from the Alumni team at the University of Otago.
Join us as we explore some of the out-of-the-ordinary day jobs of our inspirational, global alumni community.
After graduating with a BA (Hons) in English in 2003, writer Naomi Arnold has worked as a journalist, freelancer and author, with a special interest in science and nature writing. She has covered stories across Aotearoa New Zealand and around the globe, including spending nine weeks writing about life on the ice in Scott Base in Antarctica.
Her author credits include the New Zealand astronomy history 'Southern Nights' and she has also co-authored or edited non-fiction books 'Force of Nature', 'Headlands', and 'Lonely Planet’s Best NZ Day Hikes'.
Naomi is a keen tramper and her book Northbound: Four Seasons of Solitude on Te Araroa – a finalist in the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards 2026 – recounts her journey along the 3,000km trail, starting in Bluff and finishing at Cape Reinga. We asked Naomi about her time at Otago, her career as a writer, why she decided to walk the length of New Zealand – and how she kept going through all the challenges.
11 Mar 2026
A caravan and a coffee machine - taking chaplaincy onto the film set
Kevin Denholm is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most successful commercial film directors, working for major brands such as Air New Zealand, Toyota and Whittaker’s. Alongside the commercial work, he and his wife Nikki produce documentaries on global humanitarian issues.
Kevin is also an ordained Anglican Minister. Having been raised in a faith-based home, his father is also a minister, he naturally gravitated towards a pastoral care role in the film industry. When the pandemic struck, he reached out to see if anyone needed support – and the floodgates opened. He’s since set up his FilmChaplain service, heading off to film sets with his caravan and coffee machine to offer support to crews.
He’s also completed his Master of Chaplaincy at Otago and is currently in the final year of his PhD, on the topic of moral injury in the film industry.
9 Feb 2026
Juggling te reo Māori advocacy, Auckland council meetings and leading a new high school
At the end of 2025, we were lucky enough to find space in Dr Will Flavell’s diary to talk with him about his vision for te reo Māori, his work on the Auckland City Council and how it feels to be starting out as the newly-minted Principal of Te Kāpehu Whetū – Tamaki (a new charter high school). Will (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Whātua, Tainui, Ngāti Maniapoto), talks about combining his teaching career with his local government career, his passion for te reo Māori and his love of working with rangitahi. Will graduated from the University of Otago with a Doctor of Education via distance learning in 2020 and was a Fulbright Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Scholar in 2022.
2 Dec 2025
Sustainable development and women’s empowerment leader Amanda Ellis on her high-flying career
Amanda Ellis, a leader in sustainable development and women's empowerment, discusses her international career in government, industry, and education, highlighting her work with climate action and radical collaboration in this interview.
4 Nov 2025
Editor, author, mother, lecturer – Lynley Edmeades shares her stories
Author Lynley Edmeades discusses her experiences as a lecturer, editor, and writer, including her latest book and managing multiple roles, in an interview on the iOU podcast.
16 Mar 2025
Taking the gondola home
In the winter, Otago MBA and Physical Education graduate Bridget Legnavsky starts her day with a cross-country ski with her dog before work and ends it by taking the gondola home. Bridget is President and CEO of Sugar Bowl ski resort in Tahoe, California, a role she began in 2022 after working as General Manager at Cardrona Alpine Resort and Treble Cone Ski Resort in Wānaka since 2014.
Bridget talks about why she and her family decided it was time for an adventure, how she fitted the MBA Online programme around her busy life, her wide-ranging experience in community governance, business leadership, climate change strategy, and fashion. And how she hadn’t expected her new job to be a little like “being mayor of a small town”.
21 Jan 2025
Riding the electric wave in Africa
At Otago, Law, Chinese Language and Political Studies graduate Josh Whale embraced Dunedin’s university culture – he joined the tramping and rowing clubs, met his future wife Claire at a concert in the student union, and went on two student exchanges. After six years in intellectual property law in China, and influenced by Al Gore’s documentary on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth, Josh decided to make the leap and set up Ampersand, an EV energy tech start-up, in Kigali, Rwanda.
Josh began by developing electric motorcycles powered by smart AI optimized batteries suited to Africa’s tough roads. Ampersand has since expanded into Nairobi, Kenya, with more than 5,000 e-motos in operation overall, each one cutting two tons of carbon per year, and delivering life-changing savings to drivers by drastically reducing their operating costs. Ampersand’s fleet now covers a distance equivalent to the moon and back daily, contributing to cleaner air, healthier communities, and a more sustainable future.
9 Dec 2024
A double life in medicine and writing
Eileen Merriman manages to combine two successful careers into one working day - she’s a consultant haematologist at North Shore Hospital and is also one of New Zealand’s most successful authors. In August, Eileen won the NZ Book Awards Young Adult Fiction Award for her novel Catch a Falling Star.
We ask her about her double life, where she gets her story ideas and how her job in medicine and her writing career work together.
11 Nov 2024
From small-town values to world-leading tech
In this wide-ranging kōrero, Marketing graduate Steven Renata traverses small-town values, rugby, failing and then finding himself at Otago, discovering aerobics and travelling the world with Les Mills International, coming home and launching himself into the world of tech.
Today, Steven is Kaiwhakahaere Matua | Managing Director CEO of Kiwa Digital, a Māori-led creative agency that develops technology to amplify indigenous voices, stories and cultures, including the pioneering VoiceQ software used for dubbing hits such as Squid Game and The Lion King to te reo Māori and its sister software, CultureQ, which is enhancing cultural capability across New Zealand’s public and private sectors.
24 Oct 2024
Landing planes in Antarctica
When we caught up with British Polar Medal recipient Agnieszka Fryckowska, she had just stepped off the plane after her 20th season working in Antarctica for British Antarctic Survey and latterly White Desert adventure company. An Otago science graduate, Agnieszka talks about the challenges of being a runway manager on the ice, her experiences as a station leader wintering over with her team, and receiving the Polar Medal from the Queen. Grounded during the pandemic, Agnieszka also helped run first-class lounges in hospitals as a haven for NHS staff.
9 Oct 2024
From Samoa to the snow
Now working across the Pacific as an International Nutrition specialist for the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, Darryl Pupi takes us on his journey from school in Samoa to studying Human Nutrition at Otago. Darryl is also one of our inaugural 20Twenties Young Alumni Award winners, in recognition of his contribution to health and wellbeing through leadership and innovation in nutrition programmes. Just to note, due to an unstable internet connection from his base in Samoa, the sound quality in the podcast varies – Darryl says it’s all part of the challenges he faces in his working day.
10 Sept 2024
A star in my handbag
Kim Arcand has, literally, an out-of-this-world job as a visualisation scientist and technologist for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Massachusetts.
Kim is an innovator in storytelling about space and stars, (specifically astronomy data visualisation, 3D printing and virtual reality), creating a sensory understanding of the universe for everyone from children to those with low vision.
Kim talks about her work, her Otago PhD, and never leaving home without a star in her handbag!
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