Rochelle Constantine

Rochelle Lee Constantine is a New Zealand marine biologist, and is a full professor at the University of Auckland. Constantine specialises in marine mammal conservation.

Academic career

Constantine completed a PhD titled The behavioural ecology of the bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) of northeastern New Zealand: a population exposed to tourism at the University of Auckland in 2002. Constantine then joined the faculty, rising to full professor, and leader of the Marine Mammal Ecology Lab.

Constantine's research focuses on marine mammal conservation. Her research into accidental deaths of Bryde's whales in the Hauraki Gulf led to lower speed limits in shipping lanes to protect the whales. Constantine has also worked on Hector's and Māui dolphin threat management plans. In 2016 she co-led an expedition to the Kermadecs and her research has traced the migration patterns of humpback whales through Oceania, the Kermadec Islands and Antarctica.

Constantine is a member of the Executive Committee of the South Pacific Whale Consortium and co-founded a charitable trust to research technologies for marine conservation. Since 2010 Constantine has been Chair of the International Whaling Commission – Southern Ocean Research Partnership humpback whale research since 2010.

In the 2023 King's Birthday and Coronation Honours, Constantine was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to wildlife conservation and marine biology.

Selected works