Associate Professor Deborah Heke
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Rautaki MAI Te Kupenga
Associate Professor Deborah Heke (Ngā Puhi, Te Arawa) is the Director of Ngā Wai a Te Tūī Māori and Indigenous Research Centre at Unitec. With a background in Exercise Physiology, Psychology, and Public Health, her current research centres on Mana Wahine scholarship. Recent work includes an exploration of Māori and Indigenous women’s embodied practices and physical activity in te taiao as a means for connecting, communicating, and healing. Deborah is also passionate about building the capability and capacity of Māori and Indigenous (future) scholars and providing spaces for Indigenous creativity and excellence in academia. She is an alumna of Auckland University of Technology, MAI ki Aronui, and the Eke Tangaroa Māori and Pacific Early Career Academic programme at AUT.
She currently leads Te Kupenga o MAI as MAI Strategy Lead.
Rangahau · Related projects
Awardee: Deborah Heke (Nga Puhi. Te Arawa), Unitec Funding from this Grant will contribute to activities that support the dissemination, engagement, and impact of research and creative outputs, specifically: the creation and development of a prototype augmented reality (AR) experience exhibition that shares Māori research and narratives through immersive…
View projectNgā Pou Māreikura – Virtual pillars as building blocks for engagement.
Awardee: Deborah Heke (Nga Puhi. Te Arawa), Unitec
Funding from this Grant will contribute to activities that support the dissemination, engagement, and impact of research and creative outputs, specifically: the creation and development of a prototype augmented reality (AR) experience exhibition that shares Māori research and narratives through immersive digital storytelling.
Māori doctoral scholars often face significant challenges in universities dominated by Western academic traditions. These environments can clash with Māori cultural values and needs, reflecting colonial legacies that marginalise Indigenous knowledge and methodologies. To address these challenges, the Te Kupenga o MAI (MAI) programme was created in the late…
View projectTahatū-o-te-rangi: a study of the experiences and contributions of MAI Te Kupenga PhD scholars
Māori doctoral scholars often face significant challenges in universities dominated by Western academic traditions. These environments can clash with Māori cultural values and needs, reflecting colonial legacies that marginalise Indigenous knowledge and methodologies. To address these challenges, the Te Kupenga o MAI (MAI) programme was created in the late 1990s by Professor Graham Smith. This initiative supports Māori and Indigenous PhD students across Aotearoa New Zealand, providing mentorship, resources, and community connections grounded in Māori cultural values. MAI helps reduce isolation and creates culturally safe spaces for Māori scholars to succeed academically while maintaining their cultural identity.
This research focuses on understanding the long-term impact of the MAI programme by examining the experiences of recent Māori PhD graduates. It aims to explore their motivations, challenges, and the role MAI played in supporting them, as well as their career pathways and contributions to their communities after completing their studies. The findings will inform future efforts to support Māori doctoral scholars, ensuring they thrive in academia and contribute meaningfully to their whānau, hapū, iwi, and society.
Kairangahau · Researchers
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Associate Professor Deborah Heke
Associate Professor Deborah Heke
Associate Professor Deborah Heke (Ngā Puhi, Te Arawa) is the Director of Ngā Wai a Te Tūī Māori and Indigenous Research Centre at Unitec. With a background in Exercise Physiology, Psychology, and Public Health, her current research centres on Mana Wahine scholarship. Recent work includes an exploration of Māori and Indigenous women’s embodied practices and physical activity in te taiao as a means for connecting, communicating, and healing. Deborah is also passionate about building the capability and capacity of Māori and Indigenous (future) scholars and providing spaces for Indigenous… -
Associate Professor Hinekura Smith
Associate Professor Hinekura Smith
Dr Hinekura Smith (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) is NPM's Emerging Researchers’ Leader, providing further national leadership and coordination of MAI Te Kupenga and developing and nurturing initiatives that contribute to the outcomes and objectives of NPM’s Capability and Capacity Strategy. Hinekura was initially a secondary school te reo Māori teacher then moved into teacher education research almost 10 years ago, when she commenced her postgraduate studies. She has worked as a professional development facilitator in Māori medium schools, te reo Māori facilitator in English-medium schools and a… -
Dr Tim West-Newman
Dr Tim West-Newman
Tim West-Newman develops and implements technical business solutions including websites for Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. Tim has a PhD in Human Computer Interaction and has worked mainly in web and information technology systems development, having worked in The University of Auckland and AUT University, as well as an independent contractor for various organisations. -
Associate Professor Lara Greaves
Associate Professor Lara Greaves
Māori (and Indigenous) women engage in embodied relationship with the natural environment in a range of ways, such as raranga, rongoā, or physical activity. This research explored what these embodied relationships can teach us about the potential for reciprocal healing between wahine and whenua, person and place, by developing a network of Māori and…
View projectWhakarongo, titiro, korikori kōrero ki ngā wāhine – exploring embodied and reciprocal healing relationship with our natural environments
Māori (and Indigenous) women engage in embodied relationship with the natural environment in a range of ways, such as raranga, rongoā, or physical activity. This research explored what these embodied relationships can teach us about the potential for reciprocal healing between wahine and whenua, person and place, by developing a network of Māori and Indigenous women and prioritising mātauranga wāhine.
Kairangahau · Researchers
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Professor Helen Moewaka Barnes FRSNZ
Professor Helen Moewaka Barnes FRSNZ
Professor Helen Moewaka Barnes is based out of Massey University and is currently Director of Whāriki and Co-director of the SHORE and Whariki Research Centre. She has worked on research in many areas; more recently relationships between the health of people and the health of environments, sexual coercion, alcohol and youth well-being and identity. Her work is both qualitative and quantitative and she is also involved in developing research within Māori paradigms. Helen is a long time NPM researcher and is now a NPM Theme Leader (Te Tai Ao - Natural Environment ) and member of our Research… -
Meretini Bennett-Huxtable
Meretini Bennett-Huxtable
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Dr Melissa Vera
Dr Melissa Vera
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Lillian Bartlett
Lillian Bartlett