Contact details
Email catriona.hurd@otago.ac.nz
Academic qualifications
BSc (University of Liverpool)
PhD (Queen's University of Belfast)
Research interests
Catriona L. Hurd is a field-leading seaweed eco-physiologist, who is internationally recognised for her research on the environmental regulation of seaweed primary production and her leadership in the fields of ocean acidification, ocean warming and marine heat waves, multiple drivers of change, and marine carbon dioxide removal.
Following a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of British Columbia, Canada (1990-1995), Catriona has 30 years’ experience as a university academic in New Zealand (Department of Botany, University of Otago, 1995-2013) and Australia (Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies) University of Tasmania (2013-2026), engaged in teaching, research and leadership. In May 2026, she re-joined the University of Otago as an Honorary Professor in the Department of Marine Sciences.
Catriona is proud of her achievements in supervision and mentoring the next generations of scientists, with most of her about 30 PhD, 70 Honours/MSc students and 10 postdoctoral fellows having their own successful scientific careers in academia, industry and research institutions.
Her international standing is evidenced by over 200 publications, an H-index of over 70 and over 15,000 citations. She is a passionate and an experienced lecturer who has taught aspects of seaweed biology, ecology and physiology at all undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Her lead author textbook, Seaweed Ecology and Physiology (2014), won the prestigious Phycological Society of America’s Gerald Prescott award (2015). She has extensive leadership experience including Associate Head Research ( IMAS ), academic promotions committees ( OU , UTAS ) and Senior Leadership Teams ( OU and IMAS ).