 The University of Otago is New Zealand's first university, established in Dunedin in 1869. It is one of New Zealand's most prestigious universities, and has an international reputation for teaching and research excellence. Otago’s outstanding academic reputation, strong research culture and famously vibrant campus lifestyle attracts students from all over New Zealand and the world. Otago is home to world-quality research and researchers passionate about their fields of study. International PhD students are eligible to pay domestic student fees, and can also apply for generous scholarship assistance.
The outstanding research performance of the Division of Sciences enriches a broad range of high-quality programs, offering challenging and rigorous undergraduate and graduate programs in ecological and environmental sciences. Otago has particular research strengths in environmental and ecological statistics, environmental chemistry, environmental physiology, freshwater ecology, alpine ecosystems, marine mammal conservation, polar marine physics and modelling, and plant ecophysiology.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Southern New Zealand encompasses a very wide range of habitats, from marine to alpine, and from inland semi-arid to coastal. This diversity of plants and animals, habitats, and ecosystems is reflected in the strong ecological interests, in both teaching and research, of various departments at the University of Otago. Many of the papers offered by, for example, Botany, Ecology, Geography, Geology, Zoology and Marine Science involve field work and laboratory work which familiarise students with these habitats and the particular ecological/environmental issues associated with them. |
WHAT SETS THIS PROGRAM APART FROM OTHERS
The Ecology program at Otago is a multidisciplinary subject. The University of Otago has one of the largest concentrations of ecologists of any New Zealand university. There are ecologists, and other scientists with ecological interests, in the Departments of Botany, Chemistry, Geography, Geology, Information Science, Marine Science, Mathematics and Statistics, Surveying, Zoology and the Wellington School of Medicine. These departments collaborate to teach undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Ecology, focusing on the biological background to Ecology. Ecology forms a continuum with the Environmental Science programme. There is an active Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation Research Group comprising over 40 academic staff, from eight different departments.
Qualifications in Environmental Management are available at Bachelor and Master’s level. The Bachelor of Applied Science in Environmental Management teaches students about the science of environmental systems and problems. It covers the wider social, economic and political context, including the requirements of environmental legislation. In line with the overall philosophy of the Bachelor of Applied Science programme, the Environmental Management course contains several business papers, to prepare graduates for working in the private sector or even starting their own businesses.
Offshore opportunities are available in the Division of Sciences too! The University has a new research vessel, the Polaris II, which has further extended the range of marine research to the sub-Antarctic.
Environmental Degrees in Australia 
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