Victoria University of Wellington student Danielle Lindsay has been awarded this year’s Fulbright-EQC Graduate Award in Natural Disaster Research.

The $US44,000 ($63,360) award, funded by New Zealand’s Earthquake Commission (EQC), will allow Ms Lindsay to travel to the University of California, Berkeley, to complete a PhD in geophysics.

EQC Principal Adviser Resilience Hilary Blake says Ms Lindsay’s research will add to knowledge on slow-slip earthquakes.

“This is a very important area of research for New Zealand, because we know slow-slip earthquakes are involved in some of our biggest risk events,” Ms Blake said.

“The more we can understand the link between slow-slip events and larger earthquakes, the better information we can give communities to help prepare.”