Rate My Professor Megan Gollop

Dr. Megan Gollop serves as Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Children's Issues Centre within the Faculty of Law at the University of Otago. She also holds the position of Reviews Co-ordinator in the University's Quality Assurance Unit. Gollop earned her BSc (Hons), MEd, and PhD from the University of Otago, completing her doctoral thesis in 2016 titled 'Moving on? Parents' Perspectives on the Impact of Post-Separation Contact on Children.' Her academic career at Otago began in 1998 as Centre Administrator for the Children's Issues Centre, where she advanced through roles including Project Officer to her current senior research position. Her work has been funded by organizations such as the New Zealand Law Foundation and the Borrin Foundation.

Gollop's research specializations encompass children's rights and participation in family justice processes, post-separation parenting arrangements and contact, the effects of disasters and displacement on children and young people, mental wellbeing among university students, and factors influencing Māori university qualification completion. Key publications include 'A Longitudinal Study of Mental Wellbeing in Students in Aotearoa New Zealand Who Transitioned from School during COVID-19' (Frontiers in Psychology, 2021, with N. Taylor, J. Kokaua, R. Poulton, and D. Scarf); 'Māori University Success: What Helps and Hinders Qualification Completion' (AlterNative, 2017, with R. Theodore); 'Disasters, Displacement, and Disruption: Children and Young People's Experience of Spatial Change Following Disasters' (book chapter, 2016, with K. Nairn); and 'Relocation Following Parental Separation: The Welfare and Best Interests of Children - A New Zealand Research Project' (2010, with N. Taylor and M. Henaghan). She has co-authored reports such as 'Post-Separation Parent-Child Virtual Contact: Opportunities and Challenges' (Borrin Foundation, 2024) and 'Dividing Relationship Property: A Guide about Issues to Consider' (University of Otago Faculty of Law). Gollop's research contributes to policy discussions on incorporating children's voices in New Zealand's family justice system and evaluating parenting arrangements after separation.