The UC Earth Science Garden is a teaching and outreach space that brings the story of Te Waipounamu to life. More than 200 hand-selected rocks from 15 key South Island lithologies are arranged as a walk-through miniature of the island. Greywacke belts flank a schist Southern Alps. The Alpine Fault trace bisects the garden and offsets dunite, the rock linked with pounamu. Spherical concretions hint at ancient marine reptile bones. Banks Peninsula appears as an interactive mini volcano. Native and endemic plantings connect rock, soil and ecology to the landscapes they represent.
This living installation is already a hub for classes beyond geology, schools and community groups. It supports hands-on learning, skills training and research that explores deep time, hazards and sustainability. Students practise field observation on campus. School groups discover that geoscience is about more than rocks and can lead to vital, rewarding careers. Planned developments include learning resources, public tours, art and design elements, displays of cores from UC’s ground source heat pump and activities that link surface processes with cultural and historical narratives.
Your support will fund maintenance, new specimens and plantings, interpretive materials, events and outreach. With your help we can keep the garden thriving as a place where science and landscape meet, and where curiosity about our planet begins.
