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Professor Stephen Dawson serves as Emeritus Professor in the Department of Marine Science at the University of Otago's Division of Sciences. He obtained his MSc from the University of Auckland and PhD from the University of Canterbury in 1990. Dawson has maintained a continuous academic career at Otago, advancing to full Professor in 2013 and assuming the role of Head of the Department of Marine Science from 2017. Although retired from teaching and administrative duties, he remains actively engaged in research and has supervised numerous postgraduate students, including recent PhD recipients such as Steph Bennington (2025), Lindsay Wickman (2024), David Johnston (2023), and MSc students like Will Carome (2022) and Max Harvey (2022).
Dawson's research specializations encompass conservation biology of marine mammals, particularly Hector's dolphin; incidental catch of marine mammals in fisheries; acoustic behaviour and communication in cetaceans; line-transect surveys for inshore cetaceans; and photogrammetry. His highly cited publications include 'The bottlenose dolphin community of Doubtful Sound features a large proportion of long-lasting associations: can geographic isolation explain this unique trait?' (Lusseau et al., 2003), 'Responses by Hector's dolphins to boats and swimmers in Porpoise Bay, New Zealand' (Bejder et al., 1999), 'Design and field methods for sighting surveys of cetaceans in coastal and riverine habitats' (Dawson et al., 2008), and 'First evidence that marine protected areas can work for marine mammals' (Gormley et al., 2012), alongside recent works such as 'Growth dynamics of bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus at the southern extreme of their range' (Crowe et al., 2025) and 'Hector's dolphin Cephalorhynchus hectori' (Dawson et al., 2025). With over 12,600 citations, his contributions have profoundly influenced marine mammal ecology, conservation biology, and bioacoustics. Dawson has received prestigious awards including the Sir Peter Blake Leader Award (Science, 2025, jointly), Division of Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award (2020), John Morton Medal (2016, jointly), University of Otago Award for Excellence in Teaching (2012), and Sir Charles Fleming Award (2004, jointly). He maintains ties with the New Zealand Whale and Dolphin Trust.
University of Otago researchers find Hector's dolphins calve every 3.4 years, lower than prior estimates, slowing recovery amid bycatch threats. Implications for NZ conservation.
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