Rate My Professor Sally Carson

Dr. Sally Carson serves as the Director of the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre within the Department of Marine Science at the University of Otago. She earned her BSc from Mount Allison University, MSc from the University of Alberta, and completed her PhD in 2024 from the University of Otago with the thesis titled Turning the tide of citizen science: From data donors to critical community questioners for marine environmental monitoring. Her research specializations encompass citizen science, community engagement in science, informal science education, and intertidal ecology. Carson provides strategic leadership to support knowledge development, sharing, and coordination of school-science-community engagement initiatives in marine science, while also overseeing management and fund development for the NZMSC.

With over three decades of dedication to marine science education, Dr. Carson has transformed the NZMSC into a comprehensive program that annually engages over 16,000 students, teachers, and families, fostering lifelong interest in science and the marine environment. Notable contributions include establishing Seaweek, co-authoring The New Zealand Seashore Guide (2022) with Rod Morris, developing the travelling Aquavan to deliver marine education to communities, launching Marine Metre Squared (Mm2) in 2013—a national citizen science project for long-term seashore monitoring—and initiatives such as Shark Spy for shark monitoring and Hoea te Waka for youth environmental science engagement. She currently leads outreach for the Coastal People: Southern Skies Centre for Research Excellence, collaborating with waka voyaging trusts and yacht clubs to connect youth with the ocean and monitor its health. Her efforts have cultivated a network of marine conservation ambassadors influencing the next generation. In 2025, she received the BLAKE Leader Award in the Mātauranga/Education category for her impactful work. Key publications include "Measuring ocean currents with secondary students: Applying science skills to local context" (2026, New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, with Russell et al.), "Temperature driving a mass killer: Assessing the risk of trematode outbreaks for New Zealand seabirds" (2026, Parasitology, with Bennett et al.), and "How do New Zealand marine scientists perceive the benefits and limitations of citizen science?" (2023, New Zealand Science Review, with Rock).