About this research
Project Summary
The best knowledge and technology are coming together for Tahamata Incorporation and shareholders’ coastal farm, Kuku, Horowhenua. Not only is Tahamata Incorporation aligning itself with the Whenua Haumanu program run by Ministry for Primary Industries and Massey University to explore diverse pastures and regenerative management practices for lower North Island coastal farming, but this dedicated iwi-led research team communicated with shareholders/board/operations via mapping and visuals at winter wānanga.
The project team participated in a working week of ground-based preparations on the coastal farm, followed by two-day wānanga on former pā sites, led by iwi researchers with long track record of impactful research. On these ancestral sites by the Ōhau River and Kuku Stream, iwi researchers worked with landscape architect/ GIS and LiDAR expert and a hydro-ecologist/artist to help raise discussions around what enhanced management practices might look like for a case study farm.
Extending on previous research, this project brought together mātauranga Māori/local intergenerational knowledge of place with environmental, economic, hydro-ecological and mapping technologies to enable discussions about whole-of-farm approaches with Tahamata shareholders/board/farm operations; develop comprehensive plans via GIS and LiDAR mapping for better monitoring of all paddocks; discuss regenerative farming practices, and inform on farming emission reductions within current climate change precarities.
Research Question
How might LiDAR (Light Detecting and Ranging) and up-to-date GIS (geographic information system) technologies enhance decision-making for a coastal Māori farm experiencing climate change problems?
Lead Researcher
Professor Huhana Smith, Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Massey University
Research Team
Moira Poutama, Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Wehiwehi, Ngāti Kikopiri, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga, Te Iwi o Ngāti Tukorehe Trust
Hayden Fowler, Independent
Nathan Galluzzo, McGregor Coxall, Sydney
Highlights
- Completion of a Masters – and supervising the student
- Supervising and completing a summer internship project
- Presenting and engaging with the community and Board
- Invited presentation
- Technical report providing gap-filling for an inquiry
Bringing together cutting-edge mapping tools, mātauranga Māori, and regenerative farming practices, this iwi-led project empowers Tahamata Incorporation to reimagine the future of their coastal farm. Through GIS, LiDAR, and deep local knowledge, the team is creating new ways to see, plan, and care for the whenua—together.
Kairangahau · Researchers
Huhana Smith
Ngāti Tukorehe, Te Mateawa, Ngāti Rangitāwhia , Ngāti Kapumanawawhiti ki Kuku
Massey University
Professor Huhana Smith is a visual artist, curator and principle investigator in research who engages in major…
Huhana Smith
Moira Poutama
Ngāti Tukorehe, Ngāti Wehiwehi, Ngāti Kikopiri, Ngāti Kapu, Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga
Weaving Insights
Moira Poutama is an iwi researcher with over 20 years’ experience leading kaupapa Māori and taiao-focused projects. Her…
Moira Poutama
Hayden Fowler
Hayden Fowler has a Master of Fine Arts from UNSW Australia and an earlier degree in Ecology. He employs the dynamics…
Hayden Fowler
Nathan Galluzzo
University of Technology Sydney
Landscape Architect, researcher and investigator working across environmental, trans-disciplinary, Māori and Aboriginal…
Nathan Galluzzo
Ētahi atu · Other projects
This research supports iwi-led, tikanga-informed innovation, grounded in Kaupapa Māori methodology. Through wānanga and co-design with Ngāti Tukorehe, the team is developing safe, solvent-free dye processes that respect tikanga and are reproducible in community settings.
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Kairangahau · Researchers
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Associate Professor Sonya Withers
Associate Professor Sonya Withers
Sonya Withers is a New Zealand born Pacific creative with whakapapa back to Scotland and Sama’i, Falelatai, Sāmoa. Sonya is a graduate of the College of Creative Arts, with BDes (Textile Design major) and postgraduate qualifications in Visual and Material Culture and a Masters in Design. Sonya is a Design lecturer at the College of Creative Arts School of Design and teaches across Textile Studio and Critical and Contextual Studies. -
Dr. Tanya Ruka
Dr. Tanya Ruka
Ko Tanya Te Miringa Te Rorarangi Ruka ahau, Ngati Pakau, Ngapuhi te Iwi. Tanya Ruka is a research-based contemporary arts practitioner, educator, author, editor, curator & publisher.2025 DNDA Don Norman Design Award in EducationHer work in the digital landscape, is dedicated to embedding indigenous knowledge and perspectives into contemporary narratives and practices. Firmly placing Indigenous ways of knowing and being in landless territories of new imagined futures. AIRI (Artificial Indigenous Relational Intelligence) - coined by Tanya 2024 PhD - training educational/ relational AI with… -
Briar Moffat
Briar Moffat
Kō Tainui te WakaKō Tararua te MaungaKō Ōtaki me Ōhau ngā AwaKō Ngāti Tukorehe me Ngāti Raukawa te iwiKō Briar Moffatt tāku ingoaI am the Founder and Director of Whare Kōtare -
Dr. William Xu
Dr. William Xu
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Ally Ataria
Ally Ataria
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Julia Hope
Julia Hope
Julia Hope is a textiles artist who completed her Masters of Design at Massey University. -
Huhana Smith
Huhana Smith
Professor Huhana Smith is a visual artist, curator and principle investigator in research who engages in major environmental, trans-disciplinary, kaupapa Māori and action-research projects. She is co-principle investigator for research that includes mātauranga Māori methods with sciences to actively address climate change concerns for coastal Māori lands in Horowhenua-Kāpiti. Huhana actively encourages the use of art and design’s visual systems combined in exhibitions, to expand how solutions might integrate complex issues and make solutions more accessible for local communities. -
Faith Kane
Faith Kane
Faith Kane is a design researcher and educator working in the area of textiles and materials. Her research interests include design for sustainability, collaborative working in the design/science space and the role and value of craft knowledge within these contexts. She is also an editor of the Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice. Find out more about Faith’s work at www.faithkane.com
He oranga whānau: mahi ngātahi: Whānau livelihoods within the context of work and Māori economies of wellbeing. These groundbreaking works celebrate Māori futures rooted in kaupapa Māori values while fostering pathways for responsible relationships, meaningful lives, and flourishing Indigenous wellbeing economies. By emphasising the central role of whānau…
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- Te Ahunga atu ki ngā Ōhanga Oranga Māori: Towards Māori Economies of Wellbeing
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He oranga whānau: mahi ngātahi: Whānau livelihoods within the context of work and Māori economies of wellbeing
He oranga whānau: mahi ngātahi: Whānau livelihoods within the context of work and Māori economies of wellbeing. These groundbreaking works celebrate Māori futures rooted in kaupapa Māori values while fostering pathways for responsible relationships, meaningful lives, and flourishing Indigenous wellbeing economies. By emphasising the central role of whānau, these publications provide actionable insights and inspiration for transformative change in economic and cultural systems.
- Mana Touchstones
- Te Ahunga atu ki ngā Ōhanga Oranga Māori: Towards Māori Economies of Wellbeing
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Professor Chellie Spiller
Professor Chellie Spiller
Dr Chellie Spiller, of Matawhaiti Iwitea, Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairoa, is Professor of Management and Leadership, and Associate Dean Māori at the University of Waikato. She was previously a senior lecturer and Associate Dean Māori and Pacific at the University of Auckland Business School. She has over 30 years of corporate experience in tourism, finance and marketing, holding senior executive positions in New Zealand and abroad, and brings this experience to her academic work and leadership and management development programmes. Her research explores how Māori and indigenous businesses create… -
Professor Jarrod Haar
Professor Jarrod Haar
Professor Jarrod Haar (PhD) is a Professor of Human Resource Management in the Department of Management and has tribal affiliations of Ngati Maniapoto and Ngati Mahuta. In 2018, Professor Haar was appointed as a Member of the Marsden Fund Council and is the Convenor of the Marsden Economics and Human Behavioural Sciences panel. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi (2020), a Research Fellow of the Australia & New Zealand Academy of Management (since 2012), and Chartered Fellow of the Human Resource Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ). He won the inaugural HRINZ HR… -
Professor John Reid
Professor John Reid
Professor John Reid is a researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of sustainability, indigenous knowledge systems, environmental governance, and technological innovation. Based within the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, his research brings together systems thinking, te ao Māori, and interdisciplinary science to address complex social, economic, and environmental challenges facing Indigenous communities and wider society. His work spans environmental management, regenerative land use, Māori economic development, and the governance of emerging technologies, with particular interests in… -
Professor Jason Paul Mika
Professor Jason Paul Mika
Jason Paul Mika Ko Ranginui e tū iho nei, ko Papatūānuku e takoto nei, ko te ira tangata kei waenganui i raro i te kaitiakitanga o ngā atua, o te manaakitanga o te Runga Rawa. Tīhei mauri ora! Ko Ngāi Tūhoe, ko Ngāti Awa, ko Te Whakatōhea, ko Ngāti Kahungunu ōku iwi. Ko Jason Mika ahau. I was born in Whakatāne and raised mainly in Rotorua. In November 2024, I was fortunate join Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland as a Professor of Māori Management and Associate Dean Māori in He Manga Tauhokohoko Auckland Business School. My research, teaching, writing, and practice centres on Māori and… -
Dr Matthew Rout
Dr Matthew Rout
Dr. Matthew Rout's research explores how Indigenous worldviews shape the institutions that govern economic activity, environmental management, and public decision-making. Working at the nexus of political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental domains, his research examines how values, knowledge systems, and social organisation influence the ways societies coordinate collective action and pursue development. A central focus of his work is the application of te ao Māori and mātauranga Māori to contemporary policy challenges, including environmental governance, disaster risk reduction…
This internship compiled a database of traditional Māori food preservation practices to better understand archaeological midden sites and mahinga kai history. Working with Otago’s SPAR team, the project links historical knowledge with contemporary preservation techniques across Aotearoa.
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This internship compiled a database of traditional Māori food preservation practices to better understand archaeological midden sites and mahinga kai history.
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