Ngāti Ranginui

Jacinta Ruru is a Professor of Law at the University of Otago. Her research has focused on exploring Indigenous peoples' legal rights to own, manage and govern land and water including national parks and minerals in Aotearoa New Zealand, Canada, United States, Australia and the Scandinavia countries.

She has led, or co-led, several national and international research projects including on the Common Law Doctrine of Discovery, Indigenous peoples’ rights to freshwater and multidisciplinary understandings of landscapes and writes for several legal publishers including Adams’ Land Transfer and edit the Brookers Maori Legislation Handbook. 

Fiona is Chairperson of Te Puna Ora o Mataatua and Med Central (Whakatāne medical practice) and is also an executive director at Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Her research interests are focused on Māori health outcomes and economic initiatives.

Meegan teaches courses on higher education learning and teaching and hosts teaching orientations and events. Most of her teaching is to lecturers and tutors whilst she also contributes to the programme offered by Te Kawa a Māui, the School of Māori Studies, such as their introductory course about Māori society and culture and their postgraduate course about Māori research methodologies.

Her research interests lie in Māori academic development, Māori pedagogies, Māori student achievement and retention in higher education.

Dr Amohia Bolton is the Research Director at Whakaue Research for Māori Health & Development with a career that has spanned public policy and academia. She has previously worked as a data analyst (Ministry of Education) policy analyst, senior analyst (Te Puni Kōkiri) and Private Secretary (Māori Affairs) and was awarded an HRC Māori Health Training Fellowship to pursue doctoral study at Massey University in Palmerston North. Her post-doctoral research took her to the University of Northern British Columbia in Canada where she worked with the Lheidli T'enneh First Nations people.

Her research interests are in the fields of Māori health and mental health services, health governance, health reform, and the interface between health policy and service-level implementation. Her work to date has involved a number of evaluations of health systems and health services, including being a Principal Investigator on the Health Reforms 2001 Research Project, (a five year, HRC-funded evaluation) and, more recently the Evaluation of Multisystemic Therapy Alcohol and other Drug Services for the Hutt Valley District Health Board.

Amohia is currently a member of the Māori Health Committee of the Health Research Council of New Zealand and an Executive Member of the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand.

Donna Gardiner is a PhD scholar of NPM. Her doctoral research project "Ka Whawhai Tonu Matou - Our struggle to transform” - looks at Maori leadership today, in a modern context. Donna was previously Research and Community Coordinator for NPM and coordinated the translation of NPM research and activities to our communities, specifically Māori and indigenous, to make positive change. She also coordinated opportunities such as hui, wānanga and conferences for these communities to discuss their research ideas and issues, and creative potential. In the past, Donna has been the outpost manager for Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi, and more recently Programme Leader, undergraduate programmes, for Te Ara Poutama at AUT University.