-
Craig Rodger awarded URSI medal
In mid May-2026 the International Union of Radio Science (URSI) announced that Craig Rodger will be awarded the Karl Rawer Gold Medal. URSI medals are awarded every 3 years. Only 1 New Zealander has received an URSI award in the past (Sir Ian Axford in 1969). He is the 6th person from the Southern Hemisphere to recieve an URSI
-
Daniel’s trip to the US
In April, Dr. Daniel Mac Manus gave an invited talk in Boulder (CO, USA) as part of the session “Managing Space Weather Risks to the Bulk Electric System” of the 2026 US Space Weather Workshop. Daniel was speaking jointly with Chris Taylor of Transpower NZ on our Solar Tsunamis work, and the NZ efforts to prepare and
-
A new magnetometer!
Johnny and Xinhu have installed a new magnetometer for the MANA magnetometer array. They travelled to the top of the South Island to the Quartz Range mountains, a section of the Kahurangi national park, in Golden Bay between 7 – 9 April 2026. The site is near-perfect for a magnetometer as it is located deep
-
Space Weather in Engineering NZ Magazine
An in-depth article about the hazard posed by extreme space weather to the NZ electrical grid, and the work being done by the Solar Tsunamis project along with Transpower and NEMA, is a feature article in Issue 34 of Engineering New Zealand magazine. The article is also available to read on their website. Here is
-
Space Physics Expedition 17 to Antarctica
Dr Hannah Kessenich and Dr James Brundell travelled to Scott Base on 9 February 2026. They made up Space Physics Expedition 17 to Antarctica. This year they went south in a USAF MAC C-17 Globemaster III. This was James’ 16th trip to Antarctica, and Hannah’s first.
-
January 2026 solar storm update
Between 19 – 21 January 2026, the world experienced a large solar storm linked to a X1.9 solar flare and a large, unusually fast Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) – travelling at around 1600 km/s, which put it in the top 5% of CMEs for speed! It was the second biggest geomagnetic storm since 2003, only
-
MANA Field Work Wrap-up
Above: James Brundell and Xinhu Feng with solar panels. In 2024-25, Johnny Malone-Leigh has made a number of trips to different MANA sites to work on the MANA network magnetometers. Over two field trips in November and December 2024, he was joined by James Brundell, PhD student Xinhu Feng, and summer student James Elford, in
-
NEMA Exercise Tahu-nui-a-Rangi
Over 5-6 November, NEMA hosted a national exercise simulating a severe space weather event to test New Zealand’s readiness to respond to and recover from its potential cascading effects, ensuring robust coordination across agencies and sectors. The scenario for this exercise was based on Daniel Mac Manus’ PhD research and the outputs of the Solar
-
Mikhail’s trip to Germany and European Space Weather Week in Sweden
Above: Mikhail and Pauline Dredger representing the Solar Tsunamis project at European Space Weather Week. In October and November, Mikhail travelled to Germany and Sweden to meet with collaborators and attend European Space Weather Week (ESWW) in Umeå. GFZ in Potsdam, Germany from Oct 20 to 23 At GFZ in Potsdam, Mikhail delivered a seminar
-
Visit to the Chatham Islands
On Sunday 5 October, Solar Tsunamis team members Johnny Malone-Leigh, Marijn Kouwenhoven and Jessa Barder, and Anna Garden from the MacDiarmid Institute (University of Otago), left for the Chatham Islands on the RSV Evohe. Travelling by sea to the Chathams enabled the team to bring the Solar Tsunamis showcase along with them, as well as
-
Craig and Daniel visit “The Bunker”
On Wednesday 15 October, Craig Rodger and Daniel Mac Manus visited the National Crisis Management Centre, aka “The Bunker”, to attend the NEMA Science Advisory Panel Operational Readiness Forum. This event was a training opportunity for members of the NEMA hosted Science Advisory Panels to support increased awareness and understanding of the decision-making needs, structures,
-
Congratulations to Kristin!
Kristin Pratscher completed her oral exam for her PhD on the 16th of September at Victoria University of Wellington, with Malcolm Ingham and Wiebke Heise in attendance. It all went smoothly, and she only has minor corrections to make to her thesis. In Malcolm’s words:
