Phillip- the Tsunami Guy, is a science communicator, teacher and emergency relief coordinator. He has a wide range of international and NZ experience, having previously worked with the United Nations World Food Programme and UNESCO in Sudan, Ethiopia and Afghanistan. In 2010, he was awarded a Royal Society of New Zealand Teacher Sabbatical Fellowship, during which he spent six months at GNS Science on tsunami education with the social science team.
He has been a school teacher for many years, working in the UK, Āotearoa, New Zealand, Kenya, Cambodia and Myanmar, including as a founding teacher of several schools.
The work I offer to schools
I will help you prepare and conduct a successful ‘practice Hikoi’ for your Tsunami evacuation after the ‘Drop, Cover, Hold’ and ‘Long or Strong Get Gone’ message reinforcement. This program is designed to stimulate the students and their households to think about preparedness and increase the resilience of the whole school community. It also promotes students in their enquiry of mapping the local area and reading maps, natural hazards, forward planning for a ‘Quake Safe’ home and school and increasing resilience for the future.
I can also assist with the promotion of ‘Get Ready’ Civil Defense planning and connection to the wider community. My mission is to “Save 10,000 lives” – as the new scientific research puts 30,000 lives at risk in a Japanese 2011-type Tsunami event occurring in New Zealand. Preparedness for communities is the best way to reduce the forecasted numbers affected by this likely future event!
