University of Otago

19/09/2026

When a biomedical research programme turns into a full-circle moment 🧑‍⚕️

The Tāmanu Programme is a month-long professional development opportunity for Pacific tauira, giving them hands-on experience in the Biomedical Sciences research laboratories, connecting with researchers and strengthening their academic writing and research skills 🔬

To'oa Brown and Noah Ethan Kelly-Foleni were part of the first cohort to take part and have now since returned to mentor and support the Pacific students who are following in their footsteps.

“It brings Pacific students at different ages and stages of study together, creating space for them to share knowledge, advice and experiences with one another,” Noah says.

Read more about To'oa and Noah and the Tāmanu Programme here ⬇️
https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/tauira-giving-back-through-tamanu-programme

18/09/2026

Not just a beautiful holiday location but a key destination for tertiary study 📚

Otago has plans to establish a local campus in the Queenstown-Lakes District, providing the area with targeted academic support that helps drive regional growth and innovation, along with global impact and connectivity 🤝

Multidisciplinary teams specialising in business leadership, entrepreneurship and digital technologies will run programmes from short upskilling courses to graduate and postgraduate degrees and advanced education 🎓

“Students at all levels can come for a valuable education and stay on for a holiday or establish business connections in the Queenstown Lakes district. They can combine travel, teaching, business and holiday all in one destination," Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Commerce) and Dean of the Otago Business School, Professor Maree Thyne says.

Read more about these exciting plans here ⬇️
https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/a-closer-look-at-otagos-plans-for-queenstown

18/09/2026

Nau mai, haere mai to Wai Ora. Say hello to our transformative new health education and research facility in Ōtautahi Christchurch 👋😍

18/09/2026

Snaps from the official opening ceremony of Wai Ora, our new landmark health education and research facility in Ōtautahi Christchurch 💛💙

18/09/2026

“I am motivated to move audiences, allow them to feel something outside of the boundaries of everyday life” ✨🎶

Since graduating from Otago in 2022, 20Twenties Young Alumni Award winner Sarah Hubbard has been pursuing an international opera career. She completed postgraduate studies in Queensland and is currently studying for her master’s in Berlin in one of the world’s most prestigious opera training programmes in the world 🌎

“I am aiming to be a full-time opera singer, performing all around the world. Studying my master’s is one of the first steps towards this goal, and doing so in Berlin is a huge advantage.”

Ka pai tō mahi, Sarah! We can't wait to see where this journey takes you 💙

Read a full kōrero with her here ⬇️
https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/aiming-for-an-international-opera-career

18/09/2026

What do business and birds have in common? Quite a lot, as it turns out 🐧💼

With voting for Bird of the Year closing soon, Commerce doctoral student Anna Campbell explains why protecting the hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin isn’t just a conservation challenge. It’s also a business one.

Her research explores how transitioning to a more sustainable ocean could help give one of the world’s rarest penguins a fighting chance 💛

Read Anna’s story and find out why she’ll be waving the flag for hoiho this Bird of the Year. Voting closes Sunday 20 September ✨
https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/the-business-of-birds

17/09/2026

From hospital corridors to the water 🩺💧

Having goals to strive for is one of the things fourth-year Otago medical student Ged Wall enjoys most about rowing 🚣

He recently returned from competing at the 2026 FISU World University Championships in London, Canada, where he and his rowing mate finished fifth in the B final of the men’s double sculls. Ka rawe!

Ged has raced extensively at a premier level, winning national titles, and previously rowed for Otago in China against Chinese and other international universities. This work ethic lends itself perfectly to studying medicine 🧑‍⚕️

“I like the structure and having something to work at. If there’s a lot of work to do, you just get amongst it. It keeps me busy.”

Read more about his mahi here ⬇️
https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/international-rowing-competition-great-experience-for-med-student

16/09/2026

Aotearoa’s longest-established residency for children’s writers is back 📚🏡

Otago’s College of Education Children’s Writer in Residence resumes its vital role in supporting children’s literature, in partnership with Robert Lord Writers Cottage Trust, after receiving Creative New Zealand funding ✍️

“Children’s literature educates, entertains, fosters a sense of cultural identity, and brings joy. By supporting children’s writers, we ensure new books are created that reflect and represent Aotearoa New Zealand, and that our children and young people can see themselves in the pages,” Dean of the College of Education Professor Vivienne Anderson says.

Applications for 2027 are open now, learn more here ⬇️
https://www.otago.ac.nz/about/news/newsroom/otago-celebrates-return-of-childrens-writer-in-residence

16/09/2026

Otago is holding the official opening ceremony of Wai Ora this week, a six-storey, transformative new facility that will significantly expand health research, clinical trials, and health professional education in Ōtautahi Christchurch.

“I am thrilled that so many years of effort are about to bear fruit. I know many of our staff and students can’t wait to use this amazing facility,” University Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson says 🌱

Find out more about this world-class facility ⬇️

16/09/2026

Did you know it’s World Ozone Day? 🌎🪐

To mark the occasion, Hannah Kessenich - a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Physics - is here to bust some common misconceptions about how the ozone hole work.

"I think most people don’t know that it’s not over New Zealand, that it’s open for only three months a year, and it’s not the reason we’re more likely to get sunburn and skin cancer,” Hannah says, casually demolishing three ozone myths 🤯

Read more for answers to your ozone questions ⬇️

Ozone hole researcher Hannah Kessenich’s degree in Physics landed her a job in tech, but it didn’t bring her fulfilment.