People in the Project: Adelaine Moody
Role in Ngā Ngaru Wakapuke
Adelaine is a PhD Candidate in the School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington. Her research is focused on developing lake sediment records as part of the Ngā Ngaru Wakapuke RA3 'The Past'. Adelaine is working to develop shaking records >5000 years long from lakes within the Alpine-Marlborough Fault System. Her research aims to produce long shaking records with high-resolution chronologies that encompass multiple seismic cycles.
Research background
Adelaine completed her MSc in the School of Geography at the University of Otago where she focused on the use of sediment archives to reconstruct decadal-scale mountain sediment yields. Prior to starting her PhD, Adelaine spent a few years at Victoria University of Wellington working as a research assistant where she helped to develop lake sediment records to contribute to better understanding of New Zealand’s seismic and environmental histories with a strong focus on developing chronologies for lakes as part of the MBIE funded Lakes 380 project.
Current research
Adelaine is currently working on targeting lake sediment core sites to obtain the longest, most complete and most continuous earthquake records possible from a lake. Using this insight, she is then developing shaking records up to 7000 years long from Lakes Rotoiti and Rotoroa. These records will be used to improve our knowledge of the frequency of strong ground motions affecting the Nelson Lakes area.
Publications
Howarth, J. D., Fitzsimons, S. J., Moody, A., Wang, J., Garnett, M. H., Croissant, T., Densmore, A. L., Howell, A., & Hilton, R. G. (2025). Long term carbon export from mountain forests driven by hydroclimate and extreme event driven landsliding. Communications Earth & Environment, 6(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1038/S43247-025-02382-2
Thomson-Laing, J., Steiner, K., Thomson-Laing, G., Thoms, C., Howarth, J. D., Vandergoes, M. J., Moody, A., Li, X., Reyes, L., Dahl, J., & Wood, S. A. (2025). Exploring the historical presence of kākahi (freshwater mussel) in lakes using sedimentary ancient DNA. Inland Waters. https://doi.org/10.1080/20442041.2025.2475685;WGROUP:STRING:PUBLICATION
Wheeler, C., Pearman, J. K., Howarth, J. D., Vandergoes, M. J., Holt, K., Trewick, S. A., Li, X., Thompson, L., Thomson-Laing, G., Picard, M., Moy, C., Mckay, N. P., Moody, A., Shepherd, C., van den Bos, V., Steiner, K., & Wood, S. A. (2024). A paleoecological investigation of recent cyanobacterial blooms and their drivers in two contrasting lakes. Harmful Algae, 131, 102563. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.HAL.2023.102563
Thomson-Laing, G., Howarth, J. D., Atalah, J., Vandergoes, M. J., Li, X., Pearman, J. K., Fitzsimons, S., Moy, C., Moody, A., Shepherd, C., McKay, N., & Wood, S. A. (2024). Sedimentary ancient DNA reveals the impact of anthropogenic land use disturbance and ecological shifts on fish community structure in small lowland lake. Science of The Total Environment, 922, 171266. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2024.171266
Wood, S. A., Vandergoes, M. J., Atalah, J., Howarth, J. D., Waters, S., Thomson-Laing, G., Thompson, L., Hamilton, D. P., Pochon, X., Kelly, D., Moy, C., Rees, A., Schallenberg, M., Gregerson, R., Moody, A., Reyes, L., Shepherd, C., Gard, H., Floerl, L., & Pearman, J. K. (2023). A national-scale trophic state analysis to prioritize lakes for restoration in Aotearoa New Zealand: Kilham Memorial Lecture on occasion of the 100th Anniversary of SIL. Inland Waters, 13(3), 303–315. https://doi.org/10.1080/20442041.2023.2257457
Gregersen, R., Howarth, J. D., Wood, S. A., Vandergoes, M. J., Puddick, J., Moy, C., Li, X., Pearman, J. K., Moody, A., & Simon, K. S. (2022). Resolving 500 Years of Anthropogenic Impacts in a Mesotrophic Lake: Nutrients Outweigh Other Drivers of Lake Change. Environmental Science and Technology, 56(23), 16940–16951. https://doi.org/10.1021/ACS.EST.2C06835/SUPPL_FILE/ES2C06835_SI_002.XLSX
Short, J., Tibby, J., Vandergoes, M. J., Wood, S. A., Lomax, N., Puddick, J., Pearman, J. K., Howarth, J. D., Moy, C. M., Šunde, C., Martin, R., Li, X., Moody, A., Dahl, J., Shepherd, C., McFarlane, K., ati Hauiti, N., on Ng Puna Rau Rangitīkei, R., & Zealand, N. (2022). Using palaeolimnology to guide rehabilitation of a culturally significant lake in New Zealand. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 32, 931–950. https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3808
Pearman, J. K., Wood, S. A., Vandergoes, M. J., Atalah, J., Waters, S., Adamson, J., Thomson-Laing, G., Thompson, L., Howarth, J. D., Hamilton, D. P., Pochon, X., Biessy, L., Brasell, K. A., Dahl, J., Ellison, R., Fitzsimons, S. J., Gard, H., Gerrard, T., Gregersen, R., … Tibby, J. (2022). A bacterial index to estimate lake trophic level: National scale validation. Science of the Total Environment, 812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152385