our estuaries, Our kaitiakitanga
Marine environmental scientist Dr Shari Gallop, a senior lecturer at the University of Waikato and the 2020 recipient of the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science fellowship, has chosen to dedicate her research to Aotearoa’s estuaries. She talks to Thrive and unpacks why these coastal features are an integral part of the ecosystem, and how we can help to protect and restore them in our new climate-change reality.
Q: Firstly, what does a marine environmental scientist do? My work is really varied. It involves a lot of research in the field, as well as teaching as a senior lecturer at the University of Waikato. My research focuses on understanding what is going on in our coastal marine environment, and how both natural processes and human impacts affect this. In addition, I help raise awareness about these topics through outreach and community engagement. The ultimate goal is to help us make better management decisions for our marine environments.
Q: How long have you been working in this area? I have been doing research for more than 10 years now. My research journey started as a master’s student looking at rip currents on Tairua Beach in the Coromandel. After that, I did a lot of work on beaches. Over the last few years, I have shifted my research priority to estuaries. This is because of how important they are and because they are one of the most at-risk environments under climate change.
Estuaries are shallow water bodies where rivers meet the sea. Most of the megacities around the world are based by estuaries (for example, Tokyo, London, San
