Karyn is a lecturer in Te Tumu – School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies at the University of Otago, where she obtained her BA (Hons), MA and PhD degrees. Her teaching and research interests are in a number of areas that intersect at various points that include: Sociological issues surrounding Māori urbanisation and Māori identity development and maintenance; Māori performing arts, particularly poi, the analysis of haka and waiata compositions and the role kapa haka plays in identity; Grammatical aspects of the Māori language and second language acquisition; and Māori teaching methodologies. She is a co-director of an Otago Research Theme, Poutama Ara Rau, was awarded the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award for Tertiary Teaching Excellence in 2014, and is part way through a Marsden funded research project looking at the socio-cultural impact of genetic research.