Research leads
Merata Kawharu
Merata Kawharu (Ngāti Whātua, Ngāpuhi) is an academic, researcher and writer. She is Principal of Takarangi Research, a Principal of Nukuroa Research Consulting Ltd and in 2024 took up the role of Deputy Vice Chancellor Māori at Te Whare Wānaka o Aoraki, Lincoln University, Christchurch. She has taught at Auckland and Otago universities, and has published widely on indigenous leadership, entrepreneurship, culture, resource management and Te Tiriti kaupapa. Merata has been a consultant to the UN and UNESCO and is currently a member of the New Zealand Geographic Board. In 2012 she was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to Māori education. She’s a Māmā of two beautiful taiohi Piere Atiakura and Freda Hemaima. She’s been PI for 3 recent projects: Project Kāinga; Young Māori connections with Marae (Marsden); and Pā to Plate: developing Marae-based food systems innovation (National Science Challenge ‘Our Land and Water).
Janet Stephenson
Janet is a research professor at the Centre for Sustainability, a research centre at the University of Otago. As a social scientist, she is interested in how society can transition to a sustainable future and the role of culture in driving that change. Her current research includes community adaptation to climate change and low-carbon energy systems. See here for more information. Janet tries to keep her carbon emissions low by growing vegetables, limiting her flying, walking to work and being a vegetarian
Paul Tapsell
Paul is an independent academic researcher and principal of Takarangi Research. He is the co-founder to the website www.maorimaps.com. He is a team leader on five NZ/Australian socially responsible research projects, covering climate change and urban impact on indigenous production/consumption systems, twenty first century importance of kāinga/marae communities; reimagining Pacific navigation and future roles of museums post COVID.
Russell Death
I am a Professor in Freshwater Ecology in the School of Agriculture and Environment at Massey University. I have had nearly 30 years’ experience in ecological research and teaching. My area of expertise is the ecology of stream invertebrates and fish. I have over 100 peer-reviewed publications, 60 conference presentations and have supervised 38 post-graduate research students. I have been a Quinney Visiting Fellow at Utah State University and an International Distinguished Visitor to the University of Birmingham. I was awarded the New Zealand Freshwater Science Medal in 2017 for an outstanding contribution to our understanding and management of freshwaters. Although my primary interest is ecology research I have also been involved in applying that science in water management planning arenas such as the One Plan, Canterbury Regional Plan and Ruataniwha irrigation scheme.
Selai Letica
Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Porou, Tangata Pasifica
Te Marihi te maunga
Te Huehue te awa
Kaingahoa te Marae
Mataraua tūturu
Selai has a PhD in Environmental Science, majoring in soil science. Selai spent 14 years working in research projects, relationship and science management in two of NZs Crown Research Institutes. Her background is in nutrient management in farm systems and the operationalisation of values in Māori agribusiness. Through her connection to the Takarangi Research Group, Selai has recently become interested in the impacts and responses to colonisation by rural marae communities in the context of climate change, land use and cultural reconnection.
James Turner
James lives in Kirikiriroa with his family, but is originally from the South Island, born in Whakatū and grew up in Ōtepoti. He has been involved in research in the forestry and agricultural industries for over 20 years, with a PhD in forest economics from the University of Wisconsin. James started at the NZ Forest Research Institute doing research on land use and global forests, and how these are influenced by issues such as illegal logging and carbon markets. In 2010 James joined AgResearch to study and implement approaches to increase science impact through extension, participatory research, and co-development processes.
Krushil Watene
Krushil (Ngāti Manu / Te Hikutu / Ngāti Whātua o Orākei / Tonga) grew up in South Auckland and developed a keen interest in philosophy later in her teens. Through her PhD and various postdoc positions around the world, she is now Associate Professor at Massey University, specialising in moral and political philosophy (our ideas about well-being, development, and justice) with a particular focus on indigenous philosophies. Amongst all of her research she works closely with Māori communities, particularly her own hapū and iwi, to support the revitalisation and sustaining of mātauranga Māori. Before moving to Massey University, she was part of the James Henare Māori Research Centre at the University of Auckland. She was awarded her PhD from the University of St Andrews (Scotland) in 2011.
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Alvaro Romera
Alvaro lives in Hamilton. He was born in Argentina, but has been living in Aotearoa for more than 20 years. He studied Agricultural Engineering and did a master’s in animal sciences in Argentina, and a PhD modelling farm system at Massey University. He joined AgResearch in 2020, and before that worked at the National Institute for Agricultural Technology in Argentina and for DairyNZ. His research has involved modelling and analysing systems ranging from urine patches right up to regions. In the last few years, he has been using design-based methodologies to try and develop more sustainable agricultural systems.
Stephen McTaggart
Stephen is a mixed methodological sociologist, action researcher and musician. He holds PhD, Masters and BA (Hons) degrees with the University of Auckland. His mahi focus is the gathering and interpretation of Māori focused data/statistics using a kaupapa Māori research approach. Stephen's current research includes investigating the diasporic geographic movement of individual iwi descendants within New Zealand Aotearoa, developing web based demographic information platforms for Māori and examining the nature of social communication networks for urban Māori youth and connections with the people living close to their ancestral marae. Stephen is also director of McTaggart Research Aotearoa.
Raaniera Te Whata
Ko Tautoro te maunga, Ko Kereru te wai Ko Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Moerewa, Te Whānau a Tuwhakairiora, Te Whānau a Tapaeururangi me Ngāti Pākehā ngā hononga a rohe. I tupu ake ahau ki te tāwharau o Tautoro, te pito o te whare tapu o Ngāpuhi. Engari kei te noho ahau ki raro i ngā maru o Whetumatarau; o Hikurangi; o Marotiri; o Titirangi; o Mangahaumi; o Whakapunake; o Mātītī; o Ngātapa inaianei
Raaniera grew up in the rural far north community of Tautoro – In 2016 he returned to maintain ahi kā of his whenua and complete his PhD with the University of Otago. It explored the history of connection of Tautoro hapū to whenua and wai; the disruption to community wellbeing brought about colonialisation and the community actions to repair relationships to these taonga. In September 2020, Raaniera and his wife moved to Tūranganui-a-Kiwa in time to welcome their first child – Tārehu Jack. Raaniera maintains inter-hapū liaison on water quality and freshwater management issues for Tautoro. Recently he has been working as an adviser and senior adviser with Te Puni Kokoiri Ikaroa Rāwhiti in their whenua Māori team.
Rochelle McIntosh
Rochelle completed her PhD at Otago University. Her research explores the utilisation and development of Māori land. She is investigating how a Māori community is responding to climate change and how they are building environmental resilience. Her research examines Māori community leadership and Māori community engagement. Rochelle has 14 years teaching experience. Her Masters study explored Māori girls’ educational success at bursary level. She has interests in Te Reo Māori, completing a diploma of Māoritanga at Victoria University and a diploma in Te Reo at Whitireia.
Hirini Tane
Hirini grew up in the small marae community of Oromahoe in the Bay of Islands, Northland. He completed a doctorate at the University of Otago, Dunedin, exploring the past-present and future of his papakāinga. The general theme of his research interests is understanding something of the relationship between people, land and water. Hirini is also kaiwhakahaere Matua for the website www.maorimaps.com and Takarangi Research.
Ben Tombs
Ben is a researcher and occasional pot stirrer. Having completed his PhD in law and climate change at the University of Otago, he now works on projects that explore the implications of damage and loss due to foreseeable climate impacts. His doctoral thesis straddled social science research and legal analysis to examine how people in climate hazard exposed properties can be immobilised by insurance retreat and property value diminution. So far, Ben’s research focus has been on the legal and social components of managed relocation within a broader context of climate adaptation. His current work with Takarangi examines the rights and responsibilities of hazard exposed marae in relation to local and central government.
Abbi Virens
Abbi is a social scientist, originally from Canada where she earned a BA in anthropology from Laurentian University. Her interest in natural history directed her doctoral research into an exploration of the foraging landscape within Dunedin, New Zealand. She took an interdisciplinary approach to the construction of her foraging ethnography; examining historical archives, contemporary media, government legislation and scientific reports and wove them into forager's narratives.
Her research areas include science and technology studies (STS), post-humanism and post-colonialism. Her research fits best within the area of material-semiotics, which explores the dynamic capacities of non-human materials in human spaces. Her research tends to spread into other disciplines including; political ecology, critical histories, and queer theory.
Lucy Matehaere
Ko Maungatautari te maunga, ko Waikato te awa, ko Ngāti Raukawa te iwi.
Ko Matehaere te whanau, ko Lucy ahau.
I am an post-graduate student at the University of Auckland. My involvement in the project dates back to December 2019 where I was brought on board to conduct a literature review over the summer break. Currently, I am investigating iwi and hapū management plans and looking specifically at discussion on climate change within these plans. Outside study and research, I train full time for sprint kayaking in the NZ High Performance programme.
Carlton Irving
Ko Matiti te Maunga
Ko Waioweka te Awa
Ko Mataatua te Waka
Ko Opeke toku Marae
Ko Ngati Ira toku hapu
Te Whakatōhea toku Iwi
Ko Carlton Irving toku ingoa
No Opotiki ahau, he uri ahau o Mokomoko.
I am a currently a medical student, and a Practicing Paramedic but my passion lies in improving Māori health outcomes. Our health is intrinsically linked to the health of our land, our water and the environments in which our people live. I am so pleased to be a part of this important Kaupapa to find solutions for our people today, and the generations to follow.
Manutangirua Papuni-iles
Manu Papuni-Iles (Ngāti Porou) is a dedicated researcher, educator, and environmental advocate from the Tairāwhiti region. Grounded in his roots at Rangitukia, Manu bridges hapū knowledge with climate action to foster resilience for whānau and marae communities, especially young Māori. He holds an undergraduate degree in Education from the University of Auckland and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching through the University of Otago to empower the next generation of rangatahi as a kaiako. Supported by a Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) scholarship under the guidance of Project Kāinga, Manu completed his dissertation (in te reo). Through participatory research approaches, he works alongside Te Riu o Waiapu Kura Reo Taiao, the Deep South Challenge as part of the team investigating “Higher carbon prices: Impacts on farming and forestry whānau", and Hikurangi Enterprises to ensure that the voices of rurally isolated and marae-based communities remain at the frontline of policy design and regional climate adaptation.
Piere Kawharu-Tapsell
I am an undergraduate Computer Science student with a passion in kaupapa Māori, such as the preservation and evolution of Māori culture and society. My contribution to this project is an extension of this passion, namely helping to facilitate connection to local or ancestral hapū communities. This same aim shapes ‘Mā Wai Rā’, a short story I am writing to be published with Oratia Media and with the support of Project Kāinga. It follows kōkako and his friends on a journey through the forest to rescue a towering rimu, lonely and longing for company. At its heart, the story is about courage, connection, and the responsibility of guardianship.
Kāinga leaders
Ngāti Kawa Taituha
Ngāti Kawa Taituha (Ngāti Rāhiri, Ngāti Kawa, Te Matarahurahu) is a respected cultural leader, educator and advocate for mātauranga Māori based in Waitangi, Te Tai Tokerau Northland. He serves as Chair of Te Tii Marae and Ko Waitangi Te Awa Trust, and has long been involved in the stewardship of places, histories and traditions that are central to the identity of Waitangi and its people through numerous committees and advocacy roles.
A recognised authority on the histories and significance of He Whakaputanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Ngāti Kawa works to share the histories, philosophies and traditions of Ngāti Rāhiri, Ngāti Kawa and Te Matarahurahu. He has worked alongside the Waitangi National Trust and is widely respected as a cultural interpreter and spokesperson for the mana whenua perspectives of Waitangi.
Through wānanga, educational initiatives and digital knowledge-sharing projects, he champions the transmission of Indigenous knowledge to future generations and brings extensive experience in cultural leadership, innovation that brings together mātauranga, western sciences and technology, as well as provides strong leadership for community development, the strengthening of cultural identity and collective wellbeing.
Mitai Matene (Ngāti Rangi) is an educator, community leader and mātauranga Māori practitioner based in Tautoro, Te Tai Tokerau. A former Chair of Te Riingi Marae, he has dedicated many years to strengthening whānau, marae and community wellbeing through traditional knowledge systems.
Mitai is recognised for his expertise in mahinga kai, customary food systems and traditional cultivation practices. As a tutor and mentor in the Kai Oranga programme, he has supported communities to reconnect with sustainable food production and food sovereignty grounded in Māori values — including the restoration of ancestral gardening methods and cultivation of traditional crops such as rīwai.
His work integrates mātauranga Māori, cultural revitalisation and practical community development, centred on the connections between people, whenua and kai. Through marae-based education and hands-on learning, he bridges ancestral practices with contemporary approaches to community resilience and sustainable living.
Mitai Matene
Anne Billing
Anne holds the Kaitohutohu Akoranga position with Ngāi Tamawhariua. Throughout Project Kāinga she has been the Project Leader. She has worked with five different Chairs of Te Rereatukāhia Marae Komiti and have endeavoured to keep moving forward.
Hone Winder Murray (Ngai Tamawhariua) is a respected Māori leader with extensive experience in governance, community development, and taonga / cultural heritage, digital media, film production and te reo Māori. As former Chair of Te Rereatukahia Marae, he led the hapū response and input for Project Kainga climate adaptation risk analysis, planning and community engagement. He has served as Mana Whenua Liaison Officer at the Western Bay Museum, where he worked alongside hapū, iwi and community organisations to strengthen relationships, support Māori-led storytelling, and advanced the museum’s commitments to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. His work brings together cultural leadership, environmental stewardship and community engagement to strengthen intergenerational wellbeing and Māori development.
Hone Winder-Murray
Wally Lee (Tūhourangi, Ngāti Wāhiao, Ngāti Whakaue) works with the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Māori Agribusiness team and has extensive experience in Māori land governance and development. He is Chair of Tumunui Lands Trust, Waipupumahana A1B2 Trust, Te Puke 2B1C Kiwifruit Trust and Aokarere Ahu Whenua Trust. He also serves as a trustee of Kapenga M and Peka Lands Trust, is Co-Chair of the Rotokākahi Board of Control, and holds governance roles across several Tūhourangi and Ngāti Wāhiao whenua entities, including Rotomahana Parekarangi 6J2B5B and Tokerau A10. Wally brings extensive expertise in Māori land governance, agribusiness development, land-use planning and collective decision-making.
Wally Lee
Fiona Gray
Fiona is the administrative backbone to Project Kāinga based at the Centre for Sustainability at the University of Otago. She also offers support for Te Potiki National Trust and Takarangi Research.
Collaborators
Alistair Mowat | Thought Strategy Ltd
Alistair Mowat is a Tauranga-based strategic innovator and director of Thought Strategy Limited and Bluehaven Innovation Limited. With a BHortSc from Massey University and over 40 years in public, private, and multinational innovation roles, he has led transformative research in horticulture, sustainability, and ecosystem management. Alistair co-led the Value Chain Theme for the Our Land and Water National Science Challenge, served on the PlantTech Research Institute board, and advises Te Arawa’s Ngā Ara Pungapunga Project and a deep-tech startup. His work connects science, policy, industry and community to drive collaborative, environmental, social and market-oriented resilience.
Sean Weaver | EKOS
We are International leaders in environmental consulting with clients ranging from governments, multilateral banks, international organisations, corporates, universities, and community organisations.
coming soon...
Suz Te Tai
Rhys Latton
Rhys leads a Theatre Company with his wife Jessica as well as teaching physical performance and yoga. This path changed direction with his return to Otago in 2023 to study in Science Communication. Now Rhys' fascination with storytelling includes other tools such as documentary filmmaking and podcasting. He felt it a particular privilege to create the documentary Mokopuna Decisions with Project Kainga and Hone Winder-Murray at Te Rereatukāhia.
As well as being a science communicator, documentary filmmaker, yoga teacher and actor, fatherhood has been one of my most rewarding jobs in Rhys’ life. It’s always changing and it never stops.
Leading means listening, trying to practice what he preaches, and not beating himself up too much!
Stephanie Guest
Stephanie Guest is a South African/Filipina Masters graduate of Natural History Filmmaking and Science Communication at the University of Otago. She has lived in the Philippines, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, South Africa, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Rather than her home, what has stayed consistent throughout her life has been her love for storytelling. Through her films, she hopes to continue exploring the world with her projects and bring meaningful stories to her audiences.
Gianna Savioe | Ocean Media Institute
Dr. Gianna Savoie is an award-winning documentary producer, writer, lecturer and National Geographic Explorer with two decades of experience in Science and Natural History filmmaking and a penchant for powerful storytelling that has led her to sink her teeth into some of the most critical conservation issues on the planet. Her Emmy-nominated work has been featured on National Geographic, PBS, NATURE, Discovery, and the BBC, as well as in theatrical documentaries and in print and web publications.
In 2015, Gianna founded the Ocean Media Institute, a non-profit global media collective that engages the public in ocean science and conservation through innovative, inclusive media and artistic approaches to ocean literacy. She is a Senior Research Fellow with the University of Otago’s Centre for Sustainability and in her quest to “pay it forward” and inspire the next generation of environmental storytellers, she teaches and mentors emerging filmmakers and science communicators.
Contact:
gianna@oceanmediainstitute.org
phone: (+64) 021 0888 6803
website: www.oceanmediainstitute.org
Lynton | Creative Sauce
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Paul Cardno
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