Senior Lecturer
School of Psychology

Natasha Tassell-Matamua is a senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at Massey University, where she teaches in the area of cultural psychology. Her research platform encompasses two primary threads: Indigenous Psychology with a focus on mātauranga Māori as it relates to: ethics, spirituality, well-being, and the environment - and also Exceptional Human Experiences with a particualr focus on near-death experiences [NDEs].

Ko Hikurangi te Maunga, Ko Waiapu te Awa, Ko Ngāti Porou te Iwi, Ko te Whānau a Pōkai te Hapū, Ko Te Kapa o Hinekōpeka te Tūrangawaewae, Ko Pōkai te Marae, Ko Pōhatu te Wharekai. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā rā tātou katoa.

My main accomplishments to-date are my five children and (so far) eight mokopuna.

I am a senior lecturer/researcher in education with a main focus on mathematics education in relation to kaupapa and mātauranga Māori in kura. 

Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr Pauline Harris is the Chairperson of the SMART board and a postdoctoral researcher at Victoria University. Her research involves searching for extra-solar planets.

Phil’s research has used ecological science and indigenous and local knowledge to interpret changes in demographic trends and abundance of wildlife populations (e.g. terrestrial and marine birds). The key focus of his research has been on climatic and anthropogenic (e.g. harvest) drivers of population change, and the development of models to forecast population trends. He has expertise in interpreting ecosystem structure and function within scientific and indigenous worldviews, in particular the ways that different cultures ‘sense’ the environment.

Senior Lecturer

Rachel's training has been multi-disciplinary, incorporating the fields of organisation, consumption, leadership and economic theory and practice. She has taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Management, Organisation Behaviour, Māori Enterprise, Sustainability, Business, Culture and Society, Business Ethics and Sustainability.

Co-Director

Rawiri is a graduate of Massey University and Co-Director of Te Atawhai o te Ao. He was previously Project Manager for MANU AO with the responsibility of implementing key projects, such as the Leadership Course and Academic Forums. 

Rawiri has expertise in Project management; Māori event management; Māori business and organisations; and Māori oral history. He has tribal affiliations to Te Āti Haunui-ā-Pāpārangi, Ngāti Rangi, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Kahungunu me Ngāi Tūhoe.

Senior Lecturer

Robert is a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand and was a senior research fellow for the Te Mātāhauariki Research Institute at the University of Waikato under the leadership of Judge Michael Brown and Dr Alex Frame. Dr Robert Joseph was the second Māori in New Zealand - and the first Māori male - to graduate with a PhD in Law in 2006.

Sarah-Jane (Ngāi Tūhoe) is the recently appointed research director of Growing Up in NZ (GUINZ), Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest contemporary longitudinal study of child development, tracking the lives of 6,000 children and their families over 21 years. The study has produced many reports, policy briefs and papers that contribute to a growing body of knowledge on what helps to improve childhood health and well-being in Kiwi families.

Shaun Awatere is facilitating this webinar. He is a member of the NPM research leadership team and works as a resource economist for Landcare Research. Shaun works to improve the incorporation of Mātauranga Māori into local government planning by developing the systems and processes that enable Māori values to be integrated into urban design and development.