Rate My Professor Damian Walls

Damian Walls is the Operations Lead for the Division of Sciences, Divisional Services & Administration at the University of Otago. He supports key departments including Physics, Mathematics and Statistics, Geology, Marine Science, and others within the Sciences division. Listed as Lead Administrator Client Services in the Department of Physics (Lab Room 109), he also serves as Operations Lead for the Dodd-Walls Centre, contributing to the operational management of research in quantum light science and photonics. With contact details including office phone 7751 and mobile +64 21 279 0951, Walls plays a central role in ensuring efficient divisional operations and client services.

Walls holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Otago, awarded in 1991 for his thesis titled 'West Waihola basanites and associated segregated liquids.' Previously, he was affiliated with the Department of Geology as Department Administrator, Safety Officer, Lab Manager, and Geochemistry/X-ray Lab Technician. In these positions, he managed labs, enforced safety standards, and delivered technical analyses such as X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). His expertise supported extensive research, earning acknowledgments in peer-reviewed papers including 'Geochemical processes influencing arsenic mobility at Macraes' (Haffert et al., 2010), 'The Influence of Milling on the Dissolution Performance' (Zimper et al., 2010), 'Formation Kinetics and Stability of Carbamazepine-Nicotinamide Cocrystal' (2009), 'Review of skeletal carbonate mineralogy of brachiopods' (Smith et al., 2024), 'Petrogenesis of Cenozoic, alkalic volcanic lineages' (Martin et al., 2013), and others on fault zones, volcanism, and mineralogy. Spanning over three decades at Otago, Walls' technical and administrative contributions have significantly impacted scientific research productivity and safety across the Sciences division.