Rate My Professor Gary Wilson

Professor Gary Wilson is a Professor in the Department of Marine Science and an Honorary Professor in the Department of Geology at the University of Otago, where he also serves as Director of the Otago Southern Ocean Marine Institute. Holding a BSc, BMus, and PhD from Victoria University of Wellington, Wilson currently occupies the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Waikato while maintaining his honorary roles at Otago. His research specializations encompass paleoceanography, paleoclimatology, marine geology and geophysics, paleomagnetism, and physical properties of sediment cores. He examines the marine geological record of ocean and climate change, Antarctica's pivotal role in the global ocean and climate system, and New Zealand's oceanic and climatic responses to internal and external forcing agents such as atmospheric carbon dioxide variations, ocean current reorganizations, and changes in Earth's orbital parameters, utilizing records from marine sediment cores and paleomagnetic methods for dating, correlation, and environmental proxies.

Wilson has undertaken significant leadership appointments, including Vice President of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Chair of the NZ Royal Society Committee on Antarctic Sciences, Trustee of the Sir Peter Blake Trust, Editor in Chief of Geological Oceanography for the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, Councillor of the Australian Institute for Nuclear Science and Engineering, and Physical Science Lead for the NZ Antarctic Science Platform. For his leadership in advancing New Zealand's international Antarctic research profile, he received the 2021 Thomson Medal from Royal Society Te Apārangi. Key publications include 'Eccentricity-Paced Southern Hemisphere Glacial-Interglacial Cyclicity Preceding the Middle Miocene Climatic Transition' (2018, Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology), 'A drill-hole calibrated geophysical characterisation of the 23 Ma Foulden Maar stratigraphic sequence, Otago, New Zealand' (2017, New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics), 'A unique annually laminated maar lake sediment record shows orbital control of Southern Hemisphere mid-latitude Southern Hemisphere across the Oligocene-Miocene Boundary' (2016, Geological Society of America Bulletin), and recent contributions such as 'Neogene plant macrofossils from West Antarctica reveal persistence of Nothofagaceae forests into the early Miocene' (2025, Communications Earth & Environment). He has presented public lectures on climate change and Antarctica, including 'Building a Sustainable Future in a Warming World' at the NZ Presbyterian School Conference (2018).