Professoriate

Caro is Academic Leader for Communication and teaches across a range of courses including Interaction Design and Studio Projects. She supervises Masters and Doctoral students. She is involved in a wide range of creative, local community and regional development projects often working with collaborative student-staff teams, and local community groups, including museums. Caro was a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at SUNY Canton, in Upstate New York 2016-17 and is a winner of the AKO Aotearoa Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching Award (2014). Caro is Co-ordinator of DESIS Otago, a member of the international DESIS Network.

Art and design disciplines are often considered primarily useful for communicating concepts and ideas through sophisticated visual means. To this mix Caro adds social engagement strategies including user-focused design methods, and participatory and digital art practices to encourage new perspectives & behaviour change. Her research outcomes are varied – from museum practices, public experience design, to community change-making projects. She regularly collaborates and is developing a community of practice at OP around ‘project-based learning with communities’. In her international practice she draws upon New Zealand as a useful place to rethink theoretical strategies that contribute to identifying a contemporary experience of the local, timely in our post-COVID situation.

Professor Jane Venis is a multi-media artist, musician and writer. Her studio practice focuses on the absurdities and concerns of contemporary popular culture, which is expressed through the making of objects, video, sound and performance works. Recent solo installations have taken place in public galleries and museums in New Zealand and she has contributed to juried group exhibitions in the USA, South Korea, The UK and China. Her current writing links to her studio practice and focuses on how the creative practice of Japanese chindogu can be used to discuss the tension between art and design. Jane teaches in postgraduate programmes in the college of Creative Practice and Enterprise and is the editor of Scope Art and Design and is the Editor of Scope Art and Design. She has a Master of Fine Arts from the Dunedin School of Art and a PhD in Fine Arts from Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Australia. Jane has twelve years' experience in postgraduate supervision. She supports students in their dissertation writing, coming from a position as a practising artist familiar with studio practice.

Jean has been working at Otago Polytechnic since 2003. She is a Registered Nurse, holds a BN and a Master of Arts, and completed her Doctorate in 2017.

From 1994-2003, she was co-director of the National Centre for Rural Health and instrumental in the development of interdisciplinary postgraduate nursing education. In 2008, she received the Rural General Practice Network Peter Snow Memorial Award in recognition of her national contribution to rural health care.

Jo Kirkwood has been working in higher education in New Zealand for 25 years. She is experienced in teaching at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and has particular interests and expertise in facilitation, academic mentoring and assessment at the Masters and Doctoral levels. Jo has supervised over 100 masters learners and five doctoral learners to completion.

In her current role, Jo is facilitator or academic mentor to Master/Doctor of Professional Practice learners. These projects have been in a wide range of areas, including small business, secondary and tertiary education (eg. curriculum development, assessment, human-centred design, policies and processes), leadership and coaching, animal assisted therapy.

Jo graduated with her PhD from the University of Otago in 2004. Her thesis was focused on gender differences in motivations for entrepreneurship. Jo's research has focused on women entrepreneurs/mumpreneurs, Tall Poppy Syndrome and its impact on entrepreneurs and sustainable entrepreneurs/ecopreneurs. Jo's work is widely published in academic journals and textbooks, and practitioner publications such as NZ Business and NZ Entrepreneur. Jo's latest research is on the learner journey in postgraduate study and exploring styles of supervision/academic mentoring.

Professor Karole Hogarth is the Head of Nursing in the School of Nursing and has 18 years of academic experience teaching sciences in health courses. She has strong research interests in interprofessional education, curriculum development, science education and improving outcomes for Māori learners in health courses.
She is part of several collaborations investigating outcomes from interprofessional education including and international project to provide consistent training for conveners of interprofessional education. Karole currently mentors several doctoral candidates and is the Māori representative of the OPAIC Postgraduate Research ethics committee.

I am a Registered Nurse who loves teaching. My career as an educator spans a variety of healthcare and management roles. As a Lecturer in Management at the University of Otago, I supervised 40 research projects, dissertations and theses at Honours and Masters level in management, business, and health disciplines. I have examined dissertations and projects at Master's level, and mentored several doctoral candidates.

I am an established author with more than 70 book chapters, articles and international conference presentations on a variety of business, education and nursing topics. Having returned to nursing education in 2009, my teaching goal is to inspire students to ‘think like nurses’ and equip them with the skills to survive in today’s challenging healthcare environment. Recent research focuses on using creative learning and teaching strategies and mixed-reality technology using HoloLens headsets to develop first-year nurses’ clinical reasoning skills. My personal career highlight was being awarded a National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award by the Minister of Education in parliament in 2017.

Dr Margo Barton is Academic Leader for Fashion. She teaches and supervises learners across undergraduate and post graduate programmes in the School of Design. A winner of the AKO Aotearoa Sustained Excellence in Tertiary Teaching Award (2007), she is passionate about fashion education and establishing networks within the global fashion industry to benefit design students, the fashion industry and the wearer. Margo fosters international exchanges and collaborations for students and faculty, whether in person or by digital methods, and is a frequent exhibitor, curator, presenter and external examiner across the wider area of fashion and design. Margo is the Creative Director and Chair of iD Dunedin Fashion, including the iD International Emerging Designer Awards, is the founder of the Contemporary Fashion Practices online fashion symposium exhibition, and is a board member of the International Foundation of Fashion Technology Institutes (IFFTI) and chair of the IFFTI membership committee.

Richard is a Professor in the Food Design Institute at Otago Polytechnic. As a consumer behaviour expert and geographer, he brings together an understanding of people and place to the design of food experiences, culinary arts and design curricula and food and beverage strategies.

Richard has a PhD in consumer loyalty in wine tourism from the University of Otago, as well as a BA (Hons) in Geography from the University of Otago, and Graduate Diplomas in Tertiary Education and in Tourism from Otago Polytechnic. He is a member of the managing committee for EatNZ, an industry body promoting New Zealand food to the world. He has previously been chair of the former New Zealand Food and Wine Tourism Network.

Richard’s current diverse research interests include food design, disobedient models of education, food and beverage consumer behaviour and regional development. He takes a student-led approach to postgraduate supervision, having experience supervising postgraduate students with a range of methodologies and subjects, including work-based learning.

Professor Sally Baddock has developed a strong platform of research over the last 20 years in the area of infant behaviour and physiology during sleep and the impact of sleep practices on sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI). This includes investigating the benefits and risks of infant-parent bed-sharing while recognising the importance of cultural context. She is part of a team that has produced significant research outputs from four major studies on infant sleep – three of which have been funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, and all of which have attracted widespread international recognition and at times have generated widespread media attention and influenced public policy.
Sally is a member of the academic staff in the School of Midwifery. She has taught in the Health Sciences for over 30 years and for 7 years she was Co-Head of School. As Professor she continues her leadership roles across the polytechnic with a focus on research, and continues to teach physiology at postgraduate level and supervise candidates for the Master of Midwifery. Masters projects include a range of explorations focused on the evidence underpinning midwifery practices and include both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. She pursues further research interests through collaborations with staff from the School of Midwifery, including a series of projects investigating learner experiences in Midwifery education. She supports research of colleagues through her role as research coordinator in the school.

Professor Samuel Mann is a mentor and facilitator, focussing on post-graduate programmes, and undergraduate computing and sustainability, within Capable NZ - Otago Polytechnic's school specialising in professional practice and work-based learning. Sam was responsible for the development of Education for Sustainability at Otago Polytechnic where they are committed to every graduate thinking and acting as a sustainable practitioner.

Sam gained his PhD from the University of Otago in 1998 titled "Spatial Process Modelling for Regional Environmental Decision Making". Previously he had completed an MSc and a BSc (Hons) in Geography. He has also completed a postgraduate certificate in Tertiary Learning and Teaching.

Sam previously taught software engineering, interaction design, project management and innovation. For five years he was Head of the former School of Information Technology. Sam is active nationally within CITRENZ, and internationally within sustainable computing (ICT4S and HCI4S).

Dr Yvonne Thomas is Professor and Research Coordinator for the School of Occupational Therapy. Yvonne is a registered Occupational Therapist with practice experience in mental health, social care and stroke rehabilitation. Yvonne has worked in education for 25 years, has a Masters of Education and completed her PhD in 2012. Her doctoral study focused on the wellbeing of people experiencing homelessness. She has developed and lead occupational therapy programmes at James Cook University, Australia, and University of Worcester, United Kingdom.

Yvonne's current teaching roles include post graduate courses and masters and PhD supervision. She is committed to delivering accessible student-centred education and increasing social and cultural diversity in health professions.

Yvonne's research interests include two broad themes: 1) innovative professional practice and practice education with a specific focus on new and emerging roles for health professionals, professional decision making, values-based and evidence-based practice and 2) Understanding and enhancing wellbeing through occupation, with a particular focus on marginalised or socially disadvantaged populations.

Dr Adrian Woodhouse (Kāi Tahu) is the Head of School of the Food Design Institute, Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. As a chef and academic, Adrian’s research is positioned within Kaupapa Māori theory with a primary focus on kai (food), power and identity formation. In particular, Adrian’s research focuses on the power relationships, that exist within, the explicit and implicit institutional systems and structures of society.

Adrian's professional background is a blend of contemporary food design and artisan food production. He creates a learning environment that embraces the cultural diversity of his students. Adrian uses culturally responsive and collaborative learning strategies to bring innovative approaches to his teaching.

David Rozado holds a B.Sc. in Information Systems from Boston University, a M.Sc. in Bioinformatics from the Free University of Berlin and a Ph.D in Computer Science from the Autonomous University of Madrid. David joined Otago Polytechnic early in 2015. His main areas of research are Machine Learning, Computational Social Science and Accessibility software for users with motor impairment. He currently teaches Artificial Intelligence & Data Science, Advanced Algorithms, and final year Studio.

Francesca Brown is a qualified veterinarian, who graduated from Massey University in 1998. In addition she holds a Bachelor of Science, National Diploma in Adult Education and Training, Certificate in Mata a Ao Māori, Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Practice and a Master of Professional Practice (Distinction) . She is a strong advocate for veterinary nurses and technicians in the veterinary profession. She is also on the Vet Futures Aotearoa Steering Group focused on a 2040 vision for a sustainable veterinary industry. Francesca is also the sustainability champion for the School of Veterinary Nursing and a member of the New Zealand Veterinary sustainability group, Sustainavet. Francesca is an active researcher and has undertaken research related to veterinary staff wellbeing, utilisation of allied veterinary professionals and the veterinary client experience. Current research is focussed on Māori veterinarian and veterinary nurse experiences in the veterinary sector.

Glenys works as a facilitator of learning, an academic mentor, and assessor at Capable NZ. Glenys supports learners to articulate their skills, knowledge and attitudes gained from their work-based learning experiences, as well as undertaking new learning to gain a degree qualification through Capable NZ's independent learning pathways. She brings a diverse employment background to her career practice, with significant experience in teaching at secondary school, polytechnic and university level, as well as roles in senior management. Glenys also works in the field of elite sports, supporting athletes to think about "life during and after sport". She also teaches in the School of Social Services in the Career Practice stream. Her doctoral research is in adult learning and independent learning pathways and professional practice qualifications. However she continues to undertake research around transformational learning and facilitator effectiveness. Glenys holds a Doctorate in Prof Studies (Adult Learning) from Middlesex University and a Master of Career Development from Edith Cowan University, Australia.

Hayden Croft is Head of Sport, Exercise and Health at Otago Polytechnic. He has held roles in industry as a performance analyst for the; Silver Ferns (currently), Otago Rugby, NZ Rugby and World Rugby as a consultant. By teaching and practicing as a performance analyst, he has been able to understand the challenges that face practitioners and our graduates moving into jobs. Through his work alongside some amazing coaches, he has observed different approaches to leadership, but one common theme is that staff/people are the most important asset an organisation has and that everybody has a role to play in supporting our learners. 

Originally from Scotland, Dr Jonathan Lynch is Co-Head of the Professional Practice Programmes in the College of Work Based Learning. Previously an outdoor educator across primary, secondary and tertiary education in the UK and NZ, he is enthusiastic about education beyond the classroom and improving human-environment relations. Informed by posthumanist and New Materialist thinking, his research focuses on how pedagogy is shaped in environmental and sustainability education and technology-enhanced education. Currently, his research is working to better understand how we can conceptualise and enact pedagogy where agency is distributed. Implications for future focussed education concerned with addressing climate change are where he is trying to add useful contributions.

Josie Crawley has worked at Otago Polytechnic since 2000. She is an Associate Professor and her key foci are community nursing and positive constructive education experiences. Her qualifications include an RN from Christchurch Polytechnic, a BA and MEd (Counselling) from the University of Otago, and a GCTLT and certificate Mata a Ao Maori from Otago Polytechnic. Her research interests include communication, learning through narratives, storytelling, health promotion and flexible learning.

Kelli is of Waitaha, Ngāti Rārua Ātiawa, Taranaki and Ngāti Maniapoto descent. Kelli holds a Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Arts, Postgraduate Certificate in Child Advocacy, Certificate of Professional Studies, Bachelor of Education, Diploma Primary Teaching and Diploma in Tertiary Education.

At Otago Polytechnic Kelli works in the College of Work Based Learning, Capable NZ, as Te Kaihautū: Te Kāhui Whetū / Capable Māori lead for undergraduate iwi cohorts and postgraduate mentoring. She is a member of Te Pūkenga Rangahau Māori Forum and Co-Secretary General for Asia-Pacific Peace Research Association (APPRA). Kelli's research interests are: Indigenous peace traditions, Decolonising methodologies, kaupapa Māori, Māori education, and Peace and social justice.

Lorna Davies has been a midwife for over three decades and has worked in midwifery education for 28 years both in the United Kingdom and in Aotearoa (18 years). Lorna's Masters (MA Women’s Studies) explored Inquiry Based Learning as a feminist pedagogy. In her PhD Lorna explored the place of sustainability as a concept in midwifery practice in 2017. She has additionally been involved in a number of research projects over the years. Her research interests are: sustainability in midwifery/healthcare; sustainability literacy; interprofessional education; and workforce issues in midwifery. Her specialist areas in the research field are: Qualitative Research; Action Research (with a particular focus on Participatory AR); Autoethnography; Thematic Analysis (particularly reflexive TA); Theory – Actor- Network theory; and Ecofeminism.

Dr Martin Andrew has worked in a variety of educational and leadership roles in tertiary and Foundational education in New Zealand, Australia and Vietnam for almost 30 years. He has published close to 50 refereed and journal papers, presented more than 100 conference papers internationally, participated as a researcher-writer in ten projects, and supervised 12 doctoral students through to completion. A specialist in postgraduate education, he has worked with trans-disciplinarity and cross-disciplinarity in both Higher Educational and Polytechnic contexts. His doctoral students have researched and written on many educationally-related topics within traditional doctorate models as well as creative and professional models. Martin’s research interests include anything with a language or discourse bent, studies related to identity, interculturality, international education, creativity, educational and human development and alternative modes of assessment. He has supervised and mentored Masters students in Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam and examined many theses as an external invited examiner. A Co-creator of an online Masters in Writing, he is well versed in creative uses of online spaces and communities of learning, and enjoys mentoring in a range of spaces, including face to face, and across a range of e-media. A Dunedinite returned home after nearly thirty years in other educational contexts, he is involved in mentoring Postgraduate learners on the Master of Professional Practice and Doctor of Professional practice programmes.

Dr Matt King is the Academic Leader for Mechanical Engineering and the Research Coordinator for the Engineering Construction and Living Sciences Department. He has taught in the field of Engineering for over 20 years while also applying his research to the legal community as a Forensic Engineering expert witness on over 3,000 cases in New Zealand, Guam, France and the USA for the private sector as well as for Governmental institutions.

Dr King is also engaged in a variety of research projects with his capacity for creative problem solving including research in the fields of Risk Management, Ophthalmology, novel Biomedical devices, and Climate Shift. As an Associate Professor he continues his leadership roles across the polytechnic with a focus on research, and continues to teach Engineering at Diploma and Bachelor level, as well as supervise Masters and Doctoral candidates.

Phil is proudly a physical educator, interested and inquisitive in almost anything to do with exercise and sport. Having previously worked in exercise rehabilitation, strength and conditioning, and community exercise prescription, he has since enjoyed a 30 year career in academia as a teacher/practitioner/researcher.

A well published researcher and author, Phil has undertaken contract and grant research using a wide range of research methodologies. He reviews regularly for numerous academic publications and is currently editing a special edition on injury prevention and management. Phil is a highly experienced and enthusiastic postgraduate supervisor with research interests in exercise rehabilitation, return to play decision making, professional competence of exercise professionals, making physical activity sustainable, and concussion management and student life.

Within Otago Polytechnic’s Institute of Sport Exercise & Health, Phil teaches across the postgraduate programme and continues to supervise Masters and Doctoral students.

Suzanne Miller (she/her) is an Associate Professor and is based in Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington). A midwife since 1991, Suzanne has practiced as a Lead Maternity Carer supporting both home and hospital births alongside her education and other professional roles. Suzanne has been a New Zealand College of Midwives member since 1990 and has been a reviewer in the Midwifery Standards Review and Midwifery First Year of Practice programmes. She held a position on the Neonatal Encephalopathy Working Group of the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee for six years, and is currently a panel member for Te Tatau o te Whare Kahu: Midwifery Council of New Zealand Professional Conduct Committee. She is an expert advisor to the Health and Disability Commissioner. Suzanne has taught in both the undergraduate and postgraduate midwifery programmes since 2010. In 2019 Suzanne became the Postgraduate Programme Leader. She combines her postgraduate teaching roles with supervision of Master of Midwifery tauira and is involved in number of research collaborations both within and external to Te Kura Matatini ki Otago: Otago Polytechnic. 'Place of birth' was the research focus for both her Master's and PhD research. Current research interests include: exploring the impact of Covid-19 on the provision of perinatal care; the impact of Covid-19 on kaimahi within tertiary institutions; health equity for trans and non-binary people who are receiving perinatal care; supervision-at-distance of Master of Midwifery tauira.

Tobias Danielmeier is an Associate Professor and Head of Architecture at the Dunedin School of Architecture. His research and professional practice investigate the interface between industrial architecture and spaces for hospitality. His work focuses on how processes and production flows can be improved spatially, how buildings aid and optimise energy and water use, use of solar active and passive strategies, creation of positive and lasting visitor experiences, as well as place and corporate identity expressed through our built environment. Many of his architectural designs have gained national and international awards in the disciplines of architecture, design and engineering.

Tobias is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Architects and chair of the Southern Branch, and a member of Architectural Designers of New Zealand, Bund Deutscher Baumeister, the Designers Institute of New Zealand, and the Building Technology Educators’ Society. He regularly acts as juror on architecture competitions and is on the editorial board of the International Journal for Architecture, Arts and Applications. Tobias has a wealth of postgraduate supervision in the fields of architecture, interior architecture, design and landscape architecture.