Search our Resources
People, publications, projects, videos, stories, and more
Tāngata · People 466
Huhana Smith
Professor Huhana Smith is a visual artist, curator and principle investigator in research who engages in major environmental, trans-disciplinary, kaupapa Māori and action-research projects. She is co-principle investigator for research that includes mātauranga Māori methods with sciences to actively address climate change concerns for coastal Māori lands in Horowhenua-Kāpiti. Huhana actively encourages the use of art and design’s visual systems combined in exhibitions, to expand how solutions might integrate complex issues and make solutions more accessible for local communities.
Faith Kane
Faith Kane is a design researcher and educator working in the area of textiles and materials. Her research interests include design for sustainability, collaborative working in the design/science space and the role and value of craft knowledge within these contexts. She is also an editor of the Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice. Find out more about Faith’s work at www.faithkane.com
Dr. Angela Kilford
Angela Kilford (Te Whanau A Kai, Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Kahungunu) is an artist based in Wellington. Kilford’s inspiration comes from Māori concepts and knowledge. Her most recent works have explored the whakapapa of local ecology and the lesser known connections between living and nonliving entities. These ideas are examined and expressed through walking, performance, collaborative making, large scale public installations and writing.Angela is an independent artist and designer, working also within the College of Creative Arts, Massey University, Wellington.
Dr. Susanna Finlay-Smits
As a researcher with degrees in anthropology, sociology, and biochemistry, I have developed a research career at the intersection between social science and science, exploring the social aspects, impacts, implications of science across a wide range of contexts. In recent years the focus of my research has been on the socio-cultural context that surrounds the use of our natural resources, with a particular focus on sustainability, biosecurity, and protecting both our biodiversity and the wellbeing of our people. I have extensive experience of working in multi-, inter, and trans-disciplinary…
Laise Harris
QualificationsMCI InstituteDiploma of Leadership and Management2018Deakin University AustraliaBachelor of Environmental Science (Honours)2004Deakin University AustraliaBSc (Marine and Freshwater Science)2004Information Systems Examinations BoardFoundation Certificate in IT Service Management2004
Professor Jessica Lai
Professor Jessica Lai specialises in intellectual property, especially patent law, the protection of Mātauranga Māori, and patents and gender. Jessica is the author of Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Intellectual Property Rights (Springer, 2014) and Patent Law and Women (Routledge, 2021). She is also an author of the Annotated High Court Rules (5th edn, LexisNexis, 2025), as well as numerous articles and chapters, and the editor of multiple books. Her latest edited collection is A Research Agenda for Intellectual Property Law and Gender (Edward Elgar, 2024, with Kathy Bowrey).Jessica was…
Assocaite Professor David Jefferson
David Jefferon's research examines how the law sets the terms for human interactions with the other-than-human world, including through the governance of biodiversity, biotechnologies, agricultural crops, and food. David’s research sites are in Australasia and Latin America.
Dr Jesse Pirini
Jesse Pirini is a Senior Lecturer in Management. He teaches courses in entrepreneurship, people analytics, and Indigenous management, governance and organisation. Jesse was recently a Fulbright Scholar based at UMass Boston in the College of Management and UMass Amherst at the newly created Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science. His Fulbright work explored the visualisation of Indigenous management knowledges, and the intersection between these and topics commonly taught in business schools. Jesse is currently co-Editor for the Indigenous Management: Knowledges and Frameworks…
Dayna Chaffey
Dana Chaffey (Ngāti Porou) has worked on a number of kaupapa with Te Weu, most recently the Kura Taiao capacity-building programme, Wellbeing & Extreme Weather research and our Cyclone Gabrielle anniversary Ka Muri Ka Mua research symposium.
Renee Raroa
Ehara taku maunga i te maunga haere, he maunga tu tonu. Ko toku kingitanga no tuawhakarere, no toku matua tipuna, no te po mai rano. Ko Hikurangi te maunga. Ko Waiapu te awa. Ko Ngati Porou te iwi.Renee is the director of East Coast Exchange, an indigenous-led data cooperative supporting regeneration projects within the tribal boundaries of Ngati Porou, Aotearoa (NZ). She leads a large-scale land use transition pilot on her ancestral lands at Te Kautuku, drawing on innovations in nature markets by the Toha network. Renee is also the co-founder and board chair of Te Weu Charitable Trust, an…
Dr Teah Carlson
Mai i te toka-a-taiau ki te-taumata-ō-Apanui. Dr Teah Carlson is a kairangahau/kaupapa Māori researcher and evaluator at SHORE and Whāriki Research Centre, Massey University. She has experience in qualitative methods, strategy and evaluation, especially involving working with Māori communities where collaboration, partnership and participatory community action were key to the research development, process and outcomes. Her strengths are in kaupapa Māori research, evaluation, participatory action research, community psychology, co-design and co-creation. Researcher, evaluator, artist and…
Dr Des Kahotea
Dr Des Kahotea (Ngāti Pukenga, Ngā Pōtiki, Ngāti Kahu) is a prominent indigenous archaeologist, anthropologist, and researcher based in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. He is highly respected for incorporating indigenous knowledge and kaupapa Māori research perspectives into modern archaeology. Des's knowledge and experience is invaluable in the work we do at Taonga Tū.
Sonny Niha
Kaumatua Sonny Niha (Te Orewai, Te Uriroroi, Ngāpuhi) is the cultural advisor for the Child and Adolescent mental health team within Psychological Medicine at Waipapa Taumata Rau. He has also been the chair of Waipareira Kuamatua rōpu and has worked within the Auckland City Hospital service providing cultural advice and support to whānau Māori. He has been involved in tikanga and te reo Māori advancement in the Department of Psychological Medicine since 2020. In this role he works alongside Matua Te Waere to align the principles and practices of Te Ata Hāpara with Kaupapa Māori elements.
Witeria Ashby
My name is Witeria Ashby and I am 68 years old. I have worked in the areas of youth development (justice and education), health promotion and Māori mental health. My current mahi includes Māori health workforce development, and from time to time I provide cultural supervision for researchers in these areas.I adhere to te Tiriti o Waitangi as a descendant of two signatories, Kāwiti (Ngāti Hine) and Whiorau (Te Whānau Rara, Ngāti Kawa). I grew up in Mōtatau, and was fortunate to sit at the feet of my grandfather, Te Pene i Hainatia te Tiriti o Waitangi and Tā Hemi Henare, listening to their…
Te Kahurangi Skelton-Pue
I am committed to the future of this whenua for generations to come, as it continually strengthens our connection to our whakapapa and cultural landscapes.
Dr Terina Raureti
Building on her postgraduate studies on Māori water safety, Terina Raureti decided that for her PhD “to be authentic to who I am and of benefit to my community, I needed to be at home doing it with my own whānau, in our own river and waterway”.The mahi was undertaken with her whānau of Ngāti Kapu in Ōtaki, and the Karitāne whānau, where she developed a model, Kauora, for understanding swimming from a whānau Māori perspective.“The aims of this research were to understand how whānau practice and perceive swimming and its contribution to whānau health and well-being, and to create a swimming…
BJ Walbaekken
BJ Walbaekken builds digital things that actually work — for organisations, for communities, and for whānau. Over 25 years BJ has led transformation from the inside of large enterprises and from the ground up as a founder. He's reported to boards, managed national programmes reaching 5,000+ people, and built platforms from concept to working product. As founder of Mana Digital and Tōku Whānau — a kaupapa Māori digital platform designed as a digital wharenui —BJ works at the intersection of technology, strategy, and community impact. BJ is particularly drawn to work where the stakes are real…
Dr. Moana Rarere
Moana Rarere (Rongomaiwahine, Ngāti Kahungunu, Tūhoe, Whakatōhea) is a demographer at Te Ngira Institute for Population Research at the University of Waikato. She studies how and why populations change over time — including births, migration, deaths, and the social, economic, and cultural factors shaping these processes.A key focus of Moana's work is understanding birth trends and patterns (fertility) - both national and Māori - and how social, cultural, and policy influences shape family/whānau formation over time.Her research is grounded in Kaupapa Māori approaches and centres on supporting…