Sergeant Andrew Ross said she had tried to cross the swollen Kaupokonui Stream just after noon, after tramping back to Dawson Falls from Lake Dive Hut.
He said it appeared the pair had spent a night in a mountain hut but got caught as they returned along a hiking track towards Dawson Falls.
Mrs Campbell-Hunt, who has four children, was swept away as she tried to cross the waist-deep
stream.
Her daughter called police from a cellphone about 12.30pm and three search-and-rescue teams went into the area.
One of the teams found her body about 6pm, 500m downstream from the incident.
Darkness and worsening weather prevented the recovery of her body by helicopter.
The three teams were last night being joined by another seven people to carry out the body, over about 2km of difficult terrain.
Mrs Campbell-Hunt, originally from Christchurch, moved to Dunedin from Wellington in 2003, where she had completed a BSc (Hons) degree in zoology and an MSc degree in resource management.
In August 2006, she was awarded $96,987 in a Top Achiever Doctoral Scholarship.
She started her doctorate in the geography department at the University of Otago in September 2006. It focused on sustainability issues in community biodiversity initiatives.
She told Critic student magazine in an interview in May this year: "I get a delight in the diversity of life on the planet. When I am away tramping there's a sense of being encased within the natural world, which is ultimately what sustains and supports us . . .''
Mrs Campbell-Hunt had carried out a feasibility study into the Orokonui Ecosanctuary before becoming project manager for three years and then trust secretary. Previously, she had written a
book about the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary in Wellington.
Her husband Colin, head of the university's department of management, is believed to have flown to the North Island.
Mrs Campbell-Hunt was also a member of the City of Dunedin Choir. Members were told of her death last night.
