About

Here on the East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island we live pretty close to the boundary of two tectonic plates. The area in between the plates is known as the Hikurangi plate boundary. This means we have a natural lab on our doorstep! We want you to get involved with East Coast LAB (Life at the Boundary), to learn about the associated natural hazards and to help our scientists with their research.

What is East Coast LAB?

East Coast LAB (Life at the Boundary) is a collaborative programme that brings together scientists, emergency managers, experts and stakeholders across the East Coast to make it easy and exciting to learn more about the natural hazards that can affect us.

What do we want to learn?

Living so close to this boundary means that we could be affected by a number of natural hazards like earthquakes, tsunami, coastal erosion and even volcanoes, so we want to learn as much as we can about it. The more we understand about what causes these natural hazards to happen, the better we can be prepared.

How can you help?

We’ll make it easy and exciting to learn about natural hazard science here at East Coast LAB. You can jump right in and take part in natural hazard citizen science and help us with our research, discover what we’ve already uncovered and explore our science - science that is happening right now.