The Joint Graduate School in Coastal and Marine Science aims to train the next generation of scientists and practitioners in this critical area. The school spans a huge range of coastal and ocean research, led by staff from many departments at the University of Auckland and NIWA.
We offer a vibrant community of students and staff working at the forefront of marine research. The Joint Graduate School runs gatherings for students, an annual hui and other activities through the year to connect students and faculty across the university and the NIWA sites.
NIWA annually hosts a Spring school that is run at various NIWA locations each year, giving the JGS students practical experience and assisting them in becoming workplace ready.
2024
Annual Spring School Hui - Wellington
The annual Spring School hui was held at NIWA Wellington from the 2nd - 3rd September this year. Twelve Honours, MSc and PhD students flew down to the capital city with programme director, Neill Herbert, to meet with NIWA co-appointees, Carolyn Lundquist, Sally Watson and Craig Stevens, and get a “behind-the-science” look at NIWA’s Wellington site.
The meeting started with presentations from JGS faculty as well as 3-minute thesis presentations from the students. This was followed by tours and talks by NIWA Wellington staff on topics including the NIWA Invertebrate Collection, fisheries acoustics, Argo floats and glider technology. Highlights for the students were talks on the science-policy interface by former NIWA JGS colleague Geoffroy Lamarche, a career in ocean modelling by NIWA's Charine Collins and Kevin Mackay's world-class presentation on the Tonga eruption and science response. Another highlight was a ‘future careers’ session, where a broad range of NIWA staff and clients contributed to a discussion panel to provide advice on careers and work-life balance to Aotearoa’s future marine science professionals, and a talk by science communicator and recent JGS member Gabby O'Connor on "How to make your talk/poster less $#*!"
The two-day Spring School was tightly packed with activities but, such is the tenacious nature of our marine science post-grads, all the students volunteered to extend their stay in Wellington by two more days to attend the national Physical Oceanography Workshop (POW).
The wild weather of Wellington did not disappoint (it took a cancelled flight and two attempts to land!) but what a fantastic week of marine science it was!
2023
Annual Spring School Hui - Hamilton
A group of graduates visited the NIWA Hamilton site in 2023 for the annual Spring Hui.
Mini-internship Wellington
In 2023, students from the school participated in a week-long mini-internship at NIWA in Wellington. They were able to delve into real-world applications of science. Their experiences ranged from assisting the moorings team in preparation for an upcoming voyage to gaining hands-on experience in plotting climate data in Python.
