Cornel's Science Communication Prize

Cornel de Ronde, has today been awarded the Prime Minister's Science Media Communication Prize for 2010.

Cornel is the leader of the Lake Rotomahana project, the latest amongst a host of expeditions to look for underwater hydrothermal systems. Much of his research has focussed on the submarine volcanoes of the Kermadec Arc, to the north of New Zealand.

To read more about the background to this prize and Cornel's passion for communicating the adventure of science, check out the media release.

Chris Laidlaw interviewed Cornel about his work as a submarine geologist, and the Rotomahana Project in this National Radio Broadcast following the announcement of the prizewinners..

Poster Competition Update - Prizes and Exhibition details

The Waimangu Volcanic Valley has sponsored some impressive prizes for our Rotomahana Poster Competition
for Primary and Intermediate Schools in the Rotorua.Area.

First prize is for free entry to Waimangu Volcanic Valley, a guided tour and a boat trip on Lake Rotomahana for a group of thirty school children and adults. (individually this would cost $77 per adult and $22 per child!)

Second prize is free entry and guided tour for thirty students and adults.

We also have runner up prizes of three family entry tickets.(two adults, two children) for a self guided walk and a boat cruise on the lake.

The poster competition is open to all Primary and Intermediate students. There are full guidelines on the GNS Science website and all completed posters are to be delivered to Rotorua Library by December 22nd..

We are hoping that as many as possible students will be encouraged to enter, and have the opportunity to think about their local Tarawera history and volcanic geology. The poster competition relates to the "Nature of Science" strand of the National Curriculum.

Rotomahana Poster Competition for Schools

If you are a teacher of year levels 1 - 8 in the Rotorua area, you may be interested in our end of year Poster Competition for schools.

Our science team does not yet know what will be discovered at the bottom of Lake Rotomahana, although they have a few ideas!

Why not see what  your students think and then compare their predictions with the actual scientific results that will be known in February?

We are offering a competition for primary and intermediate aged kids to draw a poster of the bed of Lake Rotomahana, with details of what could be down there - volcanic debris, mud, hot water (hydrothermal) vents, explosion craters etc.

You can read some background information about the history of Lake Rotomahana and the aims of this science project here.

The posters will be judged for 'best fit' with the science results at the end of the expedition, and results will be shared with the schools and public in mid February.

The Waimangu Volcanic Valley is kindly sponsoring our competition with some cool prizes!

I will post further details about the competition here soon.

Lake Rotomahana Project in the News

The media have shown a lot of interest in the research we will be doing in Lake Rotomahana. Check out the article on the Stuff website, or the one from the Daily Post, or have a look at the TVNZ news item from yesterday Monday 15th.

Cornel is 'immersed in this project', says  Radio New Zealand's Jim Mora today in his Afternoons radio interview.

If you are a Primary or Intermediate teacher in the Rotorua area, we will have some information out for you soon on how your students can be involved with the science of the 'Secrets of Lake Rotomahana'

Lake Rotomahana's Secret Underworld

Cornel de Ronde is the world renowned GNS Science specialist in researching undersea volcanoes and hydrothermal activity. He has made numerous discoveries and had many adventures diving to the ocean floor in submarines of all shapes and sizes.
Visitors to Wellington's Te Papa Museum may recognise him from the "Deep Ride" submarine experience.


In 1886 Mount Tarawera near Rotorua erupted with extreme violence for a few hours over one night in June. By morning, several settlements had been buried in hot ash and mud with the loss of over 100 lives, the world famous pink and white silica terraces had disappeared and a crater several kilometres long had opened up in a reshaped and devasted landscape.




Lake Rotomahana, on whose shores the famous terraces had been located, had become part of the long, deep volcanic rift. Over time the lake refilled with water again to become a larger version of its former self.
In January, Cornel will be leading a team of researchers from New Zealand and the US, to plumb the depths of Lake Rotomahana with two very high tech, automated underwater vehicles (AUVs). They will map the lake floor, identify the hydrothermal vents, and make numerous measurements of the chemical and physical properties of the lake water and hydrothermal fluids.

(Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, must be obtained before any re-use of this image of the Tarawera Eruption.)


The detailed survey will enable the scientists to find out the fate of the Pink and White Terraces after the Tarawera eruption in 1886. These terraces were world famous in the nineteenth century for being the largest silica terraces on the planet, and for their outstanding beauty and grandeur. Visitors used to wander over the terraces and bathe in the bath tub shaped depressions

Tineke Berthelsen is one of the science team. She will be managing some of the practical aspects of the project and operating equipment when the research team is on site in late January.

We will be posting more information on this blog over the coming weeks. For a more in depth introduction to the project you can read the press release that has been publicised today.

Bookmark this blog or link up to our facebook page if you want updates about the background and science of this unique research project.