Rate My Professor Judy Rodda

Dr. Judy Rodda serves as Technical Officer in the School of Surveying within the Division of Sciences at the University of Otago, a position she joined in 2019 after working as a research assistant in the same school. She earned a BSc in Physics from Presbyterian College, an MSc in Oceanography from the Florida Institute of Technology, and a PhD from the University of Otago in 2016. Her doctoral thesis, supervised by Associate Professor Tony Moore and Professor Liz Slooten from the Department of Zoology, titled 'Analysis and Geovisualisation of Hector’s Dolphin Abundance and Distribution Patterns in Space and Time,' examined two years of monthly photographic data on the endangered Hector’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori) along the south coast of the South Island. Employing geovisualisation and spatial statistics, the research revealed that these dolphins prefer aggregating in groups near freshwater outputs and, for the first time, that individuals specifically congregate in eastern and western portions of the study area. In her current role, Dr. Rodda provides technical support for teaching, research projects, and field camps, assisting both staff and students.

Dr. Rodda's research specializations include spatial ecology, marine mammals with a focus on Hector’s dolphins, spatial analysis, and geovisualisation, informed by her oceanography background. She has co-authored key publications such as 'Comparative usability of an augmented reality sandtable and 3D GIS for education' (2020, International Journal of Geographical Information Science), 'Adaptive relative motion representation of space–time trajectories' (2015, The Cartographic Journal), 'Built environment associates of active school travel in New Zealand children and youth: A systematic meta-analysis using individual participant data' (2018, Journal of Transport & Health), 'Hotspots of Hector’s dolphins on the south coast' (2013), and 'Visual data mining of generalized and optimized spatiotemporal animal paths' (2013). For her PhD contributions, she received the 2016 NZ Esri Young Scholar Award. Her work has supported advancements in geospatial tools for ecological conservation and educational technologies at the University of Otago.