Rate My Professor Craig Cliff

Craig Cliff is the Kaiwhakahaere Hōtaka Hua Waro Kore and Net Carbon Zero Programme Manager at the University of Otago's Sustainability Office. He spearheads the institution's commitment to reaching net zero carbon emissions by 2030, overseeing projects such as the phase-out of coal-fired boilers, sustainable heating solutions for LPG boilers, food waste reduction in healthcare settings, and enhancements to low-emission transport networks. Prior to this, Cliff served as a senior policy manager at the Ministry of Education, where he advanced strategies to make school buildings energy-efficient and lower their environmental impact.

Cliff's academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration with majors in Accounting and Finance from Victoria University of Wellington, followed by a Master of Arts in Creative Writing in 2006 from the International Institute of Modern Letters under Bill Manhire, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Research from the University of Otago between 2022 and 2023. His professional journey began at the Queensland Treasury, leading to policy-focused roles in New Zealand. A distinguished writer, he held the prestigious Robert Burns Fellowship at the University of Otago in 2017 and was writer-in-residence in the Department of English and Linguistics from February 2017 to January 2018. Key publications include the award-winning short story collection A Man Melting (2010), novels The Mannequin Makers (2013) and Nailing Down the Saint (2019), as well as poetry, essays, reviews, and contributions to anthologies like Essential New Zealand Short Stories. Notable honors encompass the 2011 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best First Book (Asia-Pacific region), the 2007 BNZ Katherine Mansfield Memorial Award (novice category) for "Another Language," and the 2015 Eleanor Catton Horoeka Grant. Cliff participated in the University of Iowa’s International Writers Program in 2013, judged literary competitions, including Otago's Writer 2022, and recently completed a residency at the Michael King Writers Centre in 2024. He has presented on the university's net zero progress, including seminars for the Otago Energy Research Centre and discussions on healthy sustainable diets.