National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research
| Taihoro Nukurangi (Māori) | |
NIWA logo | |
NIWA head offices in Auckland, New Zealand | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1992 |
| Headquarters | 41 Market Place, Viaduct Harbour, Auckland |
| Employees | 610 |
| Agency executives |
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| Website | niwa |
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research or NIWA (Māori: Taihoro Nukurangi), is a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand. Established in 1992, NIWA conducts research across a broad range of disciplines in the environmental sciences. It also maintains nationally and, in some cases, internationally important environmental monitoring networks, databases, and collections.
As of 2019, NIWA had 697 staff spread across 14 sites in New Zealand and one in Perth, Australia. Its head office is in Auckland, with regional offices in Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, Nelson, and Lauder (Central Otago). It also has small field teams, focused mostly on hydrology, stationed in Bream Bay, Lake Tekapo, Rotorua, Napier, Whanganui, Greymouth, Alexandra, and Dunedin. NIWA maintains a fleet of about 30 vessels for freshwater, marine, and atmospheric research.
On 1 July 2025 NIWA will become part of the new Public Research Organisation New Zealand Institute for Earth Science.