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After graduating with a BA (Hons) in English in 2003, writer Naomi Arnold has worked as a journalist, freelancer and author, with a special interest in science and nature writing. She has covered stories across Aotearoa New Zealand and around the globe, including spending nine weeks writing about life on the ice in Scott Base in Antarctica. Her author credits include the New Zealand astronomy hist...

Kevin Denholm is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most successful commercial film directors, working for major brands such as Air New Zealand, Toyota and Whittaker’s. Alongside the commercial work, he and his wife Nikki produce documentaries on global humanitarian issues. Kevin is also an ordained Anglican Minister. Having been raised in a faith-based home, his father is also a minister, he naturally...

At the end of 2025, we were lucky enough to find space in Dr Will Flavell’s diary to talk with him about his vision for te reo Māori, his work on the Auckland City Council and how it feels to be starting out as the newly-minted Principal of Te Kāpehu Whetū – Tamaki (a new charter high school). Will (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Whātua, Tainui, Ngāti Maniapoto), talks about combining his teaching career with hi...

Since graduating with First Class Honours in French and Economics from Otago, Amanda Ellis has travelled the world in high flying roles in government, industry and education. She describes herself as a passionate proponent of climate action, sustainable development, women's economic empowerment and leadership, and radical collaboration. Earlier in her career, Amanda’s roles included New Zealand UN...

It’s been a busy year for Lynley Edmeades – Lynley is an author, an English lecturer at Otago, and editor of Aotearoa’s longest running arts and literary journal Landfall Tauraka . She is also the coordinator of the new Masters in Creative Writing launched at the University this year, and has just published her fourth book, Hiding Places . Recently, Lynley has helped organise celebrations for Land...

In the winter, Otago MBA and Physical Education graduate Bridget Legnavsky starts her day with a cross-country ski with her dog before work and ends it by taking the gondola home. Bridget is President and CEO of Sugar Bowl ski resort in Tahoe, California, a role she began in 2022 after working as General Manager at Cardrona Alpine Resort and Treble Cone Ski Resort in Wānaka since 2014. Bridget tal...

At Otago, Law, Chinese Language and Political Studies graduate Josh Whale embraced Dunedin’s university culture – he joined the tramping and rowing clubs, met his future wife Claire at a concert in the student union, and went on two student exchanges. After six years in intellectual property law in China, and influenced by Al Gore’s documentary on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth , Josh decid...

Eileen Merriman manages to combine two successful careers into one working day - she’s a consultant haematologist at North Shore Hospital and is also one of New Zealand’s most successful authors. In August, Eileen won the NZ Book Awards Young Adult Fiction Award for her novel Catch a Falling Star . We ask her about her double life, where she gets her story ideas and how her job in medicine and her...

In this wide-ranging kōrero, Marketing graduate Steven Renata traverses small-town values, rugby, failing and then finding himself at Otago, discovering aerobics and travelling the world with Les Mills International, coming home and launching himself into the world of tech. Today, Steven is Kaiwhakahaere Matua | Managing Director CEO of Kiwa Digital, a Māori-led creative agency that develops techn...

When we caught up with British Polar Medal recipient Agnieszka Fryckowska, she had just stepped off the plane after her 20th season working in Antarctica for British Antarctic Survey and latterly White Desert adventure company. An Otago science graduate, Agnieszka talks about the challenges of being a runway manager on the ice, her experiences as a station leader wintering over with her team, and...

Now working across the Pacific as an International Nutrition specialist for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Darryl Pupi takes us on his journey from school in Samoa to studying Human Nutrition at Otago. Darryl is also one of our inaugural 20Twenties Young Alumni Award winners, in recognition of his contribution to health and wellbeing through leadership and innovation...

Kim Arcand has, literally, an out-of-this-world job as a visualisation scientist and technologist for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Massachusetts. Kim is an innovator in storytelling about space and stars, (specifically astronomy data visualisation, 3D printing and virtual reality), creating a sensory understanding of the universe for ev...