Ngāti Raukawa

Dr Ricci Harris (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāi Tahu) is a public health physician and Research Associate Professor at Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare. She has research expertise in Māori health, epidemiology (including quantitative aspects of Kaupapa Māori research) and the investigation and elimination of ethnic health inequities in New Zealand. This has included research into the classification of ethnicity, ethnic disparities in health status and receipt of health services, and the impact of social determinants (e.g. SES and racism) on Māori health and inequities. Her current research focus is on racism as a determinant of health. This includes the relationship between experiences of discrimination and health, the impact of socially-assigned ethnicity, ethnic consciousness and ethnic density on health, and ethnic bias among health professionals.

Dr Lynne Russell works as a Senior Research Fellow - Maori Health with the Health Services Research Centre (HSRC) at Victoria University of Wellington. Much of her professional and academic work has centred around the Indigenous knowledge and healing practices used in recovery from trauma associated with mental distress, suicide loss and self-harm. She describes herself as an writer, activist and public speaker stirred by cultural resilience, social justice, Indigenous and LGBTI rights, and the amplification of voices more readily silenced in society.

Emeritus Professor Sir Mason Durie KNZM, FNZAH, FRSNZ is one of New Zealand’s most respected academics, and was knighted in 2010 for services to public and Māori health. 

For over 40 years, Sir Mason has been at the forefront of a transformational approach to Māori health, including chairing the Taskforce on Whānau-Centred Initiatives that produced the Whānau Ora report for the Government in 2010.  He is a past Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Massey University. 

Sir Mason previously served as NPM’s International Research Advisory Panel Chair and has been a valued past Principal Investigator leading research on the project Fostering te pā harakeke: Advancing Healthy and Prosperous Families of Mana.

Sir Mason was appointed NPM Ruānuku in October 2019.

Melanie is an Indigenous environmental sociologist, and the Māori Research Manager – Kaiārahi for the Bio-Protection Research Centre (a Centre of Research Excellence) based at Lincoln University.

She is also the Māori Manager for New Zealand’s Biological Heritage National Science Challenge, a founding member of Te Tira Whakamātaki; the Māori Biosecurity Network and a project leader and researcher in a number of National Science Challenge, Tertiary Education Commission and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment programmes including ‘Mātauranga Māori characterisation of NZ’s biodiversity,’ ‘Protecting NZ’s primary sector from plant pests: a toolkit for the urban battlefield,’ and ‘Protecting New Zealand from extreme fire.’

Since 2011 Melanie has been funded through various research institutes and government agencies to examine disaster risk reduction (DRR) and the effects of the Canterbury earthquakes on Māori communities, work that she believes links closely to the biosecurity sector. Melanie worked for Te Runanga o Ngāi Tahu and its education subsidiary Te Tapuae o Rehua from 2001-2008.

Garth is a senior environmental scientist based in Palmerston North and has worked for Landcare Research since 1992. His career spans over 28 years in resource management, land resource assessment, national environmental databases, GIS applications, and indigenous research. Garth pioneered much of the Māori led research in Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research Ltd., working on a wide range projects with Māori organisations and regional councils throughout New Zealand, particularly in the areas of land use planning, ecosystem health, bio-physical and cultural indicators, restoring indigenous landscapes, climate change, sustainable iwi/hapu resource development, building Māori research capability, collaborative learning, and indigenous Māori knowledge and values.

Major achievements and publications reflect an in-depth relationship and extensive networking during the last 29 years, work in at least 40 Māori research projects, and a large number of consultancies/working relationships/supply of information to staff in: iwi and hapu organisations; central and local government; non government organisations.

Bridget (Ngāti Raukawa) is the director of Te Rōpū Rangahau Hauora a Eru Pōmare at the University of Otago, Wellington. Her research interests are in the areas of social and economic determinants of health, inequitable treatment in the health system, the impact of racism on health, and the development of kaupapa Māori epidemiology.

Bridget is the Principal Investigator of Unequal Treatment: The Role of Health Services. She is also involved in the Mauri Tangata project on unemployment and health, several projects on Māori cancer outcomes, and she is active in providing Tackling Inequalities workshops for the health sector. Bridget was also an author on Hauora: Standards of Health III.

Professor Tapsell is a graduate of the University of Auckland (MA - Social Anthropology) and University of Oxford (DPhil - Museum Ethnography) and has had a distinguished career working within both the Museum community and also academia. He was Tumuaki/Director Māori of Tamaki Paenga Hira/Auckland Museum from 2000-2008, and was appointed as a Professor of Māori Studies in 2009 when he joined the University of Otago in Dunedin. Paul is currently also Director, Collections and Research at Museums Victoria.

Paul has published many articles, essays and award winning books and his research interests include Māori identity in 21st century New Zealand, cultural heritage & museums, taonga trajectories in and beyond tribal contexts, Māori values within governance policy frameworks, Indigenous entrepreneurial leadership, marae and mana whenua, genealogical mapping of tribal landscapes and Te Arawa historical and genealogical knowledge. Paul is a co-Principal Investigator on the NPM project Waka Wairua with Associate Professor Merata Kawharu.