Rate My Professor Sheena Townsend

Dr Sheena Townsend holds a PhD in Zoology from the University of Otago. She currently serves as an Educational Designer at the Centre for Educational Design and Innovation in the Academic Division and as a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Zoology within the Division of Sciences, Te Rohe a Ahikāroa. Previously, she worked as a Teaching Fellow and Professional Practice Fellow in the Department of Zoology. Her career at the University of Otago encompasses research in conservation genetics, biostatistics support for numerous projects and theses, and contributions to higher education pedagogy and teaching enhancement initiatives.

Townsend's research specializations center on conservation genetics, including inbreeding depression in bottlenecked populations, heterozygosity-fitness correlations, and the development of molecular markers such as microsatellites for species like the South Island robin (Petroica australis). Notable publications include 'University teachers’ perspectives on student attendance: a challenge to the identity of university teachers before, during and after Covid-19' (2024, Educational Research for Policy and Practice), 'Can “pooling teaching tips” be more than “pooling teaching tips”?' (2018, Journal of Further and Higher Education), 'Inbreeding Influences Within-Brood Heterozygosity-Fitness Correlations (Hfcs) In An Isolated Passerine Population' (2013, Journal of Evolutionary Biology), 'Molecular and pedigree measures of relatedness provide similar estimates of inbreeding depression in a bottlenecked population' (2013, Conservation Genetics), 'Isolation and characterisation of microsatellite markers from the South Island robin (Petroica australis)' (2011, Conservation Genetics Resources), and 'Limited inbreeding depression in a bottlenecked population is age but not environment dependent' (2010, Journal of Evolutionary Biology). She co-authored a report on 'Motivation to learn, and to attend, during a pandemic and later' (2022). Her work has garnered 95 citations. Townsend is a Kaikōkiri in the Kōkiri Ki Tua educational network, fostering communities of practice to enhance teaching and connect staff across the university. She serves on the HERDSA New Zealand committee and was nominated for OUSA Teaching Excellence Awards.