Susie Wood is a freshwater scientist and molecular ecologist at the Cawthron Institute in Nelson. Her expertise in cyanobacterial blooms in lakes and rivers has taken her all over New Zealand – always with a focus on how we can improve the health of our aquatic ecosystems.
Susie’s research at Lake Pounui in the Wairarapa, and the application of environmental DNA-based tools to characterise the bacterial and algae communities within, has provided new information that helps us understand the lake’s past and present ecology. From work carried out by Susie and other environmental change scientists, the ambitious nationwide Lakes380 project was born.
Susie co-leads the Lakes380 project with GNS paleoecologist, Marcus Vandergoes.