Projects

What aspects of mātauranga Māori are relevant to Māori-medium schools, for example mātauranga pūtaiao, that promote the wellbeing of the students, the kura, the place and the community?

Exploring horticultural futures in Wairoa, this project identified saffron, feijoa, and gevuina as promising crops to protect whenua from erosion and support sustainable Māori land use.

How can New Zealand’s state legal system recalibrate to challenge the Crown’s assumption of sovereignty over lands and waters treasured by Māori?

This summer internship project explores nga uri o matihiko –the Māori digital generation. Qualitative research and input from digital natives provides insight into the behaviours, thoughts and actions and how identity is informed by a digital culture.

How can a pūtaiao ‘living laboratory’ approach that uses local learning environments help rangatahi Māori reclaim science in Te Hiku?

Our aim is to “science-up” Māori communities by exploring the untapped potential of our

What is the potential for new governing structures to intervene in persisting social, cultural, political and economic inequalities that disproportionately accrue to Māori?

What are the distinctive dimensions and drivers of innovative Māori leadership and integrated decision making, and how do these characteristics deliver pluralistic outcomes that advance transformative and prosperous Māori economies of wellbeing?

This internship used drone technology to capture aerial imagery of the Tapuwae block, exploring how cultural mapping and environmental monitoring can support Māori-led approaches to understanding and responding to landscape change.

Building on the 2013 project Ringihia i te kete – the language of the stars, this research developed a Māori astronomy database to preserve and expand mātauranga Māori about the stars. It aimed to strengthen the foundation for future Māori-led research by exploring how astronomical knowledge was embedded in language and cultural landscapes across Aotearoa.

What is the pedagogy of pūrākau, and how does it operate as an Indigenous story work approach to advance kaupapa Māori research and innovative contributions to broader research and pedagogical processes within Aotearoa?

Given this is a scoping proposal, the following questions are pertinent to the investigation of the above research question:

What are the threshold concepts for undergraduate study in the field of Māori studies?

How can the identification of Māori studies’ threshold concepts be used to support teaching and student achievement in Māori studies programmes?

Our main question is ‘do hapū and Iwi  views  and practices provide an alternative paradigm to New Zealand’s biosecurity system to better protect our taonga species?

The project aims to contribute to the intellectual infrastructure of the discipline of te reo Māori revitalisation by collating oral, visual digital and written sources, including a dictionary, thesaurus and repositories of waiata, haka, and narrative recordings. 

The project will answer the following research questions:

This project examined the economic costs of health inequities between Māori and non-Māori adults in Aotearoa. Using both quantitative data and Māori lived experiences, it highlighted the significant social, economic, and health impacts of these disparities. The research aims to inform targeted policies to reduce inequities, strengthen Māori health outcomes, and build capacity in Māori-led health economics research.

This summer internship investigated the evolution of te reo Māori by examining its linguistic structures, oral traditions, and the impact of historical and policy changes. The research aimed to enhance educational outcomes by analysing phonology, orthography, and teaching approaches, concluding with recommendations for compulsory curricula to better support te reo Māori learners.

This Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga research project aims to assess the status of selected taonga shellfish (including pipi, tuatua, kina and pāua) resources within the Rohe Moana o Tauranga Moana, and the impacts caused by the grounding of the cargo vessel Rena on these fisheries and iwi ability to manage them.

Traditional use of plants for medicinal purposes is a feature of indigenous human societies. The biological principles that underpin many such traditional remedies has been established using various scientific methodologies.