Nairn was a high school geography teacher interested in environmental issues, before entering academia.[1] Nairn completed a Master of Arts in geography at the University of Canterbury in 1994, and then went on to do a PhD titled Disciplining identities: gender, geography and the culture of fieldtrips at the University of Waikato.[2][3] Nairn then joined the faculty of the University of Otago, rising to associate professor in 2014 and full professor in 2022.[4][5]
Nairn's research focus is young people and social movements. Nairn was the lead researcher on a 2017 Marsden grant about young people's engagement in social movements, with collaborators Joanna Kidman, Judith Sligo, and Anita Lacey.[6] This work led to the publication of the book Fierce Hope: Youth Activism in Aotearoa in 2022, which covers youth-led groups working in areas such as indigenous land rights, sexual violence and social inequality.[7] This was the second Marsden grant Nairn has received, having published Children of Rogernomics: A Neoliberal Generation Leaves School in 2012 from an earlier Marsden-funded research project on the impact of neoliberal reform in New Zealand.[5] Nairn has also research the impact of a Year 12 (last year of high school) leadership programme for young women.[5]
Nairn, Karen; Higgins, Jane; Sligo, Judith, eds. (2012). Children of Rogernomics: A Neoliberal Generation Leaves School. Otago University Press. ISBN978-1-877578-18-2.
Karen Nairn; Jenny Cameron; Megan Anakin; Adisorn Juntrasook; Rob Wass; Judith Sligo; Catherine Morrison (12 November 2014). "Negotiating the challenge of collaborative writing: learning from one writing group's mutiny". Higher Education Research and Development. 34 (3): 596–608. doi:10.1080/07294360.2014.973383. ISSN0729-4360. WikidataQ124816056.
