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University of Waikato climate scientist Dr Luke Harrington has scooped two awards that recognise his growing reputation in climate change research.

Dr Harrington has been awarded the Hamilton City Council Emerging Scientist Award at the Kudos Science Trust 2023 Awards. He has also been awarded the prestigious Edward Kidson Medal by the New Zealand Meteorological Society, and he’s leading three other recent grants that will support environmental resilience in the face of climate change.

The Edward Kidson Medal recognises a scientist who has made a significant contribution that has advanced the science of meteorology and/or climatology.

Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research, Professor Karin Bryan said the awards are a fantastic validation of Dr Harrington’s research.

“We’re excited our students can learn from the expertise and passion of an emerging leader in climate change research, especially those working towards the world first Bachelor of Climate Change degree at the University.”

Of the wins, Dr Harrington said “It’s nice to have the recognition of my peers for some of the research we’ve published, though I’m almost always working with a team of fantastic collaborators. It’s only through these partnerships that we come up with insights which can help decision makers in the real world.”

A Senior Lecturer in Climate Change, Dr Harrington leads the Climate Extremes and Societal Impacts (CLESI) research group at the University.

He says, “We’re looking at extreme weather events, their impacts on society and the role of anthropogenic climate change – all with a view to better prepare New Zealanders for the ongoing impacts of climate change.”

Dr Harrington and CLESI are working on three recently funded complementary research programmes focussed on building the resilience of our environment and homes to extreme weather events. They’re actively seeking postgraduate students to work on the programmes:

Dr Harrington is further collaborating on work to help communities and organisations, both in Aotearoa and globally, adapt to worsening extreme weather events. He’s involved with multiple projects working to understand the health risks associated with extreme heat in Aotearoa.

Internationally, he is working with other researchers to assess how worsening climate hazards can disproportionately affect some of the world’s poorest communities, offering insight into the losses and damages from climate change that are already being experienced.

Rapidly growing ethnic communities are projected to be about 30% of the population of Aotearoa New Zealand by 2043.So, how can we engage with these communities to be part of a new pluralistic citizenship model? A trans-disciplinary research project is kicking off in the New Year, undertaken by three professors from the University of Waikato, intending to design an inclusive and holistic citizenship model guided by the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

University of Waikato Professors Debashish Munshi, Priya Kurian, and Sandy Morrison (Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rārua) will, over the course of a three-year research project, explore ways of practising democracy that embrace the diverse ethnic communities of Aotearoa New Zealand under an overarching commitment to Te Tiriti. The team have recently received a prestigious Marsden grant from the Royal Society Te Apārangi to support their endeavours.

Professor Kurian, a political scientist, says that despite ethnic communities being present in New Zealand for most of its history, they are often forgotten in policy discussions.

“Ethnic communities, whose backgrounds often also include histories of being colonised, and who have been in New Zealand from the late 18th century, have remained largely invisible in policy discussions,” she says.

Professor Munshi, who researches at the intersections of sustainability, social change, and citizenship, says the research will explore the rights and responsibilities of ethnic communities in upholding Te Tiriti and the obligations of the Crown to ethnic minorities under Te Tiriti.

“Our project will examine how a Tiriti-centred, distinctly Aotearoa notion of ‘sustainable citizenship’ can offer a pathway to an inclusive and equitable society for all,” he says.

The project acknowledges Māori as tangata whenua and seeks to centre Te Tiriti in formulating a policy framework that goes beyond the usual discussions around biculturalism and multiculturalism.

Te Tiriti expert Professor Morrison says that the project will be informed by kaupapa Māori principles of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga.

“Our aim is to design an inclusive and holistic model of citizenship that centres mātauranga and contributes to the hauora/oranga (health and wellbeing) of the nation,” she says.

The research project entitled “He Rau Ringa: Engaging ethnic communities in a Tiriti o Waitangi-centred framework of sustainable citizenship” will begin in February 2024.

Tauira Māori excellence at the University of Waikato has been recognised, honoured and celebrated at a recent awards ceremony on the Hamilton campus.

Ngā Tohu Toi Hau Awards highlight the top tauira Māori across the University, in areas including academic achievement and community contribution, across all years, faculties and divisions.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori, Dr Sarah-Jane Tiakiwai, says the awards are a way to acknowledge a year of mahi put in by students.

“Of particular note is Te Manu Taupori, an award that’s not just about academic success. It recognises the mana of the recipient and the time and energy they put into everything they do, from study to sport, kindness to kaupapa, and students are nominated by their peers.”

This year also saw the introduction of He Rakau Taumatua, a new award similar to Te Manu Taupori, but with staff nominating students they believe go above and beyond within their communities and their academic divisions and faculties.

Te Manu Huia was awarded for only the second year, an award recognising an outstanding contribution made by a group or individual to the University. This year’s winner, Lanee Waho, was also received seven nominations for two other awards, a reflection of the extensive contribution she makes to campus life.

Dr Tiakiwai says the University’s tauira Māori are dedicated and supportive.

“It’s an honour to be able to recognise all of them and the work they have all put in this year.”

Along with award-winners, who each received a taonga designed by alumna and local designer Nichola Te Kiri, the ceremony, held at The Pā, recognised nearly 150 postgraduate tauira who have recently submitted their Masters or PhD research for completion.

The Health Research Council (HRC) has awarded $512,000 to University of Waikato researchers for five projects that aim to bolster health outcomes for Māori and Pacific peoples. The five successful projects focus on solutions-based research, building on the knowledge and expertise of Māori and Pacific communities.

Tino rangatiratanga through kaupapa Māori pregnancy and parenting solutions

Dr Nikki Barrett (Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Porou) has been awarded the Māori Health Research Erihapeti Rehu-Murchie Postdoctoral Fellowship worth $391,877 to enhance the wellbeing of Māori mothers and babies. She’ll undertake the fellowship with Te Ngira: Institute for Population Research at the University of Waikato, working alongside Māori community provider Kirikiriroa Family Start Trust.

“As a Māori māmā who has experienced both ends of the health spectrum, as a service user and health professional, I have a responsibility to my people to ensure my research will have a meaningful impact and contribute to improved health gains for our whānau,” says Dr Barrett.

Dr Barrett’s study builds on her prior research on Indigenous birthing knowledge and antenatal care. Her new study will centre on kaupapa Māori pregnancy and parenting initiatives to understand mechanisms and measures for success, and to provide meaningful and transformational change for Māori māmā hapū (pregnant women) and whānau.

Professor Lisette Burrows and Dr Polly Atatoa Carr will supervise Dr Barrett.

Mana wāhine perspectives for waka ama and hauora

Kay Berryman (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Āpakura, Waikato, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngai Tahu) has been awarded a Māori Health Research PhD Scholarship worth $123,600.

Her PhD study through the University will explore Māori women and Indigenous women’s perceptions and experiences of mātauranga in the context of waka ama and its impact on their hauora (holistic wellbeing).

“My doctoral research will incorporate my hauora experience, gained through my own journey of waka ama. The PhD scholarship will enable me to dedicate myself fully to advancing health outcomes of wahine Māori and tamariki,” explains Ms Berryman.

The kaupapa Māori and mana wāhine-led research will identify opportunities for integrating and enriching mātauranga Māori and Indigenous knowledge within the context of waka ama to promote the revitalisation and relevance of traditional knowledge systems.

Ms Berryman hopes that the research will help highlight the central role of women within Māori communities.

Dr Sophie Nock, Dr Waikaremoana Waitoki and Dr Donna Campbell will supervise Ms Berryman’s research.

Three Health Career Development awards for School of Health researchers

The HRC funding round also recognised three Te Huataki Waiora School of Health researchers.

Dr Apo Aporosa and Dr Sione Vaka have each received a $5,000 Pacific Health Research Knowledge Translation Grant. The grants are specific to building Pacific health knowledge, research, and capacity to enable Pacific-led research in partnership with Pacific communities.

Dr Aporosa will lead a project on enhancing health outcomes by educating healthcare workers on Pacific spirituality. Dr Vaka’s project explores Talanoa and ūloa in mental health.

Dr Gloria Clarke (Te Arawa, Rangitaane ki Wairarapa) secured a $4,269 Māori Health Research Knowledge Translation Grant for her research entitled ‘Knowledge translation: from thesis to community.’

This award is for work that contributes to building the Māori health research workforce to ensure New Zealand has the capacity to address unique Indigenous health issues.

After 200 years in residence in a British Museum storeroom, Te Rā has arrived home to its descendants in Aotearoa New Zealand and was welcomed to Tamaki Makaurau for an exhibition at Auckland War Memorial Museum on the weekend. Te Rā arriving back home is the culmination of an in-depth research study by local kairangahau, including Dr Donna Campbell (Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Ruanui), Associate Professor at Te Pua Wananga ki te Ao – Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies.

Te Rā is the only remaining example of a traditional Māori sail. It was taken from Aotearoa in the late eighteenth century, where it has been a guest of the British Museum ever since.

Weaver and artist Dr Campbell is one of a team of researchers who’ve worked to reveal the secrets of Te Rā with a 2017 Marsden Grant. Dr Campbell has a long relationship with Te Rā, first meeting the artefact in 2014, in London. She wrote of the encounter in her doctoral thesis:

“I felt heaviness and sadness beside the thrill of at last seeing Te Rā. I sensed the taonga stored in these rooms and their mauri (life force energy) and thought of how lonely Te Rā and the many other treasures stored here must be, to be so far away from home.”

The homecoming of Te Rā is the culmination of years of relationship building with the Museum.

For many years Dr Campbell, Dr CatherineSmith, and Ms Ranui Ngarimu (ONZM) have worked to identify the materials and construction methods used.

The four-and-a-half metre-long sail is made up of thirteen finely woven harakeke panels. Dr Campbell said samples were able to confirm the materials.

“The top edge and ‘streamer’ are fringed with kahu and kereru feathers. Some loops still have kaka feathers attached, and two have small remnants of Kurī (dog) hair.”

Dr Campbell reverse-engineered the weaving techniques. The joins use a triple weave construction method rarely seen today, called hiki or hono. The hiki is not interrupted by the zig zag patterning up the sail.

In consultation with te reo Māori linguists these features were named ‘awamatangi’ – pathways of the wind. She said the genius of the mātauranga is evident in these joins.

“The awamatangi are a remarkable and complex technical feature that would have allowed the wind to blow through the sail without it breaking. Our next research focus will be to examine the functionality of the sail in depth, with the aim to engineer sails for testing on waka.”

Currently, the kairangahau are completing the final mahi for their Marsden-funded study. The end output is a book on Te Rā with detailed accounts of the construction methods.

“We hope with the exhibitions and publication of the pukapuka that other sails may be discovered. There is the possibility that ancient sails are sitting in museum storerooms, yet to be identified,” says Dr Campbell.

After being housed at Christchurch Art Gallery, Te Rā has arrived in Tamaki Makaurau at Auckland War Memorial Museum.