University Rocks Geology Education With New Garden

Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury’s (UC) Earth Science Garden was officially opened yesterday by Tumu Whakarae | Vice-Chancellor Professor Cheryl de la Rey. The only New Zealand garden of its kind and one of the most comprehensive in the world, it offers a unique way to explore the geology and landscapes of Canterbury and the South Island.

Dr Kate Pedley from the UC School of Earth and Environment, who led the project, says it was inspired by geological and earth science gardens at Monash University in Australia and the University of Alberta in Canada. “The project has evolved over the last eight years into a dynamic outdoor classroom. Featuring over 200 rocks across 15 distinct types, the garden forms a stylised map representative of Canterbury and the South Island, showcasing major geological formations and fault lines.”

Representing Canterbury’s Banks Peninsula, a man-made volcano is also part of the garden, allowing small-scale eruptions to be staged for educational demonstrations.

Dr Pedley says native plants throughout will attract butterflies while also representing different regions and highlighting the natural connection between geology and biodiversity, and other layers that make up the landscape.

“This garden is a living, evolving space that connects people to the land beneath their feet,” Dr Pedley says. “It’s both an educational tool and a community space – somewhere students, researchers, and visitors can engage with the foundational geology of Canterbury in a hands-on way.”

The rocks, including one weighing over 6 tonnes, are arranged as a solvable map puzzle, to mirror key geological relationships and structures, offering students the chance to practice identifying features and explore geological problems as they would in the field.

“I’ve already started using it with my first and second years, sending them out to figure out what’s going on geologically just by reading the rocks,” Dr Pedley says. “One of the rocks is dunite, which is being researched for its ability to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere — it’s literally a climate-change-fighting rock.

“There’s also massive 2-metre-wide Waipara concretion, as well as one that broke open when we moved it, and we found fossilised bones of a marine reptile inside. It’s like discovering a hidden story inside the landscape.”

The project is designed to evolve over time, with plans to integrate indigenous geological storytelling and new research partnerships.

The garden, located in the middle of the Ilam campus next to The Ernest Rutherford building, is open to the public and expected to be a valuable teaching and outreach tool for geology, civil engineering, ecology, earth science and environmental science students – and a destination for curious school groups across the region.

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