Rate My Professor Chris Hepburn

Professor Chris Hepburn is a Professor in the Department of Marine Science at the University of Otago, serving as Director of the Aquaculture and Fisheries Programme. He holds a PhD from the University of Otago. Hepburn leads the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration, which connects communities with interdisciplinary research to rebuild coastal ecosystems. His research specializations encompass customary and ecosystem-based fisheries management, fisheries restoration, integrated aquaculture, impacts of elevated CO₂ on coastal ecosystems, ecology and physiology of macroalgae, invasion by exotic marine organisms, and macroalgal/invertebrate interactions. He has secured significant research funding, including contributions to a $41 million package for Otago scientists and MBIE Smart Ideas funding for projects like extracting value from invasive species.

Hepburn's projects include supplying ecological information for community-based management of coastal fisheries via Te Tiaki Mahinga Kai, developing restoration strategies for depleted stocks such as pāua using local aquaculture facilities, integrating macroalgae cultivation to lessen environmental impacts, assessing ocean acidification through ecosystem experiments, exploring factors influencing macroalgal productivity like light and nutrients, investigating the invasive kelp Undaria pinnatifida's physiology and effects on native assemblages, and examining nitrogen recycling from epifauna to macroalgae. He has supervised over a dozen postgraduate students, with current candidates researching bioactives in Undaria pinnatifida, waste valorization using black soldier flies, Undaria biomass distribution, and ecophysiology of Asparagopsis armata; completed theses cover kelp forest restoration, pāua enhancement, microbial phosphorus cycling, and giant kelp vulnerability. Select publications are Bennett-Jones et al. (2025) 'Integration of Indigenous practices into fisheries legislation: Obstacles and opportunities for the maramataka (Māori lunar calendar)' in Marine Policy; Ryder et al. (2025) 'Re-assessment of a blackfoot abalone (Haliotis iris) population in Peraki Bay, New Zealand, after 45 years' in New Zealand Journal of Marine & Freshwater Research; and Cornwall et al. (2025) 'Predicting the impacts of climate change on New Zealand’s seaweed-based ecosystems' in New Zealand Journal of Botany. He teaches MARI 112 Global Marine Systems, coordinates AQFI 301 Field Methods for Assessment of Fisheries and Aquatic Habitats, and leads AQFI 421 Advanced Aquaculture and Fisheries. Promoted to Professor in 2022, Hepburn previously received a Division of Sciences Community Engagement Award in 2016 and recognition as a top supervisor in 2013.