Professor Professor Mark Stirling's inauguaral lecture: 14 March 2017
The talk describes David's personal journey as a pilot and psychologist to understand the role of decision making in aviation safety.
Prof Abby Smith has been fascinated by shells and how they are formed since she was a child. She takes us on a journey with her, and we learn that shells have a lot to tell us!
Professor Lisette Burrows of the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences gave her Inaugural Professorial Lecture on the 19th of April, 2016. She talks about her research into teh demonising or larger body shapes and how effective - or not - the current educational campaigns are in providing balanced information about healthy eating and exercise, and whether in fact there is an obesity epidemic. It was very thought provoking and engaging - have a listen!
Professor Cliff Law delivered his Inaugural Professorial Lecture on the 16th of February. Professor Law holds a joint appointment between Otago and NIWA, exploring the chemical interactions at the interface between the sea and the sky.
Professor David Hutchinson delivered his IPL on the 15th of December, exploring theories of light as wave and particle, explaining that the description of something is not necessarily its reality, and talking about how his theoretical work builds into the exciting research taking place the Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonics and Quantum Technologies.
Professor David Larsen delivered his IPL on the 17th of November in 2015. He described his work in synthesising organic molecules . This work is in collaboration with biologists primarily, developing therapeutic molecules - PIMs - aimed at reducing asthma, and also looking at molecules designed to slowly release carbon monoxide to support organ transport. This very practical work has required entirely new methodologies and many years' dedication.
Professor David Bowman discusses the complex interactions between fire and food webs, and the part humans have played in manipulating that system; how fire impacts on biodiversity, and how some animal species impact on the severity of landscape fires.
The Geoff Baylis lectures are a joint initiative between the Otago Botanical Society and the Department of Botany, University of Otago. Steve higgins talks about how impressive plants really are - the biggest, tallest, oldest and most dangerous living oprganisms on teh planet. He discusses how grasses evolved and changed the face of the planet, and how leaf phenology can help us map changes in atmosphere and climate. This lecture was given on the 9th of September 2015
Sir Geoffrey Palmer reflects on regulatory efforts to deal with Climate Change, both in New Zealand and internationally. He describes climate change as a slow motion tragedy, and discusses mitigation of the effects of anthropogenic climate change. This lecture was given at University of Otago on Monday 5th of October 2015.
Professor Nancy Longnecker delivered her Inaugural Professorial Lecture on the 15th of September 2015. Nancy's journey from Biologist to communicator to researcher in Sciecne communication has been a fascinating one, and her current work in evaluation of science communication experiences is vital in validating, fine-tuning and and sometimes revolutionising the field.
Janice Lord won this year's Leonard Cockayne prize from the New Zealand Royal Society. This is her commemorative lecture, outlining cutting edge work on the pollination of sub-antarctic plants. There's a number of large, brightly coloured flowering plants in the sub-antactic, which is a sharp contrast with NZ alpine plants with thei predominantly white flowers. Janice explores the reasons for both of these phenomena. The talk was given on the 3rd of September 2015.
Professor Christina Hulbe gave her Inaugural Professorial Lecture on the 1st of September 2015. She talked about her work on mapping deformations in West Antarctica, and how GPS technology has changed her work. Satellite imagery of meltwater ponds has led to a clearer understanding of the creation of deep crevasses and shattering of icesheets.
The Physics Department celebrated the International Year of Light with its luminescence festival. Here is one of the talks, from Jorg Frauendiener. Jorg explains how black holes happen, what they do to light and why.
The Physics Department celebrated the International Year of Light with its luminescence festival. Here is one of the talks, from Niels Kjaergaard who works in the Centre for Quantum Science. Niels talks about manipulating groups of atoms, dividing them, the patterns they make etc.
The Physics Department celebrated the International Year of Light with its luminescence festival. Here is one of the talks, from Eyal Schwartz. Eyal talks about discovering other planets and just how hard that can be; the techniques and tools scientists use to track down exo-planets.
Professor David Bryant delivered his Inaugural Professorial lecture on July 21st 2015. He gave an overview of his work, modelling genetic information to assist with tracing points of origin for plants or animal species.
Professor Liz Slooten delivered her Inaugural Professorial Lecture to a packed theatre on Tuesday 24th of August. The lecture gave an overview of Professor Slooten's work documenting populations of Hector's and Maui dolphones aorund New Zealand's coast as well as tracking and documenting bahaviour of sperm whales and right whalee. Professor Slooten's work highlights the dangers of gill-net fishing and the impact it has on endangered species of marine mammals.
1997 Nobel Laureate Professor Stephen Chu talks about his role as Secretary for energy in the Obama administration, whether peak oil is the real problem, and what will make a difference in the uptake of sustainable energy technologies. This lecture was delivered on December 17th 2014
Professor Phil Bishop talks about his lifelong fascination with amphibians in general and frogs in particular. He discusses the importance of frogs as an indicator species for the wellbeing of our environment, and delivers lessons in acoustic identification - as each species of frog has a unique sound. The inaugural professorial lecture was delivered on May the 5th 2015.