Staff Members

Dr Ottilie Stolte

Role: Lecturer Qualifications: BSocSc, MSocSc, PhD Waikato Email: ottilie@waikato.ac.nz Location: K1.16 Contact: +64 7 838 4466 ext. 6454

Research Interests:

Community development, un(der)employment, disadvantage, the policy-community interface, local responses to social issues and human geographical and applied social psychological perspectives.

At present, Ottilie is a researcher on a Marsden funded project titled “More than Bricks and Mortar: Homelessness and Social Reintegration” led by Assoc Prof Darrin Hodgetts.

In 2006, Ottilie completed her PhD which was an in-depth qualitative study of the implementation frameworks for training policies targeting disadvantaged unemployed people. This research examined the policy process from the macro-level concerns and political constraints to the local context of community-based initiatives.

In her research approach, Ottilie draws on insights from human geography, political economy and community development literatures to examine the lives of people who are ‘disadvantaged’ due to issues such as illness, disability, age, race, or socio economic status. In particular, Ottilie is interested in the ethical questions surrounding how societies respond to include or exclude such citizens.

Expertise:

Dr Stolte is a social scientist with degrees in Geography from the University of Waikato with a commitment to understanding contemporary issues in Aotearoa/New Zealand and the Pacific Rim. Ottilie applies a community, critical and societal approach to her research. In addition to her PhD research, Ottilie has worked on research teams investigating rural socio-economic and geographic issues, and urban ecological restoration.