About this research
Project Summary
The project aimed to support steps toward a more holistic and Indigenous-led stewardship of Antarctica, by introducing and exploring how to apply the concept and practice of tohu into our rangahau. Observations of Antarctic sea-floor seeps signal a potential tohu or tipping point for the icy continent. Our interpretation of tohu asks about the place of human response and responsibility to signs and tipping points. Introducing this te ao Māori model to Antarctic research within an international network supports sustainable transformation toward flourishing futures for Māori.
Alyssa Thomas, Ocean Mercier and Sarah Seabrook, 2024, presented "He Tohu Āhuarangi: climate change signs between Antarctica and Aotearoa", at Session 32, Antarctic and Southern Ocean Histories: new perspectives and interpretations Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research SCAR conference, Pucon, Chile, 19-23 August.
Researchers
Associate Professor Ocean Mercier and Alyssa Thomas, Victoria University of Wellington
This project explored how the Māori concept of tohu—environmental signs—could inform Antarctic research and stewardship. By weaving te ao Māori into international climate science, the research supported Indigenous-led approaches to recognising and responding to signs of change in Antarctica.
Kairangahau · Researchers
Associate Professor Ocean Mercier
Ngāti Porou
Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington
Ocean’s teaching and research interests are varied, but her key focus is how mātauranga Māori and science connect and…
Associate Professor Ocean Mercier
Ētahi atu · Other projects
This platform project explores how Māori-led taiao initiatives reconnect whānau and hapū with place, identity, and whakapapa. Through case studies, wānanga, and digital tools, the project examines the aspirations, processes, and outcomes of environmental mahi that strengthen connections between people and te taiao.
View projectCommunity Connections to Place
This platform project explores how Māori-led taiao initiatives reconnect whānau and hapū with place, identity, and whakapapa.
Through case studies, wānanga, and digital tools, the project examines the aspirations, processes, and outcomes of environmental mahi that strengthen connections between people and te taiao.
Kairangahau · Researchers
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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… -
Associate Professor Ocean Mercier
Associate Professor Ocean Mercier
Ocean’s teaching and research interests are varied, but her key focus is how mātauranga Māori and science connect and relate, particularly in educational contexts and using novel digital technologies. She co-leads a National Science Challenge project investigating the perceptions of novel biotechnological controls of pest wasps in Aotearoa. Her research also involves kaupapa Māori reading of films. She is the presenter of Māori Television's Project Mātauranga and presents for TVNZ’s Coast. Current research projects Social and cultural perceptions of novel biotechnological controls of pest…
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…
- Mana Touchstones
- Te Ahunga atu ki ngā Ōhanga Oranga Māori: Towards Māori Economies of Wellbeing
- He Rauhī Kupu
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
- He Rauhī Kupu
Kairangahau · Researchers
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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… -
Dr John Reid
Dr John Reid
John is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Canterbury’s Ngai Tahu Research Centre. He is a specialist in leading and developing multi-disciplinary research and development programmes focused on addressing interrelated social, economic, and environmental problems. His research explores the way in which Indigenous and Western cultures shape identity, sense of place, and approaches to social and economic development. John's current research interests are focused on sustainable development within indigenous tribal communities and in fostering novel approaches to development through… -
Associate Professor Jason Paul Mika
Associate Professor Jason Paul Mika
Jason is Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Kahungunu. He is an associate professor at Te Raupapa Waikato Management School and Te Kotahi Research Institute, University of Waikato, in Hamilton, New Zealand. Jason’s research, teaching, writing, and practice centres on Indigenous business philosophy in multiple sites, sectors, and scales, including Indigenous trade, tourism, agribusiness, and the marine economy. In 2015, Jason completed a PhD in Māori entrepreneurship at Massey University. In 2019, Jason was a Fulbright-Ngā Pae o Te Māramatanga senior scholar at Stanford University’s Woods… -
Dr Matthew Rout
Dr Matthew Rout
Matt works on indigenous socio-economic development and environmental sustainability initiatives and projects with a focus on applied outcomes through theoretical synthesis. He has a particular interest in how philosophical insights from ontology and epistemology can be used in practical ways to aid indigenous development. Indigenous and modernist ontology and epistemology Institutional economics Postcolonial psychology Settler colonisation Sustainable development
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.
View projectInvestigating traditional mahinga kai practices of preservation throughout Aotearoa
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.