally altered the geology, atmosphere, and biology of the plant, scientists say. Members of the Anthropocene Working Group [AWG] have presented evidence of the shift from a lake in Ontario, Canada — which they think can help […]

With more than a quarter of Wairarapa households renting their homes [28.4 per cent, according to the 2018 census], political parties’ rental market policies are likely to influence how a significant number of the region’s population cast their vote in the October general election. With this in mind, the Times-Age asked the declared candidates vying […]

Professor Regan Potangaroa [Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa] has been awarded the Te Rangaunua Hiranga Māori Award after devoting his career as an engineer and architect to humanitarian deployments, emergency response, and restoring marae. Regan’s work included working with hapū to save marae, developing drone-based thermal seeking technologies to locate bodies buried in unmarked graves in […]

The recent recipient of a prestigious award recognising how his research has significantly advanced our understanding of climate change has contributed to shaping Masterton district’s climate response, reports MARLEE PARTRIDGE and GRACE PRIOR. Professor Nicholas Golledge has been awarded the Hutton Medal for his cutting-edge contributions to the modelling of the Antarctic ice sheet and […]