Doctoral Thesis

Nikki Barrett (Ngāti Hauā me Ngāti Porou), University of Waikato

My PhD will focus on Māori-specific interventions that refocus delivery of health services to become holistic and responsive to Māori need. The key feature of my research is the use of the He Pikenga Waiora (HPW) Implementation Framework to co-design a holistic Harti Hauora Māmā Assessment Tool (HHMAt) and implement within the Hapū Wānanga programme.

A key characteristic of the HPW Implementation Framework is that whānau voice will be used in all stages of the project to ensure quality and continuous improvement throughout the project. Too often New Zealand research, literature and reports draw on largely quantitative data to focus on the poor health outcomes of Māori compared to their non-Māori counterparts.

Aaron Smale (Ngati Porou, Nga Puhi, Whakatohea), Victoria, University of Wellington

Although there is a significant research showing Maori are over represented in negative social statistics, there has been very little research connecting these statistics to the impacts of abuse in social welfare custody. For Maori to flourish, particularly those in hard to reach communities such as gangs and prisons, this narrative needs to be told. My research will help victims and wider society understand the impacts this dark chapter in New Zealand history has had on Maori and the country as a whole. This understanding will lead to more effective responses to those impacts.

Karamea Tina Tukukino (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi te Rangi, Ngāti Maru, Ngāti Tamatera), Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi

The aim of this research is to co-develop a values-based evaluative framework that supports ethical AI integration in Māori tertiary educational contexts. The concept of Mātāhihiko invokes the synergy between ancestral wisdom and contemporary technologies, positioning Māori educational institutions as leaders in shaping ethical, culturally grounded applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Awatea Waimārie Moxon (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Pāhauwera, Ngāi Tahu), Te Herenga Waka Victoria University

My research explores the relationship between wellbeing and whakapapa knowledge (Māori history, genealogy and creation stories).

My PhD extends my previous research, which became the first to empirically illustrate the correlation between whakapapa knowledge and mental wellbeing over time (8 years). The present research employs a mixed-methods approach to further elucidate how and to what extent whakapapa knowledge contributes to wellbeing.

Maren Tahata (Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato-Tainui), The University of Auckland

Māori students remain underrepresented in STEM fields in Aotearoa-not due to lack of ability or interest, but because the education system often fails to reflect Māori identities, values, and ways of knowing. This research explores how culturally responsive science teaching can support Māori students to develop strong science identities and envision their “science possible selves” for students who aspire to work in STEM careers and those who will use science to inform their daily lives.

Marama Robin Kainamu-Wheeler (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahu), Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington.

This research adopts a whakapapa research paradigm to investigate national-linked perinatal datasets to (1) make visible the neonatal outcomes of Māori term infants born 2017–2022, (2) investigate protective factors contributing to the neonatal outcomes of Māori infants, and (3) collaborate with whānau through wānanga to reimagine perinatal data in the context of whakapapa.