Study Zoology at Otago

Lachie Scarsbrook:

Hi, I’m Lachie, and I study Zoology at the University of Otago. When I was growing up, I was obsessed with animals like most kids, which meant studying Zoology at Otago was the natural selection.

Studying Zoology at Otago gives you the chance to be a part of a wide variety of undergraduate research projects. Whether it be neurobiology, animal behaviour, or physiology, you’ll get involved in some hands-on research that will enable you to understand how animals work, but also the wider implications of why they work.

Another amazing part about Zoology is the lecturing staff. They’re all really approachable, really friendly, and you get to develop personal relationships with them, which is unlike any other course.

Dr Nic Rawlence:

So, my name is Dr Nic Rawlence. I run the Ancient DNA Lab in the Zoology Department at the University of Otago. I basically do Jurassic Park. While we can’t get DNA out of fossils, recreate dinosaurs, and let them run amok and eat lawyers, we can use that ancient DNA to basically work out how New Zealand’s ecosystem and prehistoric wildlife functioned before humans arrived in New Zealand, how it was impacted, and how we can use that to save what we’ve got left.

Otago’s really unique in New Zealand. It’s the only place where you can do Zoology in the country – an actual specific Zoology degree. And that’s really good because we’re in the wildlife capital of New Zealand. We’ve got Orokonui with takahē up over near Port Chalmers. We’ve got the Otago Peninsula with little blue penguins, sea lions, and the yellow-eyed penguin – the world’s rarest penguin.

Our lecturers actually work throughout New Zealand and around the world doing fieldwork. So, when you come to Otago, you’ll be learning from these world-class lecturers and taking papers right from conservation of our endangered wildlife, ecology – how animals function within the environment – through to physiology – how all their internal systems function – right through to the building blocks of life, DNA (or Mr DNA out of Jurassic Park), and how we can use that to work out if the kākāpō in the North Island was genetically different to the kākāpō that we have in the South Island.

Our degrees are very, very hands-on. You’ll be taking lots and lots of labs, learning from the best, but you’ll also be doing fieldwork, not just as part of your course. All of our lecturers and researchers are looking for volunteers, so you can actually become part of the research and contribute to that.

We’ve had undergraduate students contribute to my lab’s research, and we’ve put their names on papers and published with them. With a Zoology degree, it’s world-class, especially if you go ahead and do postgraduate honours, a master’s, or a PhD. Our Zoology graduates are wanted the world over for their expertise, for their knowledge, and for that specific Zoology degree that is unique in New Zealand.