About this research
Over the past 60 years, the water quality has declined in many large NZ lakes, including Rotorua, Pupuke, Rotoehu, Rotoiti, Tutira and Horowhenua in the North Island, and Lakes Ellesmere (Te Waihora) and Forsyth (Wairewa) in the South Island (Rowe 2004). All of these lakes are important taonga to tangata whenua, and have served as pataka kai for many generations. These lakes have become turbid and are periodically affected by harmful algal blooms. Drinking water supplies have been reduced, culturally-significant fisheries have deteriorated, with koura and kākahi being two pertinent examples.
Concerns over the demise of these taonga lakes raises the question – what can be done? Can their deterioration be stopped? More significantly, can degraded lakes be restored? The people of Ngāti Rangiteaorere, a Te Arawa hapū centred at Waiohewa Marae on the shores of Lake Rotorua, have formed the “Roto-Ora” conglomerate, and identified an international team of researchers, innovators, and iwi to explore cutting-edge lake restoration technology.
Principal Investigator Dr Shaun Ogilvie, has whakapapa connection here, and this project will serve as an entry point for him to reconnect, and bring his expertise and experience ‘back to the people’. Modified Local Soil (MLS) technology is emerging in the global literature (Pan et al 2019) as an efficient and cost-effective method to remove harmful algal blooms from water and settle them onto sediment. MLS capping treatment will also reduce the resuspension of algae from the sediment, and convert the algal cells and excessive nutrients into fertilisers for the restoration of natural aquatic plants.
Furthermore, capping treatment using oxygen nanobubble-MLS materials can also mitigate sediment anoxia, causing a reduction in the release of internal pollutants, such as nutrients and greenhouse gases. New data obtained from field monitoring in trials in China (Pan et al 2019) showed that the algae-dominated waters transform into a macrophyte-dominated state within four months of MLS treatment.
This project will form the foundations for a larger, longer-term project aligned to mātauranga Māori relative to our lake ecosystems and their utility, past and present with an emphasis on future management.
Kairangahau · Researchers
Professor Shaun Ogilvie
Te Arawa (Ngāti Whakahemo), Ngāti Awa (Ngāti Pukeko)
University of Canterbury
Shaun Ogilvie has a PhD in Ecology from the University of Canterbury and is the Director of Eco Research Associates…
Professor Shaun Ogilvie
Shaun Ogilvie has a PhD in Ecology from the University of Canterbury and is the Director of Eco Research Associates Ltd, a private environmental research company. He is also the Māori Business Development Consultant for the Cawthron Institute in Nelson, and a contractor to other organisations, including Lincoln University and The Environmental Protection Authority.
Shaun is the principal investigator on several Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga research projects:
Ētahi atu · Other projects
This study will explore how comparative views of “home” relate to concepts such as identity, whakapapa, and hauora and how these concepts thereby impact service utilisation and uptake in two areas (one rural and one urban). The research seeks to ask How do urban and rural Māori conceptualise “home” and do these ideas of home differ across generations? Do…
View projectPerceptions of Papakāinga: An examination of ‘home’ and how to cater services for Māori
Kairangahau · Researchers
-
Dr Amohia Boulton
Dr Amohia Boulton
Dr Amohia Bolton is the Research Director at Whakaue Research for Māori Health & Development with a career that has spanned public policy and academia. She has previously worked as a data analyst (Ministry of Education) policy analyst, senior analyst (Te Puni Kōkiri) and Private Secretary (Māori Affairs) and was awarded an HRC Māori Health Training Fellowship to pursue doctoral study at Massey University in Palmerston North. Her post-doctoral research took her to the University of Northern British Columbia in Canada where she worked with the Lheidli T'enneh First Nations people. Her research…
The guiding research question for this project are: 1) How has Tuurangawaewae Marae fostered community mauri ora (wellbeing) within Waikato and in Te Ao Maaori more broadly? 2) What role has Tuurangawaewae Marae played as both a repository and a place of action for te Reo me ngaa Tikanga in Waikato and in Aotearoa-New Zealand? 3) What are the factors…
View projectTuurangawaewae Marae: A Place to Stand
Kairangahau · Researchers
-
Dr Marama Muru-Lanning
Dr Marama Muru-Lanning
Marama holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Auckland. She is a Senior Research Fellow and Acting Director at the James Henare Māori Research Centre. Marama also advises on elderly health projects in the School of Population Health. Her research is primarily concerned with debates and critical challenges in social anthropology where she focuses on the cultural specificity of iwi-Māori and their unique sense of place and belonging in New Zealand. What distinguishes Marama nationally as a social scientist is her specialization in water, environment and indigenous rights. She… -
Dr Dean Mahuta
Dr Dean Mahuta
Dean conducts research into traditional Māori knowledge, revitalisation of te reo Māori (the Māori language), Māori history, the representation of Māori customs, language and lore in video games, Māori digital media and identities. He also supervises a number of Masters and PhD students at AUT. -
Professor Tahu Kukutai FRSNZ
Professor Tahu Kukutai FRSNZ
Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Co-Director Tahu Kukutai is Professor of Demography at Te Ngira: Institute for Population Research, The University of Waikato where she specialises in Māori and Indigenous demography and data sovereignty. Tahu is a founding member of the Māori Data Sovereignty Network Te Mana Raraunga and the Global Indigenous Data Alliance. She co-edited Indigenous data sovereignty: Toward an agenda (ANU Press, 2016), Indigenous data sovereignty and policy (Routledge, 2020) and The Oxford Handbook of Indigenous Sociology (Oxford) . Tahu has undertaken research with and for numerous…
We have identified a set of questions relating to Māori restorative justice in the Aotearoa Justice system and its effectiveness for Māori: What are the barriers Māori face when they participate in restorative justice as it stands? What can we learn from the traditional ways of resolving conflict that could minimise these barriers? The over-representation…
View projectWhat we were and what we could be: Restorative Justice and its impact on Māori
Kairangahau · Researchers
-
Danny Poa
Danny Poa
Mr Danny Poa is the Te Koronga Kaitiaki Kaupapa Manager at the University of Otago. Danny is also a member of the Coastal People: Southern Skies collaboration that connects communities with world-leading, cross-discipline research to rebuild coastal ecosystems. -
Dr Anne-Marie Jackson
Dr Anne-Marie Jackson
Anne-Marie Jackson is a lecturer in Māori physical education and health at the University of Otago, and joined the School of Physical Education as an academic staff member in 2011. After obtaining a Bachelor of Physical Education Honours degree majoring in Exercise Sport Science and a Master of Physical Education focusing on education policy at the School of Physical Education, she completed a doctorate in Māori studies and physical education examining rangatiratanga and Māori health and well-being within a customary fisheries context. Her research focuses on the examination of Māori…