NIWA Science Platforms
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest and pre-eminent provider of climate, freshwater and ocean science.
Background
NIWA is supported by the Strategic Science Investment Fund (SSIF). SSIF programmes are structured around science platforms. A science platform is a combination of people, facilities, information and knowledge that provide a particular ongoing science and innovation capability for Aotearoa New Zealand.
NIWA's science platforms
NIWA carries out research across three main science platforms.
Ocean science
Understanding, managing and maximising the benefits of New Zealand’s marine estate.
- New Zealand’s marine estate
- Fisheries stock assessment
- Sustainable use of marine resources
- Biodiversity and biosecurity
- High-value finfish aquaculture
Freshwater science
Supporting the sustainable management of New Zealand’s freshwater resources.
- Freshwater quality and quantity
- Biodiversity and biosecurity
- Sustainable use
- Flood forecasting
Climate, atmosphere and hazard science
Understanding large-scale weather and climate systems through numerical prediction techniques, monitoring and advanced measurement.
- Climate change and variability
- High-precision weather forecasting
- Weather-related hazard forecasting
- Adaptation and mitigation
What they want to achieve
Increasing New Zealand’s resilience to weather and climate hazards is one of NIWA’s core purpose outcomes.
NIWA is the lead Crown Research Institute in aquaculture and its focus includes development of new high-value species such as kingfish which can be farmed with a low environmental footprint.
Resource
