Participating Departments

Staff with Ecological Teaching and Research Interests

 

Department of Botany

Dr David Burritt

Teaching

Plant Biotechnology
Biology of Plants
Plant Physiology and Biotechnology
Environmental Physiology
Plant Physiology
Developmental & Applied Genetics

Research

Plant tissue and cell culture, plant breeding and crop improvement using biotechnology, antioxidants in plants, algae and plant derived products, stress physiology of plants and algae, plant and microbe interactions, impact of global climate change on plants and algae, plant cell wall structure and function, seed physiology

Professor Katharine Dickinson

Teaching

Plant ecology
Nature conservation
Conservation ecology

Research

Plant-animal interactions; applied conservation ecology; non-forest ecosystems; science communication.

Associate Professor Paul Guy

Teaching

Plant pathology
Plant biotechnology
Molecular and physiological plant biology

Research

Plant virus ecology and virology, grass endophytes, host response to infection, plant viruses as biological invaders.

Associate Professor Catriona Hurd

Teaching

Marine botany

Environmental physiology

Marine ecophysiology

Algal ecology and physiology

Research

Seaweed physiological ecology, hydrodynamics, community productivity and ocean acidification

Dr Janice Lord

Teaching

General ecology,
New Zealand plant ecology
Plant diversity and evolution
Eukaryote genetics
Data handling and analysis

Research

Alpine plant ecology, plant evolution and reproduction, plant-animal interactions

Dr David Orlovich

Teaching

Biology of plants
Mycology and plant pathology
Plant diversity and evolution
Evolutionary genetics

Research

Evolution and phylogenetics, mycology, floral biology, molecular ecology, molecular biodiversity

Professor Bastow Wilson

Teaching

Plant ecology
Plant evolution
Community ecology

Research

Community ecology, general, numerical and theoretical aspects of ecology, taxonomy and evolution

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Department of Geography

Associate Professor Sean Fitzsimons

Teaching

Geomorphology
Climate Change

Research

Earth surface processes in high latitude and high altitude areas.

Professor Richard Morgan

Teaching

Soil nutrient systems
Vegetation ecology
Environmental impact assessment

Research

Environmental impact assessment methods and procedures, ecology of naturalised plants, human impacts on forests, agricultural pollution and soils

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Department of Information Science

Associate Professor Peter Whigham

Teaching

Spatial information systems, machine learning techniques

Research

Spatial pattern representation, evolutionary computation, ecological modelling

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Department of Marine Science

Associate Professor Steve Dawson

Teaching

Animal behaviour and bioacoustics
Biology of marine mammals especially cetaceans
Interactions between marine mammals and fisheries

Research

Photographic studies of population parameters of Hector’s dolphin., Acoustic censusing of sperm whales, Computer-assisted photographic identification of Hector’s dolphin and sperm whales

Associate Professor P. Keith Probert

Teaching

Principles of marine biology

Marine pollution

Deep sea biology

Research

Benthic functioning in the region of the Subtropical Front; distributional ecology of polychaetes of the New Zealand upper slope; benthic ecology of the Otago continental shelf and upper slope; ecology of southern New Zealand inlets and estuaries

Dr Candida Savage

Teaching

Field Marine Science, marine ecology, marine aquaculture, marine pollution

Research

Anthropogenic disturbance, coastal eutrophication, nitrogen flux, spatial and temporal variability, palaeoecology, aquaculture

Associate Professor Steve Wing

Teaching

Marine ecology

Research

Larval dispersal, marine population biology, fisheries.

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Department of Mathematics and Statistics

Professor Richard Barker

Teaching

Statistical inference, generalized linear models, mark-recapture models

Research

Wildlife and fisheries biometrics, mark-recapture models, distance sampling, population dynamics

Associate Professor David Fletcher

Teaching

Categorical data, design of research studies

Research

Statistical ecology, matrix population models, mark-recapture methods

Mr John Harraway

Teaching

Study design; concepts of bias, confounding, and random variation; confidence interval estimation; hypothesis testing; relative risk and odds ratio; regression and control of confounding; appraisal of research studies; analysis of variance

Research

Applied statistics, Statistical education

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Department of Zoology

Professor Carolyn Burns

Teaching

Aquatic ecology, particularly lakes (limnology)
Conservation ecology
Invertebrate biology

Research

Biological processes in lakes and wetlands, particularly food web interactions, Aquatic microbial food web, Effects of land use on water quality, Plankton ecology

Dr Gerry Closs

Teaching

Freshwater ecology
Ecological study design
Biodiversity

Research

Freshwater fish ecology & behaviour, Migration & Dispersal in freshwater fish, Freshwater food webs and community structure

Associate Professor Alison Cree

Teaching

Species conservation
Reproductive ecophysiology
Thermal biology
Stress physiology

Research

Reproduction of New Zealand reptiles, Effects of hormones and environment on gestation length, Stress in reptiles, Tuatara biology and conservation

Associate Professor Ian Jamieson

Teaching

Evolution
Behavioural ecology
Conservation biology

Research

Translocations of endangered species, effects of inbreeding on reproductive success in birds

Associate Professor Henrik Moller

Teaching

Wildlife management
Conservation biology

Research

Wildlife ecology and management, Conservation management, Biological control, Introduced mammals and wasps

Dr Shinichi Nakagawa

Teaching

Behavioural & Evolutionary Ecology

Research

Evolution of mating systems & parental care, Comparative analysis & meta-analysis, Statistical usage in ecology & evolution, Evolutionary applications to conservation

Professor Robert Poulin

Teaching

Parasitology
Field ecology
Evolution

Research

Evolutionary arms races between hosts and parasites, Effects of parasites on the biodiversity of intertidal ecosystems, Manipulation of host behaviour by parasites

Dr Bruce Robertson

Teaching

Principles of Wildlife Management

Research

Wildlife management, Conservation biology, Molecular ecology, Behavioural ecology, Evolutionary ecology

Associate Professor Phil Seddon

Teaching

Conservation biology
Harvest Management
Conservation ecology

Research

Taxon specific re-introduction guidelines, Dynamics of re-established ungulate populations

Associate Professor Liz Slooten

Teaching

Environmental science
Applied ecology, including population biology, fisheries science and other harvest management issues
Marine mammal biology and conservation
Marine conservation

Research

Environmental problem solving, Population dynamics and modeling, Reproductive biology, Estimation of population size and survival rates, Photographic identification of individual dolphins and whales

Professor Colin Townsend

Teaching

General ecology
The ecology of streams and rivers
Conservation biology

Research

The influence of land use, introduced fish and disturbances on the ecology of streams and rivers

Dr Yolanda van Heezik

Teaching

Wildlife management
Conservation biology

Research

Pre-release preparation of avian re-introduction candidates, Effects of captive-environment vs abiotic factors on fecundity of houbara bustards, Influence of management on growth and survival of captive flocks

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Higher Education and Development Centre

Associate Professor Tony Harland

Teaching

Ecology communities and ecosystems

Ecology field course

Research

Teaching in Higher Education

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Ecology Programme University of Otago