Principal scientist
Dr Bill Fry
BSc (Geology); MSc (Geophysics) University of Missouri; PhD (Geophysics) ETH Zürich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)
Bill is a seismo-tectonophysicist and natural hazards scientist, whose primary focus is to understand earthquakes and tsunamis. His research has had a fundamental impact on our understanding of these natural hazards, and also, importantly, on how New Zealand communities prepare for, manage and respond when they occur.
He has been instrumental in the development of four-dimensional tools which can rapidly map and characterise earthquakes and tsunami. These tools combine space and time and can deliver near real-time reports of potential hazards, information which then feeds into impact assessments for decision makers and first responders. This in turn has the potential to help save lives and reduce economic losses.
Bill’s work on earthquake ground motion from Kermadec earthquakes provided the impetus for the installation of the New Zealand Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) buoy network - a series of deep-ocean instruments that detect tsunami by measuring changes in water pressure.
Bill is programme co-lead for the second phase of the Resilience to Nature’s Challenges programme, which is aligned to the Government’s National Disaster Resilience Strategy and has produced the first physics-based model of New Zealand earthquakes.
As well as a demonstrated ability to build resilience in practice, Bill is also highly regarded for his skills in simplifying complex information for non-scientists, particularly providing scientific briefings to Government Ministers and Civil Defence officials during natural hazard events.
Bill sits on a range of scientific committees, including the New Zealand National Commission for the United Nations Decade of Oceans. He is a member of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System Steering Committee and serves as chair for the technical body that assesses the circum-Pacific tsunami monitoring system.