2022 Hayward Geocommunication Award winner:
Julian Thomson
Julian Thomson is New Zealand’s leading full-time geo-communicator. His work oozes enthusiasm, excellence, innovation and scientific accuracy. Julian receives this award for two innovative projects he has initiated and contributed to over the past three years.
The first is the Out There Learning YouTube Channel, with over 50 ~5-15 minute videos available free for public viewing. At the time of writing the channel had received over 2,000,000 views and had over 12,000 subscribers. Through this channel he reveals that the everyday world of landscapes and rocks - so easily taken for granted - is filled with fascinating information about powerful and wonderful natural processes.
The second project is the Geotrips website that provides information free to the public explaining the origins and stories of numerous geological sites around New Zealand. There are 470 individual Geotrips on the website, with Julian having contributed 25% of these. The information is targeted at the interested public, teachers and students but is also suitable for professional geoscientists. To our knowledge there is no other site like it anywhere in the world and certainly nothing like it in New Zealand.
Julian has made it his ideal to create educational ‘aha moments’ for others over 3 decades as a teacher and geo-communicator, and in doing so has done a great service to geoscience in New Zealand. He is richly deserving of this award.
GSNZ members receive a generous 30% discount on Geoscience Communication with Primary and Intermediate Schools, from Out There Learning. More details here.
Past Hayward Geocommunication Award winners
| Year | Recipient |
| 2021 | Oliver McLeod, University of Waikato |
| 2020 | Hikurangi Subduction Margin Project Team |
The Hayward Geocommunication Award
Offered for the first time in 2020, the Hayward Geocommunication Award is awarded to a New Zealand-based geoscientist or geoscientists for the most meritorious contribution to geocommunication in the previous 3 calendar years.
The award seeks to recognise and promote excellence, innovation and accuracy in “geocommunication” to “public” audiences by a New Zealand “geoscientist” or group of geoscientists.
This award has been made possible thanks to the generosity of GSNZ Life Member Bruce Hayward.
