Dr. Robert Hamlin initially trained as an agricultural scientist at the University of Oxford. He then worked as a researcher and manager in the pig industry before studying in the United States as a Harkness Fellow. He joined the faculty at the Department of Marketing at the University of Otago in 1992, graduating with a doctorate in 1997. Since then he has researched and taught at the University with a focus on retailing, product and brand management and food marketing.