Associate Professor, Department of Botany, University of Otago

"As a teacher, I encourage them to become independent both as people and as learners, in thought and action, and to be critical and lateral thinkers".

Katharine has been teaching tertiary students for 18 years, of which the last ten have been at the University of Otago.

From 2000 until 2005, she directed the Ecology Teaching Programme and led the re-design of the undergraduate curriculum. Now, the degree is based on a set of core team-taught courses that are research-informed with student learning building cohesively from first to third year.

Kath is committed to ‘learning by doing’ where students learn through their own inquiry. She works with a wide range of colleagues and is rated by her research students as an outstanding supervisor.