University of Otago

05/06/2026

Otago campus is home to a rare relic 🤫✨

Just below street level at the southeast corner of the Geology Building sits one of New Zealand's best-preserved WW2 air raid shelters 🚨

Less than two per cent of these shelters remain intact and accessible, making this a rare piece of history 💎

“Otago is richer because of these stories and the relationships that lie behind them," Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Humanities) Professor Hugh Campbell says.

Read more about this historic part of Otago here ⬇️

An air raid shelter hidden just below street level at the southeast corner of the University’s Geology Building is considered one of the best-preserved examples of its kind in New Zealand, according to Otago Military History Group representative Peter Trevathan.

05/06/2026

Nothing can sink this Otago student's passion for surveying ⚓️🛥️✨

Meet the 2026 recipient of the Discovery Marine (DML) scholarship, Grace Cinque. Her passion is hydrographic surveying on boats, used for mapping rivers, lakes, seabeds and shorelines 🌊

“We’re really lucky in surveying. It’s so much fun, and no two days are ever the same. We fly drones, we laser scan, we help make sure skyscrapers go up straight. You get to work with cool technology and a great group of people,' Grace says.

Read more about Grace's work here ⬇️

Grace Cinque’s spending her fourth year at Otago operating remote-controlled boats.

05/06/2026

Sustainability on air 🎙️🌱

Otago's Sustainability Office is excited to be launching a brand new podcast, Spilling the Tī ✨

Hosted by Kaiwhakahaere Kaupapa Ben Sommerville and Tumuaki Head of Sustainability Ray O’Brien, the podcast celebrates staff and students working on initiatives inspired by Ti Kōuka: University of Otago Sustainability Framework 2030.

“Spilling the Tī isn’t another seminar or lecture. It’s the type of chat you’d have over a cuppa in the Staff Club," Ray says.

Read more about this new podcast here ⬇️

The University of Otago Sustainability Office has launched its very own podcast, Spilling the Tī, now available on Spotify.

04/06/2026

Our tauira aren’t just academic weapons... 😤💪

04/06/2026

Strengthening links in the lower South Island 🤝✨

The University of Otago and the Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) have signed a Statement of Intent, creating a framework for future collaborations aiming to share expertise, resources, technology and teaching programmes.

“This Statement of Intent with SIT recognises that working together more closely creates potential for greater efficiencies in delivery and resource sharing,” Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson says.

Read more about this work below ⬇️

The University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka and the Southern Institute of Technology have signed a Statement of Intent, paving the way for increased collaboration.

03/06/2026

This award-winning Otago research project is casting a light on important stories 🎥✨

Ngā Kōrero Pono (The True and Honest Stories) is a research project in which whānau share their cancer journey on camera. It's been awarded the inaugural Hei Āhuru Mōwai Whānau Voice Award for best presentation at the World Indigenous Cancer Conference.

This project is a collaboration between Otago's Pōneke campus and Tū Kotahi Māori Asthma Trust at Kōkiri Marae in Wellington.

“Winning the award was honestly very humbling. We were presenting alongside so many inspiring Indigenous researchers and clinicians from around the world, so it was a huge honour for our team and our wider kaupapa," Lead researcher Cheryl Davies says.

Read more about this project here ⬇️

An Otago research project in which whānau share their cancer journeys on video has won the inaugural Hei Āhuru Mōwai Whānau Voice Award for best presentation at the World Indigenous Cancer Conference held in Auckland in April.

02/06/2026

More than 20 Otago staff and alumni are being celebrated in this year's King's Birthday Honours 👑✨

From health, sport, medicine, business, community service and the arts, our Otago recipients are having an impact across Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond 🌟

Read a full list of those honoured here ⬇️
https://www.otago.ac.nz/news/newsroom/breadth-of-otagos-impact-highlighted-in-kings-birthday-honours

02/06/2026

This research team is helping farmers grow smarter, not harder 💪🥔

Biochemistry Research Fellow Rowan Herridge, Associate Professor Lynette Brownfield and Professor Richard Macknight led the team behind the biotech innovation Combined Inbreeding and Outcrossing (CIAO) 🧑‍🌾

Not only does this research support the future of sustainable farming, but it will also help to grow stronger and more resilient crops.

Read more about this research here ⬇️

What if you could grow potatoes from seeds instead of tubers?

31/05/2026

The University is closed today in observation of King's Birthday. AskOtago is closed on public holidays and will reopen tomorrow, 2 June 👑

Library hours are available at the link in our bio 🔗 All the best with your studies before exams 💪