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Dr Mick Strack

Mick Strack image

NZCLS BA (Geog) BSurv MSurv PGCertTertTeach PhD (Otago) MNZIS

Email: mick.strack@otago.ac.nz
 Phone: +64 3 479 7603
Room: Surveying building, 1st floor, Room 114

Profile

Senior Lecturer and Kaiawhina

My practical surveying experience includes work in Australia, the UK, Egypt, and Nelson as a survey technician with a NZ Certificate of Land Surveying. In 1993 I arrived in Dunedin to complete a BSurv, and I got hooked on Dunedin and on the academic life. I obtained my MSurv in 1996 and came on board at the School teaching Land Law, Land Administration and Land Tenure. My teaching and research also includes a focus on Māori land issues, sustainable land use, and water, river and sea rights and boundary issues. My PhD thesis was completed in 2008 looking at Indigenous people’s rights in rivers – a Ngai Tahu and Siksika (Canadian First Nation Band) comparison study. My interests include rowing, cycling, travelling, sailing, gardening and reading.

Teaching

Research interests

Research group membership:

  • Research Cluster for Natural Resources Law
  • Centre for Research on Colonial Culture
  • Member of Steering Committee of Catchments Otago.

Mick is also a member of the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration that connects communities with world-leading, cross-discipline research to rebuild coastal ecosystems.
Coastal People: Southern Skies

Projects

  • Subsurface property, 3D cadastre
  • Boundaries and Coastal erosion in the face of climate change
  • Property and title to rivers, lakes and the sea
  • Property boundaries, other cadastral issues. 

Supervision

Masters (MSurv)

  • Nicola Trott - (co-supervisor with David Goodwin) - Te Awa Tupua Whanganui settlement legislation

Recent Honours dissertation (SURV490/590) students

  • Devon Allen - Restrictive covenants
  • James Berghan – (co-supervisor with David Goodwin) – Striking a Balance: cultural and productive uses of Māori land
  • Julian Thom - Subsurface rights in tunnels
  • Michael Lister - Property rights in informal occupation sites
  • Mitchell Holyoak - Protecting Outstanding Landscape  

 Professional Project (SURV470)

  • Julian Thom - Subsurface Rights in Tunnels.

Responsibilities

School

Professional activities

Awards and achievements

  • Awarded the Fulton Medallion A-2 by the NZIS in recognition of a published paper of interest to the profession.

Memberships

  • Member of Survey and Spatial New Zealand S+SNZS
  • Member of NZ Coastal Society - Organising Committee for 2016 NZCS Conference
  • NZIS Research Committee
  • NZIS Publications/ Editorial Board

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Publications

Strack, M. (2020). The order is rapidly fadin': Responding to the impact of climate change on property with reference to the Aotearoa New Zealand context. Journal of Property, Planning & Environmental Law, 12(1), 19-34. doi: 10.1108/JPPEL-03-2019-0007

Strack, M. (2017). Land and rivers can own themselves. International Journal of Law in the Built Environment, 9(1), 4-17. doi: 10.1108/IJLBE-10-2016-0016

Strack, M., & Goodwin, D. (2018). More than a mere shadow? The colonial agenda of recent treaty settlements. Waikato Law Review, 25, 41-58.

Strack, M. (2018). Natural boundaries, legal definitions: Making room for rivers. In M. Strack, N. Wheen, B. Lovelock & A. Carr (Eds.), Riverscapes: Research essays on the social context of southern catchments of Aotearoa New Zealand. (pp. 65-80). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago.

Strack, M. (2019). Reconfiguring land and property: What is a subdivision? New Zealand Surveyor, 305(August), 1-29.

Strack, M. (2020). The order is rapidly fadin': Responding to the impact of climate change on property with reference to the Aotearoa New Zealand context. Journal of Property, Planning & Environmental Law, 12(1), 19-34. doi: 10.1108/JPPEL-03-2019-0007

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2017). Land and rivers can own themselves. International Journal of Law in the Built Environment, 9(1), 4-17. doi: 10.1108/IJLBE-10-2016-0016

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M., & Goodwin, D. (2018). More than a mere shadow? The colonial agenda of recent treaty settlements. Waikato Law Review, 25, 41-58.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2018). Natural boundaries, legal definitions: Making room for rivers. In M. Strack, N. Wheen, B. Lovelock & A. Carr (Eds.), Riverscapes: Research essays on the social context of southern catchments of Aotearoa New Zealand. (pp. 65-80). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago.

Chapter in Book - Research

Strack, M. (2019). Reconfiguring land and property: What is a subdivision? New Zealand Surveyor, 305(August), 1-29.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M., Wheen, N., Lovelock, B., & Carr, A. (Eds.). (2018). Riverscapes: Research essays on the social context of southern catchments of Aotearoa New Zealand. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago, 102p.

Edited Book - Research

Strack, M. (2014). 'They'll be drownded in the tide': Reconsidering coastal boundaries in the face of sea-level rise. Geography Research Forum, 34, 23-39.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M., & Scott, A. (2019). Making room for rivers. New Zealand Journal of Environmental Law, 23, 249-274.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2017). Draw conclusions on the wall: Defence of the monumented cadastre. Australian Property Law Journal, 26(1), 1-23.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2017). Sustainable coastal development: Protect or retreat? WIT Transactions on The Built Environment, 170, 63-72. doi: 10.2495/CC170071

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2019). First contacts in the South Pacific: Cook and Tupaia. New Zealand Surveyor, 305(December), 17-42.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M., Shephard, K., Jowett, T., Mogford, S., Skeaff, S., & Mirosa, M. (2019). Monitoring surveying students' environmental attitudes as they experience higher education in New Zealand. Survey Review, 51(366), 257-264. doi: 10.1080/00396265.2017.1399526

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2017). “Teachers teach that knowledge waits”: But what knowledge? Connecting technical training and professional education. New Zealand Surveyor, 304, 2-25.

Journal - Research Article

Coutts, B. J., & Strack, M. S. (2019). Is there still a (land) surveying profession? Survey Review, 51(366), 244-249. doi: 10.1080/00396265.2017.1416730

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2011). Bounding the land: Cadastral framework on the Taieri. In J. Ruru, J. Stephenson & M. Abbott (Eds.), Making our place: Exploring land-use tensions in Aotearoa New Zealand. (pp. 101-114). Dunedin, New Zealand: Otago University Press.

Chapter in Book - Research

Strack, M. (2018). Introduction. In M. Strack, N. Wheen, B. Lovelock & A. Carr (Eds.), Riverscapes: Research essays on the social context of southern catchments of Aotearoa New Zealand. (pp. 1-6). Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago.

Chapter in Book - Research

Goodwin, D., & Strack, M. (2017). Tenuous foundations: Historical lessons for modern land agreements. New Zealand Surveyor, 304, 2-28.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2016). Before it is washed to the sea? Coastal development and erosion. Civil Engineering Surveyor, July/August, 34-39.

Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

Strack, M. (Ed.). (2013). Survey marks. Dunedin, New Zealand: School of Surveying, University of Otago & the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors, 206p.

Edited Book - Research

Strack, M. (2013). Watching the river flow: The law, rights and ownership of rivers in New Zealand. New Zealand Surveyor, 302, 28-35.

Journal - Research Article

Shephard, K., Harraway, J., Lovelock, B., Mirosa, M., Skeaff, S., Slooten, L., Strack, M., Furnari, M., Jowett, T., & Deaker, L. (2015). Seeking learning outcomes appropriate for 'education for sustainable development' and for higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 40(6), 855-866. doi: 10.1080/02602938.2015.1009871

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M., & Goodwin, D. (2018, April). The Crown and Rangatiratanga: A persistent colonial agenda in Treaty settlements? Verbal presentation at the Crown Property Forum: The Crown Estate: Challenges, Opportunities and Our Responses, Wellington, New Zealand.

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Strack, M. (2018, May). New tenure arrangements are changing Maori interests in land and water: Surveyors take heed. Verbal presentation at the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors (NZIS) 129th Conference, Nelson, New Zealand.

Conference Contribution - Verbal presentation and other Conference outputs

Strack, M. (2006). Maori land loss: A study of the process of alientation - The Taieri Native Reserve. New Zealand Surveyor, 296, 13-19.

Journal - Research Article

Innes, S., Shephard, K., Furnari, M., Harraway, J., Jowett, T., Lovelock, B., Strack, M., & Skeaff, S. (2018). Greening the curriculum to foster environmental literacy in tertiary students studying human nutrition. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 13(2), 192-204. doi: 10.1080/19320248.2016.1255693

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2016). Before it is washed to the sea? Coastal development and erosion. Proceedings of the FIG Working Week: Recovery from Disaster. Retrieved from https://www.fig.net/fig2016/proceedings.htm

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Strack, M. (2013). Our relationship with the land. In M. Strack (Ed.), Survey marks. (pp. 111-116). Dunedin, New Zealand: School of Surveying, University of Otago & the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors.

Chapter in Book - Research

Strack, M. S. (2008). Rebel rivers: An investigation into the River Rights of Indigenous People of Canada and New Zealand (PhD). University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. 226p.

Awarded Doctoral Degree

Strack, M. (2010). Property loss due to coastal erosion: Judicial, legislative and policy interventions. Proceedings of the Construction, Building and Real Estate Research Conference (COBRA) of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. [USB Memory Stick] London: RICS. [Full Paper]

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Strack, M. (2013). Surveyors, Māori land and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. In M. Strack (Ed.), Survey marks. (pp. 95-99). Dunedin, New Zealand: School of Surveying, University of Otago & the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors.

Chapter in Book - Research

Shephard, K., Harraway, J., Jowett, T., Lovelock, B., Skeaff, S., Slooten, L., Strack, M., & Furnari, M. (2015). Longitudinal analysis of the environmental attitudes of university students. Environmental Education Research, 21(6), 805-820. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2014.913126

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2010). Coastal erosion and property rights in New Zealand [Case study]. In I. Boateng (Ed.), Spatial planning in coastal regions: Facing the impacts of climate change. (pp. 43-44). Copenhagen, Denmark: International Federation of Surveyors.

Chapter in Book - Research

Shephard, K., Harraway, J., Lovelock, B., Skeaff, S., Slooten, L., Strack, M., & Jowett, T. (2012). Monitoring changes in the sustainability attributes of higher education students in a New Zealand university. In W. L. Filho (Ed.), Sustainable development at universities: New horizons. (pp. 117-126). Frankfurt, Germany: Peter Lang.

Chapter in Book - Research

Jowett, T., Harraway, J., Lovelock, B., Skeaff, S., Slooten, L., Strack, M., & Shephard, K. (2014). Multinomial-regression modeling of the environmental attitudes of higher education students based on the Revised New Ecological Paradigm Scale. Journal of Environmental Education, 45(1), 1-15. doi: 10.1080/00958964.2013.783777

Journal - Research Article

Shephard, K., Harraway, J., Lovelock, B., Skeaff, S., Slooten, L., Strack, M., Furnari, M., & Jowett, T. (2014). Is the environmental literacy of university students measurable? Environmental Education Research, 20(4), 476-495. doi: 10.1080/13504622.2013.816268

Journal - Research Article

Coutts, B. J., & Strack, M. S. (2012). Surveying education at the New Zealand National School of Surveying. Survey Review, 44(324), 53-58. doi: 10.1179/1752270611y.0000000002

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M., Jowett, T., Shephard, K., & Harraway, J. (2013). What impact do higher-education experiences have on the environmental attitudes of surveying students? New Zealand Surveyor, 302, 36-42.

Journal - Research Article

Berghan, J., Goodwin, D., & Strack, M. (2013). Striking a balance: Balancing cultural and productive uses of Māori freehold land. New Zealand Surveyor, 302, 4-12.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M., & Jeffery, E. (2009). Access to landlocked Maori land. New Zealand Surveyor, 299, 31-35.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2009). Lines on the land. New Zealand Surveyor, 299, 14-23.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. S. (2013). Conflicts on the coast. Proceedings of the Commonwealth Association of Surveying and Land Economy (CASLE) Conference: Management of Land and Sea Resources: What's New? [USB Memory Stick] [Abstract]

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Abstract

Strack, M. (2011). Preparing for the invasion: Retreat from the coast. Proceedings of the Surveying & Spatial Sciences Biennial Conference. (pp. 385-393). Rotorua, New Zealand: Scion. [Full Paper]

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Strack, M. (2010). Property rights for a new world: Adapting to an ethic of sustainability. Proceedings of the XXIV FIG International Congress: Facing the challenges: Building the capacity. (pp. 1-18). Retrieved from http://www.fig.net/pub/fig2010/techprog.htm

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Strack, M. S., & Rosie, D. P. (2001). Maori land: Kicking around the football. New Zealand Surveyor, 291, 15-19.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. (2004). Customary title over the foreshore and seabed of Aotearoa: A property rights perspective. Trans Tasman Surveyor, (6), 44-51.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M. S. (2004). Rethinking property rights in New Zealand. Proceedings of the FIG Working Week 2004: The Olympic Spirit in Surveying. [CD-ROM] [Full Paper]

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

Strack, M. (2011). Using and stopping unformed legal roads. New Zealand Surveyor, 301, 11-14.

Journal - Research Article

Strack, M., & Davies, N. (2017). A fee stratum title to a lake: Does it make sense? Surveying+Spatial, (91), 19-21.

Journal - Professional & Other Non-Research Articles

Denys, P., Strack, M., Moore, A. B., & Whigham, P. (Eds.). (2013). Proceedings of the 125th New Zealand Institute of Surveyors (NZIS) Annual Conference and the Spatial Information Research Centre New Zealand (SIRC NZ) GIS and Remote Sensing Research Conference: Celebrating the Past: Redefining the Future. Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Institute of Surveyors. 225p.

Conference Contribution - Edited volume of conference proceedings

Coutts, B. J., & Strack, M. S. (2010). Surveying by degrees: Educating New Zealand surveyors. Proceedings of the FIG Commission 2 Symposium: Workshop on trends in surveying education and training. [CD-ROM] International Federation of Surveyors. [Full Paper]

Conference Contribution - Published proceedings: Full paper

More publications...