Welcome to UNSW Australian Tsunami Research Centre &
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ATRC Scientist discusses expedition to Samoa Co-director of the ATRC, Dale Dominey-Howes, talks to the journal Nature about leading the international survey team, commissioned by UNESCO, to Samoa in the wake of the 29/09/09 tsunami |
About ATRC-NHRL
The Australian Tsunami Research Centre and Natural Hazards Research Laboratory (ATRC-NHRL) is a global leader in tsunami research and natural hazards. The centre comprises 18 senior researchers and PhD students examining hazard processes such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, landslides, climate change and tropical cyclones and storms.
The ATRC-NHRL uses an innovative coupled human-environment systems' framework to explore the mechanics of hazard processes, their frequency-magnitudes and distributions and the impacts of natural hazard processes on biophysical and human socio-economic systems. This centre is unique in the Australasian region in that it utilises the combined skills of geologists, geographers, engineers, sociologists, policy scientists and ecologists to gain a holistic understanding of the hazards phenomena.
The work of the ATRC-NHRL is globally relevant as research is being used to inform new emergency risk management policy in Australia, Australasia, NW Europe and the USA. Senior staff are recognised global leaders in their fields of expertise. Significant opportunity exists to build further collaboration with research scientists and centres of excellence around the world.
Latest news
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Tsunami threat: are we vulnerable? 17 July 2009 Australian tsunami experts say the small tsunami triggered by an earthquake in New Zealand on Wednesday July 15, 2009 was the 41st to strike the "shaky isles" in the past 190 years, and demonstrated that our region is vulnerable to tsunamis. |
Hanging on the line - risks posed by the Hawaiian "bottleneck" to submarine telecommunications
Located in a major natural hazards zone in the central Pacific, Hawaii is an internationally recognised bottleneck or "choke point" in the global telecommunications network. Any disruption or damage to major submarine cables can have serious consequences by dramatically reducing the flow of information between users. Natural hazard processes, such as tsunami, earthquakes and submarine sediment slides, are a significant threat to this infrastructure as they are capable of damaging or even destroying it, both in deep water and at the coast.
Disaster preparedness: capturing the next generation of cultural memories
The technology of modern media is increasingly accessing all corners of the world and if used wisely can help capture and communicate messages of disaster preparedness. Video interviewing of tsunami survivors is an effective way to collect data that are both educational and scientific. The technique however, is not simple and a best practice protocol is needed to achieve the best results.
Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in the Pacific: AusAID funded research
Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation are key development issues in the Pacific. The NHRL, with funding from AusAID, is conducting research into how community based projects currently address these issues in Fiji and Samoa. Themes to be addressed are the mainstreaming of risk and vulnerability into development; governance issues, with multiple stakeholders spanning from local to global; and the changing face of risk with the addition of climate change.
