First there was the wreck, then the response and now there's the research.
The University of Waikato, Bay of Plenty Polytechnic and Bay of Plenty Regional Council are collaborating on research into understanding the experiences of volunteers who helped clean up oil following the grounding of Cargo Ship Rena in October 2011.
Bay of Plenty Regional Council Senior Land Management Officer Pim de Monchy says the research aim is to provide insight into the volunteer experience and to assist with future volunteer planning and volunteer response efforts.

Learning about beach clean-up volunteers' motives is the goal of a new Bay of Plenty Regional Council and tertiary institutions' combined study. Photo: Maritime New Zealand.

Pim was seconded to Maritime New Zealand as volunteer coordinator.
'Our Operation Beach Clean volunteers are a really unique bunch,” says Pim.

'We had a phenomenal response from volunteers and they made an amazing contribution toward the clean-up efforts.

'We want to document this as much as we can and learn from our volunteers' experience.”
Operation Beach Clean volunteers participated in an online survey about their volunteering experience.

The 164 responses to the survey provided the first insight into the experience of volunteers.
The survey captured the demographics of volunteers and collected a snapshot of what motivated people to volunteer and how they found the experience.
'The most commonly reported reasons for volunteering were that people live locally and use the beach for recreational purposes,” says University of Waikato researcher from the School of Psychology, Dr Rebecca Sargisson.
'More than eighty per cent of respondents felt they made an effective contribution to the clean-up effort and would recommend volunteering for Operation Beach Clean to others,” says Rebecca.
The two most significant barriers for volunteers participating in Operation Beach Clean were work commitments and the distance from home, according to the survey results.
'This information can help organisations better plan volunteering events and invitations to optimise participation,” says Rebecca.
Polytechnic research manager Dr Heather Hamerton says the survey results also indicate that many respondents felt angry and shocked about oil washing up on the coast.
'Being able to give back to their community through contributing to the clean-up seems to have helped many people to deal with their anger about the oil spill,” says Heather.
Detailed interviews and focus group sessions with volunteers are now underway to gain more comprehensive information.
'The initial survey of 164 people has been very helpful, but we must remember this is just a small portion of the 7950 people who registered to volunteer for Operation Beach Clean,” says Heather.

'Once the additional qualitative research is completed we hope we will have a deeper understanding of the Rena volunteer experience.”
The research team includes Sonya Hunt, Kelly Smith and Trish Hanlen from the University's Social Work Programme as well as Drs Sargisson and Hamerton.