Rate My Professor Mark Lokman

Professor Mark Lokman is Professor and Head of the Department of Zoology in the Division of Sciences at the University of Otago. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Otago. His research specializations encompass the endocrine control of previtellogenic oocyte growth, mechanisms controlling fecundity in fish, evolution of vertebrate endocrine systems, growth and reproduction of aquaculture species in New Zealand, and developmental genetics. Key research projects target issues in the New Zealand aquaculture sector, such as achieving full artificial control of abalone reproduction, examining interactions between growth and reproduction in salmon, controlling reproduction in species like eel, hapuka (groper), and giant kokopu, and developing farming methods for emerging aquaculture species. Lokman delivered his Inaugural Professorial Lecture titled on 17 September 2024.

Lokman teaches undergraduate courses including BIOL 112 Animal Biology, ZOOL 223 Animal Physiology, ZOOL 313 Animal Function and Environment, ZOOL 414 Comparative Physiology, and ZOOL 421 Essentials of Molecular Zoology. He supervises postgraduate students on diverse topics, including the effects of androgens on eel liver physiology (Erin Forbes, PhD), evolution of steroidogenesis in starfish (Khalid Alqaisi, PhD), induced spawning of eel (Sean Divers, PhD), oogenesis and egg quality in hapuka (Yair Kohn, PhD), GDF-9 signaling in the eel ovary (Ali Falahati, PhD), the ovarian IGF-I system in eel (Alireza Shoae, PhD), effects of steroids on eel hepatocytes (Sam Van der Horst, MSc), and spawning induction in abalone (Tasman Gillies, MSc). Recent key publications include 'Comparative proteomic analysis of the zebrafish (Danio rerio) perivitelline fluid: Identifying putative cortical alveoli-associated proteins' (Biology of Reproduction, 2026, with B.A. Lewis et al.), 'Hormonal profiles and reproductive development of hatchery-reared first filial (F1) generation silver trevally (Pseudocaranx georgianus, Carangidae)' (Aquaculture Reports, 2026, with M.J. Wylie et al.), 'A novel approach to perivitelline fluid extraction from live water-activated eggs from Zebrafish, Danio rerio' (Fishes, 2025, with B.A. Lewis et al.), 'Lipoprotein biology during induced oogenesis in the shortfinned eel, Anguilla australis: Vascular transport' (Fishes, 2025, with E.L. Damsteegt et al.), and 'Releasing stored lipids to fuel migration and reproduction in the eel, Anguilla australis: A role for 11-ketotestosterone?' (Fish Physiology & Biochemistry, 2025, with P.M. Lokman et al.). He serves as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Endocrinology.