Rongomaiwahine

Dr James Ataria was a Deputy Director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga for a fixed term 2016 to 2018. He is Senior Lecturer at Lincoln University and an ecotoxicologist at the Cawthron Institute, Nelson and is also an associate trustee of the Tuaropaki Trust and a member of Ngā Kaihautū Tikanga Taiao (Māori Advisory Committee to the board of the Environmental Protection Authority).

His research interests are in the development and application of ecotoxicological tools for the assessment of the biological effects and impacts of legacy and new emerging contaminants on culturally significant species and sites (especially freshwater) in New Zealand. He conducts his research within multi-disciplinary/multi-organisational programmes that are firmly embedded in Māori culture and process but with strong linkages to end-user organisations.

This approach interfaces between science and mātauranga Māori (traditional and contemporary Māori knowledge) and explores mechanisms that promote mutual understanding and equality of uptake in policy and decision making with respect to environmental resource management.

He led the NPM projects He moemoeā mō Ahuriri: A vision plan and health assessment for the Ahuriri Estuary, Ko te huarahi ki mua: Roads for change and He pūau awa – he ūngututanga mātauranga

Adreanna is a Senior Lecturer in Te Kura Māori in the Faculty of Education. Her research interests include youth, education, and health as well as Māori development with a specific interest in Indigenous – ethnic minority youth and how existent issues within the community influence life experience and the articulation of that experience.

Historically her research is conducted through a sociological consideration of social injustice issues and deploys qualitative and critical research methodologies which include the Indigenous epistemology Kaupapa Māori. She is grounded in her community Te Mahia where she grew up on the whānau farm and like many other Indigenous scholars she supports her community by acting as an advocate for our Indigenous rights and liaising between her people and various institutions, leading and participating in research and writing projects and mentoring the younger generation.

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.

Dr Joseph (Joe) Te Rito Joe is currently Deputy-Director/Kaihautū Mātauranga Māori with with AKO AOTEAROA, the National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence.  He was previously Kaihautū Tikanga; Senior Research Fellow – Tikanga and Reo at Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) until December 2015, where he provided advice and guidance in Tikanga Māori, Te Reo Māori and community/Iwi relationships, as well as conducting research relevant to the NPM Research Plan. Joe was also an assessor and senior advisor for NPM's Grants and Awards programme.

Joe’s research examines a range of oral recordings in the Māori language of his elders, with the aim to promote the oral language of these elders as the exemplars for second-language learners. This involves the development of an online 'talking book' comprised of the oral recordings, transcriptions and translations of them, and a linguistic analysis with a focus on local dialects.

Joe’s passion for the language began in 1971 when he became a member of the Te Reo Māori Society at Victoria University of Wellington. The group was active in collecting signatures for the 30,000-signature Te Reo Māori Petition presented to Parliament in 1972. From there Joe became a teacher and has taught Māori in various settings including Ōmāhu Bilingual School, Queen Victoria School, The University of Auckland and EIT Hawke’s Bay where he became Dean of Māori Studies and worked for 17 years. During that time he led the development of the institute’s BA and BA Honours degrees, a series of on-air Māori language courses and the on-campus marae. He is a recipient of the Sir Winston Churchill Fellowship and the award for ‘Best Contribution to Māori Radio – Last 10 Years’ from Te Whakaruruhau o ngā Reo Irirangi Māori (Federation of Māori radio stations). He moved to Auckland to become General Manager – Te Reo Māori and Tikanga Māori at the Māori Television Service and from there moved to NPM in 2004. Joe is the founding and current Chairperson of Radio Kahungunu, a position he has held since the station began in 1988.