Dr Sarah Mager

Biography

Dr Sarah Mager Position:Lecturer Qualifications: MSc, PhD(Otago)

Research Interest

My research is principally in the field of applied geochemistry by employing tracers to understand hydrological, geomorphological and glaciological processes. In particular, I use stable isotopes (deuterium, 18-oxygen and 13-carbon) to understand hydrological pathways and exchanges that occur at the catchment level in catchments across the South Island of New Zealand. I also use a range of dissolved ions to characterise the climatic and geomorphological influences on water chemistry in upland catchments, particularly for informing spatial and temporal variations in hydrogeochemistry. Forested and indigenous-vegetation catchments are the principal focus of my research into chemical weathering rates, carbon fluxes, nutrient and sediment fluxes across the Southern Alps and in Otago. I am also interested in the development of sustainable water management with graduate research projects in Zambia and Singapore. I retain an interest in glaciological research and recent work has investigated the conditions that form anchor ice and its accretion into marine ice deposits associated with ice shelves in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.