About Canary Innovation
Canary Innovation is a consultancy and independent research company.
Our consultancy services include:
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Collaboratively evaluating early warning systems and identifying areas to improve, using a range of innovative tools and value chains
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Providing evidence-based advice on warning systems, behavioural responses, and risk communication for any hazard
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Developing new warning systems, and advising on impact-based warnings
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Conducting user needs assessments for forecast and warning information
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Independent workshop and meeting facilitation and engagement (IAP2 certified)
Our social science research is on developing more effective communication of forecasts and warnings.
You can check out our full list of publications here. Previous research includes:
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Risk perceptions and behavioural responses to forecasts and warnings, including impact-based warnings
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Determining research gaps, challenges, solutions, and strategic directions
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Volcanic alert level system review using ethnography
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Emergency Mobile Alerts
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User needs for risk information
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We have researched communication for hazards including weather, floods, landslides, earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunami.
We welcome enquiries about partnering in research proposals.
Director - Dr Sally Potter
Dr Sally Potter is a global expert on early warning systems. She is an award-winning social scientist who helps emergency managers and scientists to communicate forecasts and warnings more effectively.
Dr Potter has a PhD in Emergency Management, and practical experience in writing forecasts for volcanoes and earthquakes. She has advised government about Emergency Mobile Alerts and warning systems. She is a global leader in weather and interdisciplinary research, including on risk perceptions and behavioural responses to nearly all types of natural hazards.
About Dr Potter
Sally grew up in New Zealand, experiencing cyclones, earthquakes, and the 1995-96 Ruapehu eruption from the town of Taupō. She got a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from Victoria University of Wellington, an Honours degree in Volcanology at Massey University Palmerston North, and then gained experience at a regional council in hydrology monitoring and emergency management.
Her PhD was in Emergency Management through Massey University, Wellington, and involved a mixture of volcanology and social science. The topic was on when to change the Volcanic Alert Level (VAL) at a caldera volcano such as Taupō supervolcano. It involved reviewing New Zealand's VAL system, creating a historical catalogue of unrest for Taupō, and developing a new Volcanic Unrest Index to help communicate about multi-parameter unrest. The associated publications can be found on the 'publications' page of this website.
As her career progressed and extended to international leadership roles (described below), Sally continues to be motivated to develop effective people-centred multi-hazard warning systems. She lives in Tauranga, New Zealand, with her husband and children.
Sally Potter and her cousin watching the 1995-96 eruption of Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand
Work Experience
July 2014 - August 2015
August 2015 - May 2024
June 2019 - 2024
May 2024 onwards
After the completion of her studies, Sally did a post doctorate research project through Massey University on impact-based warnings with New Zealand's MetService. Her research contributed towards the introduction of 'red' warnings, which are for events where the impacts are expected to be significant.
Sally held a social science position at GNS Science in New Zealand for 9 years. She conducted research on the Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes, Earthquake Early Warnings in New Zealand and Japan, on communicating landslide forecasts and Emergency Mobile Alerts, and on impact-based warnings for severe weather.
In practice, she communicated forecasts for the Ruapehu, Taupo and Whakaari White Island volcanic unrest and eruptions, and several major earthquakes, through the GeoNet monitoring programme.
Sally has been co-leader of the World Meteorological Organization World Weather Research Programme High Impact Weather Project from 2021 until the end of 2024.
She is part of the WMO Standing Committee for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the Expert Team on Early Warning Services, both of which are contributing to the UN Early Warnings for All by 2027 initiative.
Sally co-led the New Zealand Resilience to Nature's Challenges Weather & Wildfire research programme from 2019 - 2024.
Sally founded Canary Innovation Limited to help scientists and agencies to mitigate the impacts of natural hazard events through more effective communication about hazards and risks.
From January 2025 onwards, Sally is on the WMO World Weather Research Programme Scientific Steering Committee.