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
- SURV205 Statutory Planning A Coordinator
- SURV206 Land Tenure 1 Coordinator
- SURV306 Land Tenure 2 Coordinator
- SURV455 Statutory Planning B Coordinator
- SURV480 Research Project Coordinator
- Plus contributions in other papers on topics of land title, environmentalism, sustainability and land law.
Research interests
- Māori Land
- Rights to Water
- River and sea boundaries
- Coastal erosion
- Sustainability and land use decisions
- Student environmental attitudes
- Land Tenure and Cadastral Issues
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
- Kaiāwhina – Māori student support
- Pacific Islands student support
- Disabilities coordinator
- Tutor Coordinator
- Undergraduate committee (Chair)
- Course advisor
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