My friend Amanda Rohloff, who has died aged 30, was a gifted academic with a promising career as a sociologist. Mandy not only generated brilliant ideas but was also prepared to put in the hard graft to see them come to fruition. One such idea was the successful sociology conference Moral Panics in the Contemporary World which she organised at Brunel University in 2010, attracting speakers from around the world. Mandy was a prolific writer – she had published book chapters and articles in leading journals, and had a book contract.
Mandy suffered from epilepsy throughout her adult life and it is thought that this condition caused her death. Ever the researcher, she took an academic interest in her condition and chose to view it as "fascinating" rather than debilitating. She even volunteered herself as a research subject at the Epilepsy Society Research Centre.
She grew up in Karori, New Zealand, excelled at hockey as a teenager and studied psychology and biological science at Victoria University of Wellington. Upon graduation, Mandy won an LB Wood travelling scholarship, which enabled her to move to the UK and begin a funded PhD at Brunel University. Her thesis examined climate change and the sociological concept of "moral panic". After completing her PhD, she had recently accepted her first "proper job" as a Wellcome Trust postdoctoral research fellow in sociology.
Amanda was well-known on the Brunel campus, where she also worked in the library and taught undergraduates. Generous, helpful and friendly, she had an uncanny ability to tackle bureaucracy to get results. "Ask Mandy" seemed the default answer to my many queries on campus. She enjoyed cake decorating, appreciated a well-made coffee and was a fan of New Zealand dub reggae and comedy.
She is survived by her parents, Judy and Maurie; brothers Jason and Colin; sisters-in-law Vita and M-C; niece Nadja; nephews Leo and Felix; and grandmother, Norma.