Welcome to Canary Wonders

Welcome to Canary Wonders, with posts to inspire people who love and respect the power of Earth's natural hazards

I'm Dr Sally Potter, a scientist in New Zealand, and founder and director of Canary Innovation Limited. For over a decade I have studied the way people interact with alert levels, forecasts, and warnings for natural hazards, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, tsunami, severe weather, and flooding.

After starting off in geology (in particular, volcanology), I gained experience and a PhD in emergency management and social science. For ten years I had practical experience in producing forecasts for geohazards at New Zealand's GNS Science (the geohazard monitoring agency). I continue to work with the World Meteorological Organization to produce guidance on weather warnings, and am fortunate to have travelled extensively, including with my husband and children.

I have a deep respect for natural hazards and want to share with you some of the fun, amazing, and interesting things that I find around the world on this topic. I'll also write about some of the knowledge I've gained over the past decade, to help us all stay as safe as possible from these incredible forces of nature.

That's me! Dr Sally Potter

On the lighter side

I will share fun hazard-related things I've found in the wild or on the web, and that every geological or hazard geek needs (or at least wants!). This will include hazard-themed art (like this amazing paint-by-numbers Yellowstone piece I found, see below) music, and books.

Also, THINGS, from T-shirts to toys, geology-inspired shoes to erupting tissue boxes (gift inspiration, anyone?!). I'll share the subduction zone, volcano, and geode cakes my sons have requested for their birthdays, and find more examples from others. Education materials, home schooling resources, videos, and the best stickers will be there too.

This is where you'll come in, peeps - comment below if you have spotted anything that brings you joy and you think other hazard geeks, teachers, and parents of geokids will also like.

Paint-by-numbers Yellowstone art from ColourMost

Travel inspiration

I'll share inspiration from my travels around the world, as well as from here in New Zealand. This will include things like the hotel in Antigua, Guatemala, I stayed in earlier this year, which had the most amazing view of a volcano (below). Nearby Fuego gave a little puff about every 15 minutes!

I'll write about the way Pozzuoli, a town in a large caldera volcano in Italy, has been moving up and down, the way the scientists have monitored this using living organisms, and what it was like to visit it. Documenting the best hot springs will help remind us of the benefits of living in areas close to the forces of nature. Likewise, geothermal energy and it's various uses around the world, will be sought out.

I will hunt down the cafe serving volcano cakes in Japan. I will find the earthquake houses in museums. There are parks all over the place, made for loving the power of nature. I cannot wait to share with you these amazing places to inspire your own travels!

Agua volcano, seen from my hotel in Antigua, Guatemala

Research insights

There will also be articles about research findings on hazards and risks, such as how to write an effective forecast or warning - especially for those of you out there who work to keep our communities safe. I'll summarise journal articles in a way that makes them as useful as possible.

Videos about ideas and research will be included, such as from my recent visit to Australia (below). I'll also link to other sites that have good discussions on relevant topics. If you have any particular topics that would be of interest relating to communicating about hazards and risks, feel free to comment below.

Join the ride

If you love and respect the power of nature, particularly natural hazards, I hope you will enjoy this blog. You can subscribe below to receive new posts straight to your inbox!