Rate My Professor Caroline Orchiston

Caroline Orchiston is Research Professor and Director of the Centre for Sustainability Research at the University of Otago in the School of Geography. She earned a PhD from the University of Otago on tourism in high earthquake-risk areas such as the Alpine Fault, a first-class honours degree in Geology from the same university, and a Master's in Tourism focusing on environmental management in New Zealand's marine tourism industry. After her honours degree, Orchiston worked five years in the mining industry before advancing her academic career in disaster-related research. Her career includes leadership as Associate Director of QuakeCoRE, New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence for Earthquake Resilience, co-leading Disciplinary Theme 4 on Social and Cultural Factors shaping Resilience. She served as Science Lead for the award-winning AF8 programme (2016–2023), developing the SAFER Framework for magnitude 8 Alpine Fault earthquake responses and conducting national outreach via the AF8 Roadshow. Orchiston co-led the Disaster Resilient Rural Communities programme (2019–2024) within Resilience to Nature’s Challenges and secured five-year Endeavour Programme funding in 2023 from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for Ngā Ngaru Wakapuke (2024–2028), co-led with Associate Professor Jamie Howarth, addressing resilience to earthquake sequences.