Chatham Islands Festival of Science

The Chatham Islands Festival of Science brought project members from Dunedin, along with scientists from around New Zealand to the islands in mid August. The outreach team from Tūhura Otago Museum visited schools with help from the scientists as part of a jam-packed week’s worth of science focused activites.

The Solar Tsunamis team were busy installing a magnetometer at the island’s Whareweka – Te One Science House. While the Chathams shares the same latitude as New Zealand’s official geomagnetic observatory at Eyrewell, the Chatham Islands sits roughly 4 degrees east. This provides much needed longitudinal coverage for the Solar Tsunami magnetometer array.

Both the outreach and scientific work attracted attention from journalists, with links below.

Scientists prepare for New Zealands defences against Solar Tsunamis threat

Chatham island spotlight on science

Pictured above: Toni Hoeta (Tūhura Otago Museum) demonstrating how a plasma globe works to Chatham Islands students, and below: Aaron Hendry (Otago) shows off the hole he has dug for the magnetometer.