Rate My Professor Sarah Mager

Dr. Sarah Mager is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Geography at the University of Otago, holding a PhD and MSc from the University of Otago, as well as a BSc (Hons). Her research specializations center on physical geography, particularly headwater catchment hydrology, including hydrochemistry, water yield, and runoff processes in alpine and tussock grassland environments. Key interests also include chemical weathering and denudation in mountain regions, particulate organic carbon and suspended sediment flux, water quality and quantity in riverine systems, surface water hydrology and surface-groundwater interactions, geochemistry of water and ice with solutes and stable isotopes, sediment mobilization and organic carbon flux, and hydrological ecosystem services. Ongoing projects encompass hydrochemistry and geochemistry of the Southern Alps in collaboration with GNS Science, export of particulate organic carbon from tussock grasslands, occult precipitation inputs into tussock grasslands, atmospheric rivers' influence on terrestrial geochemistry, in-field monitoring of water quality and quantity for hillslope processes, and development of decision-making management tools such as LUCI with Victoria University researchers.

Mager teaches a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including GEOG 101 Physical Geography (Hydrology Module), GEOG 201 Field Research Methods, GEOG 299 and GEOG 399 Freshwater Resources: Monitoring and Management, GEOG 301 Field Research Studies, GEOG 461 Mountain Hydrology (co-taught), GEOG 470 A Research Topic in Geography, GEOG 490 Dissertation, GEOG 495 Masters Thesis Preparation, and contributes to ENVI 111 Environment and Society and others. She has supervised numerous MSc and PhD students on topics such as particulate organic matter influences on turbidity, stormwater runoff quality into Lake Wānaka, bedload movement quantification, nitrate dynamics in aquifers, alpine river water quality, soil moisture changes in tussock grasslands, and groundwater-surface water interactions. Notable publications include Wilkins et al. (2025) 'Nitrate-nitrogen dynamics in response to forestry harvesting and climate variability: 4 years of UV nitrate sensor data in a shallow gravel aquifer' in Hydrology & Earth System Sciences; Mager and Horton (2025) 'Particle size and geochemistry of suspended material and its influence on nephelometric turbidity' in River Research & Applications; Krishna, Kingston, and Mager (2025) 'Patterns and drivers of moisture transport variability over Aotearoa/New Zealand and their impacts' in International Journal of Climatology; and Turner et al. (2025) 'ROBIN: Reference observatory of basins for international hydrological climate change detection' in Scientific Data. Her contributions advance understanding of water resources management, environmental quality, and climate impacts in New Zealand's river systems.