Susie Wood

Susie Wood
Born	1976 Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealander
Education	B.Sc Hons (First Class) 1999 PhD (Biology) 2006 Post-Doctoral Fellowship. Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, 2006–2009
Alma mater	Victoria University of Wellington
Scientific career
Fields	Biology – natural toxins, microalgae and microbiology
Institutions	Cawthron Institute
Thesis	Bloom Forming and Toxic Cyanobacteria in New Zealand Species Diversity and Distribution, Cyanotoxin Production and Accumulation of Microcystins in Selected Freshwater Organisms

Susanna Wood is a New Zealand scientist whose research focuses on understanding, protecting and restoring New Zealand's freshwater environments. One of her particular areas of expertise is the ecology, toxin production, and impacts of toxic freshwater cyanobacteria in lakes and rivers. Wood is active in advocating for the incorporation of DNA-based tools such as metabarcoding, genomics and metagenomics for characterising and understanding aquatic ecosystems and investigating the climate and anthropogenic drivers of water quality change in New Zealand lakes. She has consulted for government departments and regional authorities and co-leads a nationwide programme Lakes380 that aims to obtain an overview of the health of New Zealand's lakes using paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Wood is a senior scientist at the Cawthron Institute. She has represented New Zealand internationally in cycling.