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Meet Stina Kolodzey

Job: 

PhD candidate in Marine Science at the University of Otago.

Job description: 

I’m undertaking full time research to gain my PhD qualification under the supervision of Prof. Stephen Wing (Otago University) and Prof. Jeff Shima (Victoria University, Wellington).

Work background: 

I became a PhD candidate at Otago University in September 2017 after coming to New Zealand from Germany to do a Masters in Marine Science in 2015. My main research interests are fish populations, their structure and dynamics. For my dissertation I study the link between habitat use at different life history stages (juveniles, adults), age and size specific patterns in reproduction and connectivity among populations of two temperate reef fish.

Favourite part of job: 

My favorite part of being a scientist is the diversity of tasks and work environment it comes with. I’m out and about in the field a lot, conducting research using fishing and diving, but also have a lot of laboratory work analysing samples, and office work. Plus I get to work with the coolest animals in the world – fish!

Least favourite part of job: 

There’s not really anything I don’t like. I guess my least favorite part is to get back into a wet wetsuit.

What I am working on now: 

Right now, I’m working on two projects for my PhD research, one of them where I’m looking into maternal investment of sea perch and trying to understand how females and the environment a female lives in influences the survival and growth of their offspring. The other one focuses on blue cod, one of New Zealand’s iconic fish species. Here, I focus on demographic differences of populations in the Marlborough Sounds and try to find out if and how different life stages (juveniles and adults) use different habitat types.

Qualifications: 
  • Bachelor of Science, University of Hamburg, Germany
  • Master of Science, University of Otago, New Zealand
Interests outside work: 

Powerlifting, diving, fishing, being at the beach and anywhere near and in the ocean really, travelling, food.


Stina is working on a PhD in Marine Science at the University of Otago. Image: Sustainable Seas Challenge.

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