ProfessorJamie Howarth

My research seeks to understand how earthquakes, storms and human activities reshape landscapes and ecosystems over timescales extending far beyond direct observation. I develop sedimentary records from lakes and oceans to reconstruct past environmental change and combine these natural archives with numerical modelling to understand the processes responsible for the patterns they preserve.

My research spans three interconnected themes: earthquake behaviour and seismic hazard, particularly the Alpine Fault, Hikurangi margin and their interactions; landscape response to earthquakes and storms, including landsliding, sediment cascades and post-event recovery; and ecosystem responses to natural and anthropogenic disturbance, including impacts on lakes, biodiversity and carbon cycling.

Across these themes, I integrate sedimentology, geophysics, geochronology, palaeoecology and environmental DNA with numerical models of earthquake behaviour, ground motion and Earth-surface processes. This interdisciplinary approach transforms sedimentary archives into quantitative records of past hazards and environmental change, connecting fundamental Earth-system science with earthquake forecasting, disaster resilience and ecosystem management.

I also provide leadership across large, multidisciplinary research programmes. I currently co-lead the NZ$14.5 million Ngā Ngaru Wakapuke programme and hold a science-leadership role in Our Lakes, Our Future, working across universities, research organisations, government, iwi and international partners. Across my career, I have attracted more than NZ$65.5 million in competitive external research funding, including major support from the MBIE Endeavour and Marsden Funds, Toka Tū Ake Natural Hazards Commission and international funding agencies.