Ngāti Whatua

Professor Margaret Mutu is of Ngāti Kahu, Te Rarawa, Ngāti Whātua and Scottish descent. She is the Professor of Māori Studies at the University of Auckland where she teaches and conducts research on Māori language, tikanga (law), history and traditions, rights and sovereignty, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and treaty claims against the English Crown, constitutional transformation and Māori-Chinese encounters.

She holds a BSc in mathematics, an MPhil in Māori Studies, a PhD in Māori Studies specialising in linguistics and a DipTchg. She has published four books: a grammar of the `Ua Pou dialect of Marquesan (2002); the history and traditions of her hapū, Te Whānau Moana (2003); her collection of annual reviews of issues affecting Māori, The State of Māori Rights (2011); and Ngāti Kahu: Portrait of a Sovereign Nation, on the traditions, history and Tiriti o Waitangi claims of her iwi (nation), Ngāti Kahu (2017).

She has also published numerous articles and book chapters and is called on frequently by local, national and international media to provide information and expert commentary. Margaret is the chair of her iwi parliament, Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāti Kahu of the Far North and of two of her marae. She has been a mandated representative of Ngāti Kahu and of Māori in a number of national and international fora. She has three children, six grandchildren and a huge extended family.

Lisa Te Morenga is a Research Fellow in the Department of Human Nutrition and is affiliated with the Riddet Institute – a National Centre of Research Excellence in food science and nutrition. Lisa works closely with Professor Jim Mann and collaborates with researchers associated with the Edgar National Centre for Diabetes and Obesity Research at the University of Otago Medical School. Her PhD was on “the effects of macronutrient composition on risk of diabetes” in 2010, both at the University of Otago.

Lisa’s primary motivation is to undertake research that is of direct benefit to Māori and thus focuses on the role of nutrition in the development of preventable diseases that inflict a particularly high health burden on the Maori community. She is actively engaged with Maori students and academic staff at the University of Otago and developing research relationships with Ngāti Whātua that are necessary to be able to contribute to kaupapa Maori health research.

Her research specialties include: Epidemiological studies, dietary intervention studies, and systematic review and meta-analyses examining the effects of macronutrient composition (including free sugars, dietary fibre, carbohydrates, fats and protein) on physiological endpoints associated with increased risk of preventable diseases including obesity, the metabolic syndrome, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Primary macronutrient interests include dietary sugars, dietary fibre and dietary protein.

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 conceptualisations of physical education and health, rangatiratanga and the right to self-determination, the role of the Tiriti o Waitangi for Māori health and Māori approaches to research.

Anne-Marie is a member of the leadership group for the Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge and an associate investigator for Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga. She is an advisor to the East Otago Taiāpure Management Committee, a member of Hauteruruku Waka ki Puketeraki (Kāti Huirapa ki Puketeraki), a member of Te Houhanga-a-Rongo Marae Centenary Committee (Ngāti Whātua), a mentor and Futures Group member at Te Taitimu Trust (Ngāti Kahungunu) and a beginner crew member of Haunui Waka.

Merata Kawharu is a graduate of The University of Auckland (BA in Social Anthropology and Māori Studies and Post-Graduate Diploma in Business (Administration)) and of Oxford University (DPhil in Social Anthropology).

She is currently working on the project Identifying Frameworks for Effective Iwi and Hapū Development and was previously the Principal Investigator on the NPM project Waka Wairua.

As a Rhodes Scholar she undertook research on kaitiakitanga. Since completing her doctorate in 1998, she has undertaken research projects for various Treaty claimant groups and the private sector and has been a consultant to the U.N and to UNESCO. She was a member of the NZ Historic Places Trust Board and Māori Heritage Council; the New Zealand Rhodes Committee; a Treaty claims advisor and member of other local committees. She is Director of Research at the James Henare Māori Research Centre at The University of Auckland, and an Associate Professor of Research at Otago University. She has published two edited books (on Treaty and resource management issues, one of which was shortlisted in the Montana Book awards), another book (Tahuhu Korero which won the Te Reo Māori section of the Māori book awards in 2010), along with several treaty reports and journal articles. She was awarded the Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori education in 2012.

Associate Professor Amokura Kawharu holds a BA/LLB (Hons) degree from the University of Auckland and an LLM with a major in international law from the University of Cambridge. She has worked as a practising lawyer and as an academic and is currently President of the New Zealand Law Commission.

Her research interests include international trade and investment law, arbitration, and international disputes resolution. She contributes reviews on disputes settlement for the New Zealand Law Review and co-authored the leading text on New Zealand arbitration law with David Williams QC, "Williams & Kawharu on Arbitration" (LexisNexis, 2011).