A good grounding

“I might have studied geology (at University) but I now have to be proficient with at least the basics of physics, engineering, meteorology, mathematical modelling, psychology, policy, finance and economics to do my job,” she says. “The ability to learn science sets you up to learn anything.”

With a Bachelor of Science majoring in Geology (2001) from the University of Auckland and a PhD in Geoscience (2006) from the University of Queensland, Alanna believes science is an excellent foundation for life. However, her journey with science began with humble beginnings.

Born and raised in Levin, Alanna didn’t even take any science subjects in Year 11 and 12 at school because, she says, “the science teachers were terrible”. However, Alanna realised she could “do science” while originally exploring an arts degree majoring in physical geography and choosing an elective course in geology.

“University science isn’t like school science. I caught up on all the chemistry I’d missed in school and I fell in love with the scientific approach of asking questions and finding answers to those questions,” she enthuses. “Just because you don’t do well in science at school doesn’t mean you can’t do it at University.”

Alanna remembers her time at the University of Auckland fondly, mostly because of her lecturers’ obvious passion for what they were teaching. In particular, Associate Professor Ian Smith and esteemed Professor Warwick Prebble (1975-2011), whose old school methods and “hair-raising” field trips are legendary to Alanna and her fellow students.

“A few of us were doing field work around the Orakei Korako geothermal park, and to understand the origin of the cave there, we went off the tourist routes. At one point the ‘crust’ of ground above the geothermal springs was so thin, Warwick had us climbing from one tree to another tree to get around. He was doing it too – lecturers leading from the front!” 

Another fond memory of her time at University, being taught by Warwick, is from Alanna’s first job at Geotek Services. She was asked to explore a clay seam on a new subdivision near Auckland to assess the possibly of future landslides.

“My manager had organised an excavator on site and asked me if I knew what to do. I said sure, because I remember Warwick explaining in class how he had done it in the past with photos. My manager came to visit me on site and saw me going up and down the giant hole in the excavator basket to check the walls of the hole for clay. Well, suffice to say he almost had a heart attack – apparently the typical process is to check the soil as it comes out – not to get into the basket. But I was following Warwick’s photos and, besides, I definitely had the best view of the problem.”

The support from the University of Auckland didn’t end when she left to pursue her PhD, as “I often bumped into Ian at scientific conferences and he always introduced me to well-known academics and helped me network.” 

Although Alanna isn’t so hands on in terms of actual geology anymore, she is very proud of the job she loves and the ability to use her science skill set to enable citizens and governments to take the necessary actions to safeguard people’s lives. 

Nowadays based in America at the World Bank Group’s Washington DC office, Alanna, who has three young daughters, spends a large chunk of her time calculating risk through disaster risk modelling. She ensures that there is the right scientific and engineering evidence at the right time for the right person to convince them to invest precious resources in safe earthquake resistant schools for children, or early warning systems for flood management. But she still loves science, just last weekend she had a blast making chemical volcanoes with her seven-year-old daughter... just for fun.

“If you ask my eldest daughter what I do when I go to work (she came once to a ‘bring your child to work day’), she will say I talk A LOT!” says Alanna.

Family is a huge motivation for Alanna, who grew up listening to her grandparents’ memories of surviving the devastating 1931 Napier earthquake. At Alanna’s twelfth birthday party, the look of terror on her grandfather’s face as he ran from the house during the 1990 Dannevirke earthquake has stayed with Alanna throughout her career.

“I really believe in what we are doing at the World Bank Group. Disasters cause immediate trauma and hardship, but also cause long-term psychological impacts, as I saw with my grandfather. And in the poorest and most vulnerable countries, too often we see children are taken out of school, nutrition is cut, selling of scarce assets and so on, to cope with disaster losses.”

Although it may look like Alanna’s academic and career trajectory has been very well planned and smooth sailing, it is her passion for science that has led the way.

“When I did my PhD I worried about a focus on pure research, and my brother told me that I could always come and milk cows with him, even with my fancy degree,” she jokes. “My advice to students is: consider how your undergraduate degree could lead to a career, follow your passion and interest and be open enough to consider that you might end up with a career that you never dreamed of.”

Even though Alanna’s day job means her focus is on disaster risk prevention, geology is a strong foundation for how she views the world.

“The best part of geology is that no matter where I travel, I am endlessly entertained by the landscapes out the window of the plane, car, or train. With geology, my mind is always trying to figure out what the rocks are, what the geological process was – classic ‘armchair geology’ –, but I am certainly never bored.”