Rate My Professor Candida Savage

Associate Professor Candida Savage is a marine ecologist in the Department of Marine Science at the University of Otago, within the Division of Sciences. She earned her MSc from the University of Cape Town and PhD from Stockholm University. Her research centers on human impacts in coastal and estuarine ecosystems, exploring drivers of change in marine systems through integrated field and laboratory approaches. Savage investigates how multiple stressors influence food web structure and biogeochemical cycling, with key interests in marine ecology, coastal and estuarine ecosystems, nutrient cycling, palaeoecology, fjords, carbon burial in sediments, coral reefs, stable isotopes, estuaries, and food webs. As a member of the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration, she contributes to interdisciplinary efforts connecting communities with research to rebuild coastal ecosystems. Her work addresses critical issues such as thresholds of change, cumulative stressors, and ecosystem functioning under anthropogenic pressures.

Savage's publications have advanced understanding of coastal ecosystem dynamics and resilience. Notable works include 'Fjords as Aquatic Critical Zones (ACZs)' (2020, Earth-Science Reviews, co-authored), which examines fjord biogeochemistry; 'Cumulative stressors reduce the self-regulating capacity of coastal ecosystems' (2021, Ecological Applications); 'Seabird nutrients are assimilated by corals and enhance coral growth rates' (2019, Scientific Reports); 'Organic carbon burial in fjords: Terrestrial versus marine inputs' (2016, Earth-Science Reviews); and 'Thresholds in catchment nitrogen load for shifts from seagrass to macroalgal dominance' (2021, Limnology and Oceanography). Recent papers cover microplastics and nitrogen effects on bivalves (2026, Limnology & Oceanography) and intertidal recreation impacts (2025, Ecological Indicators). She supervises doctoral students on topics like microplastics, nitrogen pollution, and bivalve ecology. In 2023, she was a finalist for the Otago University Students' Association Supervisor of the Year in Sciences. Her email is publicly listed as a contact for media expertise on marine topics.