Projects

How do whānau define and experience quality engagement from health services? This internship included a Kaupapa Māori-informed literature review to inform development of a maternal mental health tool.

This internship project explored the intergenerational impacts of FASD on Indigenous whānau, hapū, iwi and hapori.

This internship focused on decolonisation in the context of Aotearoa’s child protection system.

This internship canvassed a localised Māori community’s response to severe weather events to highlight the implications for psychology.

How do we protect our data as Māori? This internship explored Māori data sovereignty—what it means, how it’s practiced, and why it matters. Through a series of easy-to-understand research briefs, the project supports whānau Māori to better understand and navigate issues like facial recognition technology and the future of our digital information.

Why do Māori pharmacists stay—or leave—the profession? This project explored the career experiences of Māori pharmacists, using surveys and literature to uncover the key factors influencing their decisions. The findings will help shape a more supportive and sustainable future for Māori in pharmacy.

How do Māori experience and navigate cannabis and methamphetamine use in their lives and communities? This kaupapa Māori project internship centred whānau voices to better understand the challenges and solutions from within – aiming to shift the narrative from criminalisation to healing and wellbeing.

This internship project examined the collision and contest of te ao Māori and the intellectual property system with respect to mātauranga Māori.

This internship aim was to scope the possibilities hapū, iwi and Māori organisations have to exercise Māori data sovereignty over electoral roll data, collected compulsorily about Māori for the administration of the electoral rolls by the Electoral Commission.

This internship investigates how physical activity and sports (PARS) support the mental wellbeing of rangatahi Māori, combining research review and lived experiences to explore culturally relevant pathways to flourishing.

This internship is about the kanakana/piharau/pouched lamprey, a struggling fish species in New Zealand due to decline in river water quality, industrialisation, and river alteration.

This internship uncovered the hidden stories of 2,000 toki from Auckland Museum’s collection, combining archaeology and mātauranga Māori to trace their stone origins and reconnect them to whakapapa. The work opens new paths to understand historic resource use, trade, and sustainable practices in Aotearoa.

This internship explored how urban-raised Māori postgraduate students can reconnect and rekindle their ahi kā with ancestral marae, strengthening their sense of belonging and empowering them to keep the home fires burning.

Intern

Keely Ranga, University of Otago

Supervisor

Dr Jade Tamatea, Waipapa Taumata Rau; The University of Auckland

Overview

Intern

Punua Waitoki, University of Waikato

Supervisor

Associate Professor Te Taka Keegan, University of Waikato

Overview

This project supported the indigenisation of the LLB at the University of Canterbury by developing an online repository of Māori-focused legal resources. The intern helped compile and organise materials to strengthen Māori perspectives in legal education and support future lawyers to engage meaningfully with te ao Māori and Māori legal knowledge.

This internship project focussed on analysing data to address two questions 1. How does trauma impact Māori youth who offend, and their whānau, and 2. how can their lived experiences and Māori approaches to Trauma Informed Care shape law and policy related to youth justice to foster whānau flourishing?

This internship explored the emerging field of Māori data governance, focusing on unmet needs within current data systems. The project unpacked Te Kāhui Raraunga’s Māori Data Governance Model and repackaged its components into practical formats—including FAQs, presentations, and social media-ready content—to support wider understanding and application across iwi and communities.

This research analysed kōrero by wāhine Māori on whenua protection and protest, as expressed in Broadsheet magazine (1979–1984). It contributes to the Mana Wāhine Kaupapa Inquiry by examining how wāhine Māori challenged land desecration and Crown confiscation, and how their activism was represented in feminist media.

This summer internship project researched how Auckland Museum could support Tiaki Taonga through museum practices, using Āta Tiaki Taonga Tuku Iho as an example framework.