Sara Walton

Sara Walton is a New Zealand academic, and is a full professor at the University of Otago, specialising in climate change and business, including topics such as circular economies, business preparedness for climate change, and carbon footprints.

Academic career
Walton completed a Master of Commerce titled Exploring career: A study of career meanings in changing workplaces at the University of Otago. She went on to also complete a PhD at Otago exploring conflicts over natural resources. Walton then joined the faculty of the University of Otago, rising to associate professor in 2019 and full professor in 2023.  Walton teaches the Master of Sustainable Business and is the co-director of Otago's Climate Change Research Network.

Walton's research focuses on climate change and business, including topics such as circular economies, business preparedness for climate change, and carbon footprints. Walton led research, with Janice Lord, that investigated farmers' attitudes to the 2020 National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management, finding that farmers saw a tension between complying with the regulations and being a 'good farmer'. She also conducted a stakeholder analysis on land use around the Macraes gold mine, using discourse analysis to investigate the issues that stakeholders had. Walton has conducted research for OceanaGold and BRANZ, and is part of the Innovation Culture team within the Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge. Walton helped produce Stuff's Climate Action Report Card.