Rate My Professor Christoph Matthaei

Professor Christoph Matthaei is a full professor in the Department of Zoology, Division of Sciences, at the University of Otago. He completed an undergraduate degree in biology, an MSc in freshwater ecology, and a PhD at ETH Zurich and Eawag on the role of flood disturbances in stream ecosystems. He also obtained a habilitation from the University of Munich. His academic career began with a postdoctoral position at the University of Otago, followed by an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Aquatic Ecology group at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. Returning to Otago, he held a research fellow position, advanced to lecturer in Zoology, became Associate Professor, and was promoted to full Professor in 2020. He has served as Director of the University of Otago Ecology Programme and coordinates the course ECOL321 on stream ecology, disturbance, restoration, and human land uses.

Matthaei's research focuses on disturbance ecology in running water ecosystems since 1992, experimental design and statistical analysis since 1993, and effects of human land uses—particularly agriculture, fine sediment pollution, multiple stressors, nutrient enrichment, water abstraction, and climate change—on streams since 2002. Additional interests include river restoration, environmental flows, estuary ecology, pond ecology, and life history strategies of aquatic insects. He co-developed the ExStream outdoor mesocosm system for studying multiple agricultural and climate stressors, which won the New Zealand River Story Award in 2017 and influences national freshwater policy; the system is now used in Germany, Ireland, China, and Japan. His over 220 publications, including more than 100 peer-reviewed papers, have garnered over 10,000 citations on Google Scholar. Key works include Matthaei, Piggott & Townsend (2010) 'Multiple stressors in agricultural streams: interactions among sediment addition, nutrient enrichment and water abstraction' (Journal of Applied Ecology); Magbanua et al. (2010) 'Responses of stream macroinvertebrates and ecosystem function to conventional, integrated and organic farming' (Journal of Applied Ecology); and Effenberger et al. (2011) 'Patchy bed disturbance and fish predation independently influence the distribution of stream invertebrates and algae' (Journal of Animal Ecology). Matthaei has supervised over 69 postgraduates and received the Otago Sciences Supervisor of the Year award in 2011. He shared the New Zealand Rivers Award and delivered an Inaugural Professorial Lecture.