Strengthening Aotearoa’s Green Hydrogen Future: New Collaboration and Talent Join the HyDRA Team

The HyDRA team at Earth Sciences New Zealand (ESI) is thrilled to announce a new partnership with the Pūhiko Nukutū: A Green Hydrogen Geostorage Battery in Taranaki research program, led by the University of Canterbury (UC) and supported by the New Zealand Government.

As part of this collaboration, PhD student Arash Moradi from Curtin University, Australia, will join the HyDRA team at their Wairakei base in the coming year to conduct experimental work at the Experimental Geochemistry Laboratory (EGL). Arash will work closely with Dr. Jimmy Yang, a newly appointed postdoctoral researcher at ESI, to study water–mineral–hydrogen interaction kinetics and thermodynamics, with guidance from:

– Dr. Peter Rendel and Dr. Karen Houghton (ESI)
– Dr. Domenik Wolff-Boenisch (Curtin University)
– Dr. Yoav Rosenberg (GSI, visiting scientist)
– Dr. Lucjan Sajkowski and lab. tech. Akira Kamiya (EGL support team)

The collaboration will also include high resolution mineral surface analysis conducted by UC PhD student Ziru Zhao under the supervision of Associate Professor Vladimir Golovko.

To kick off the partnership, the entire team convened for a one-day workshop at Wairakei, which included technical discussions, a lab tour and concluded with a group dinner. This partnership marks an exciting step forward in accelerating green hydrogen geostorage solutions for New Zealand and beyond!

Dr. Tsung-Han Jimmy Yang (far left in the left picture) is a geochemist at Earth Sciences New Zealand, specializing in gas chemistry, CO₂ flux, noble gases, and stable isotope geochemistry. His work combines fluid composition analysis with in-situ flux monitoring to investigate subsurface fluid processes. Dr. Yang holds a PhD from the University of Auckland, where he studied greenhouse gas emissions and geothermal well chemistry in the Taupō Volcanic Zone (TVZ). He also holds BSc and MSc degrees in geoscience from National Taiwan University. His research bridges geochemical processes and low-carbon energy development, with applications ranging from geothermal sustainability to underground hydrogen storage.

Dr. Arash Vosoughi Moradi is a geochemist based in Turkey, currently pursuing his second PhD at Curtin University, Australia. His work combines laboratory fluid–rock interaction experiments with field sampling and geochemical modeling to probe subsurface processes. He is working on underground hydrogen storage and the fluid–rock reactions that may arise as a result. He holds a PhD in geochemistry and BSc and MSc degrees in geoscience, and has authored multiple papers on petroleum geology, petroleum geochemistry, oil-shale characterization, and the inorganic and organic geochemistry of sedimentary rocks.

Welcome to the HyDRA team!