Red X iconGreen tick iconYellow tick icon

Wednesday 19 December 2018 3:29pm

Academic Promotion image
Academic staff promoted to position of associate professor (left to right), Mikkel Andersen (Physics), Tamlin Conner (Psychology), Lynnette Jones (Physical Education, Sport & Exercise Sciences), Gareth Treharne (Psychology). Miranda Mirosa (Food Science) (inset).

The Science Division is pleased to announce the promotion of five academics to the position of professor, and a further five to the position of associate professor.

Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Sciences) Professor Richard Barker says the staff promoted represent a broad range of science, highlighting Otago’s all-around strength in science.

“The associate professors also represent our next generation of leaders and it is especially pleasing to see the strong representation of women in this group.”

Otago’s promotion process involves thorough evaluation of each individual’s record of contributions to research, teaching, and service to the University and community. It also involves input from international experts in evaluating the candidates’ research contributions.

“Promotion reflects all-around outstanding performance on the back of hard work and dedication,” Professor Barker adds, which take effect from 1 February 2019.

Other Divisional promotions include Dr Tracy Perry as Associate Dean (Māori) and Dr Virginia Toy as Associate Dean (International).

Dr Perry is of Ngāti Porou, Waikato and Ngāti Wairere descent, is a member of Te Poutama and is committed to implementing the Māori Strategic Framework and Vision Mātauranga.

Dr Toy has been a visiting researcher and lecturer at international Institutions in Australia, Europe, the USA, Japan, and Latin America, from which she has gained substantial experience in effectively facilitating research and educational outcomes.


Staff promoted to associate professor:

Mikkel Andersen (Department of Physics)

Mikkel’s research is primarily in experimental atomic physics using laser cooled atoms that require complex experimental systems. A significant part of his research revolves around laser manipulations of microscopic particles focused on trapping, manipulating, and imaging individual and small samples of atoms. The goal of Mikkel’s work is to obtain detailed control over these individual constituents in engineered multi-atom systems, to enable developments in quantum technologies.

Tamlin Conner (Department of Psychology)

Tamlin’s research centres on the science of well-being, working to understand the psychological, nutritional, and biological predictors of well-being, and, how to increase well-being through psychological and lifestyle changes. Core to her research is the use of smartphones to measure people’s emotional experiences and health behaviours in naturalistic settings as people go about their daily lives. Tamlin was awarded the OUSA Supervisor of the Year in 2017.

Lynnette Jones (School of Physical Education, Sport & Exercise Sciences)

Lynnette undertakes research in exercise and cardiovascular health in survivors of breast and prostate cancer. She has expertise in coordinating exercise research with interventions looking at the effects and benefits of exercise in various sectors of the population, including spinal injured males, overweight and obese women, elderly individuals, and pre-diabetic women. Lynnette recently received a Kiwibank Local Hero Award for founding an on-campus gym for women and men with breast cancer. The gym now has 140 members and is a place for individuals to learn more about exercise and health.

Miranda Mirosa (Department of Food Science)

Miranda’s interdisciplinary work draws on her background in marketing and consumer behaviour. Her research aims to understand why people eat what they do, why they don't eat what they don't, and how we might best impact upon these choices to encourage people to choose quality, healthy and environmentally sustainable foods. Miranda recently received the Science Division 2018 Community Engagement Award for her wide proactive engagement with community, organisations and media, both locally and internationally.

Gareth Treharne (Department of Psychology)

Gareth’s research covers interlinked areas within health psychology with a focus the experiences of individuals living with a long-term illness, such as rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, multiple sclerosis, or HIV/AIDS. His research also addresses health inequities experienced by marginalised groups including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. Gareth has a particular focus on the application of qualitative and quantitative methods to these areas of research and the processes of researcher reflexivity, community collaboration, and ethical principles of research.


Staff promoted to professor:

Chris Button (School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences)

Chris is the Dean of the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences. The processes by which humans learn to move skilfully is the central theme for his research, and he is passionate about movement and he uses models from sport and physical activity to explain skill acquisition. During the past eight years, Chris has been working closely with Water Safety New Zealand to improve the learning of water safety skills among New Zealanders.

James Crowley (Department of Chemistry)

James is a synthetic chemist. He and his research group design and synthesise new functional molecules, and have exploited “click” chemistry methods to develop new anti-bacterial and anti-cancer agents through local and international collaborations. The research has also created a range of molecular cages that have shown promise for drug delivery and catalysis applications.

Brendan McCane (Department of Computer Science)

Brendan's research is on the boundary between machine learning and computer vision. His work encompasses applications in medical and biological imaging including interpreting x-rays of the lumbar spine and the facial skeleton. Recently Brendan has made contributions to the theory of deep neural networks and deep learning, and to self-learning robotics.

Martin Sellbom (Department of Psychology)

Martin’s research programme concerns two distinct but related fields. First, his work focuses on the theoretical understanding, evaluation, and diagnosis of personality disorders, and improving how these diagnoses are described and used in diagnostic manuals. A second area of research concerns applied clinical personality assessment and associated accuracies in measurement, validity, and utility.

Sheila Skeaff (Department of Human Nutrition)

Iodine is a nutrient that is needed by the body for normal growth and development. Because the level of iodine in New Zealand soil is low, the amount of iodine received through food, and the health consequences of not getting enough iodine, has been the focus of Sheila's research. Sheila is an enthusiastic educator about nutrition, including iodine, gaining national recognition with an Ako Aotearoa tertiary teaching award.

Back to top