PhD Student Wins Scholarship

12/04/10

Vivienne Bryner has recently been enrolled as the Centre’s first PhD student and has also been awarded a University of Otago Scholarship.

Vivienne is a geologist, who will be working in collaboration with Professor Richard Norris of the Geology Department, for her study Communicating Knowledge relating to Natural Hazards: Best Practice, and the Power of Stories. The objectives of her proposed research project are to identify the best ways to communicate natural hazard risk to the public, and to study the historical and current roles of storytelling, anecdote and mythology on people’s perception and understanding of natural disasters.