Anna LeaskSenior Journalist - Crime and Justice·NZ Herald·21 Jul, 2026 05:00 PM6 mins to read‌University of Canterbury PhD students Mingyuan Liu and Jack Lloyd-Scott are digging deep to find out what's going on in the soil below Christchurch's red zone.Thousands of tonnes of organic waste could help solve one of Christchurch’s most enduring post-earthquake challenges, with new research suggesting the city’s red zone can be transformed from a contaminated wilderness into climate-resilient landscapes.

Instead of excavating polluted soil and sending it to landfill at enormous cost, researchers are testing