Fair, constructive, and always motivating.
Karin Warnaar has been associated with the University of Otago for many years in administrative and support roles across different areas. Currently, she is an Administrator for the Centre for Early Learning in Medicine (CELM), part of the MBChB programme structure on the Dunedin campus within the Faculty of Medicine. She collaborates with fellow administrators Jess Larkins and Mia Fa'alave under the direction of Associate Dean (Medical Education) Kurt Krause from the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences. Warnaar serves as a key contact for medical education research resources, facilitating access to webinars offered by the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) for Otago Medical School staff. She has also been referenced for workshops on feedback engagement provided by the faculty Education Unit. In addition, Warnaar holds the position of Treasurer for the Staff Women’s Caucus Committee, with contact details +64 3 479 7700. Previously identified as Alumni Relations Officer in 2002 university communications, she contributed to the production teams of multiple issues of the University of Otago Magazine throughout the 2000s and 2010s.
Warnaar holds a degree in English from the University of Otago. Her publications demonstrate expertise in university history and literary analysis of fashion. In 2005, she wrote the chapter 'Strip Mining: The Fight for a Faculty' (pp. 189-206) for Tower Turmoil: Characters & Controversies at the University of Otago, published by the Department of History, which chronicles the contentious efforts to establish a faculty focused on mining and mineral technology amid rival departmental interests. In 2023, her essay 'Dresses and Drapery: The Material Essie Summers' was featured in Scope: art & design 25: Fashion, critically appraising how the author uses descriptions of dresses and drapery to convey character development and narrative progression. Warnaar has provided book reviews for New Zealand newspapers including the Otago Daily Times and literary journals such as Landfall Review. Through her committee role, she has supported women's equity events, including the 2018 Suffrage 125 camellia planting on campus.
