Sarah Challenger

Curator – Microalgae Culture Collection

Role at Cawthron

Sarah has been working with Cawthron’s Culture Collection for 9 years. The collection is used as a database and source of cultures for study by researchers in New Zealand and internationally. In her role, Sarah maintains around 600 live and cryopreserved cultures of microalgae. The collection supports research within Cawthron, particularly the study of harmful algal blooms, and is also used by other research institutes and universities within New Zealand and overseas.

Technical skills, experience and interests

• Microalgae cultivation
• Cryopreservation and cryobank maintenance
• Distribution and sales of microalgae
• Media preparation
• Algal growth assessment
• Maintaining the algal database
• Administration

Qualifications

• MBBS. Newcastle University, UK, 1993