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.
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.
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.
The University of Waikato has announced the appointment of Professor Gary Wilson to the role of Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research from early next year.
Gary is currently Chief Scientist and General Manager Research Strategy & Partnerships at GNS Science Te Pū Ao. He holds a BSc with First Class Honours in Geology, BMus and PhD in Geology and Earth Science, all from Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington.
Gary has an extensive track record in research and research leadership in universities and in government research agencies.
He holds an Honorary Professorship with the University of Otago following almost two decades working in roles including Associate Dean for Research, Head of Department and Professor of Geology and Marine Science.
Gary’s research interests include marine geology and the marine geological record of ocean and climate change, with specific focuses on Antarctica. His work in this area and his previous roles including Managing Director of the New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute and Chief Scientific Advisor to Antarctica New Zealand, are well-known nationally and internationally.
Gary is passionate about research and what can be achieved by impact from research through collaboration and partnerships. He is also equally motivated by supporting and enabling graduate researchers to achieve their goals, and has supervised more than 35 masters and doctoral students over the course of his career.
“I’m excited to be joining the University of Waikato and looking forward to helping build the national and international research profile of the University,” says Professor Wilson.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Neil Quigley says the University is delighted to have secured someone of Gary’s calibre, with a deep understanding and passion for research both in a university context and more broadly.
Gary’s appointment replaces Professor Bryony James who recently took up the role of Provost at Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington.
Source: University of Waikato – Press Release/Statement:
Headline: Personal archives of opera great Dame Malvina Major gifted to the University
The personal archives of New Zealand opera soprano Dame Malvina Major have been gifted to the University of Waikato. Some of the archive is on display as an exhibition entitled “I did it my way” in the University’s Gallagher of Performing Arts from 20 November 2023 – 8 March 2024.
Source: University of Waikato – Press Release/Statement:
Headline: Walking into the future with eyes fixed on the past
Professor Tangiwai Rewi, newly appointed Te Amokapua (Dean), Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao, is looking forward to being back home in Waikato. She sat down a few days before her move to share about her journey, as well as her aspirations for the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies.
The University of Waikato and HMS Trust Award officially launches this month, timed to mark the one-year anniversary of the signing of a strategic partnership between the University and HMS Trust last November.
The Award will be offered to up to four recipients each year, who will each receive up to $8,000 towards tuition fees and course materials.
HMS Trust Executive Chairperson Claire van der Most says the new scholarships will provide access to tertiary education to people who may not normally be able to attend university.
“There are a number of people who have the potential, but sometimes don’t have the means to obtain tertiary education,” says Claire. “Education is such an enabler for people, setting them up for careers and earning money.”
To be eligible for the Award, applicants must be current clients of HMS Trust living in the Waikato region, be actively contributing to the Waikato community, and be enrolled in part or full-time study in a degree programme at the University in the year of the Award.
“This is a steppingstone to achieve a qualification, then head out into the world and do great things,” says Claire. “Ultimately, it supports the aim of the partnership, which is to improve the economic and social wellbeing of people from migrant and refugee backgrounds in the Hamilton and Waikato region.”
Professor Asad Mohsin, who is Assistant Vice-Chancellor of Community Engagement at the University and a HMS Trust board member, played an important role in setting up the Award and the partnership between the two organisations, says Claire.
“Asad is very passionate about the power of education, and we have developed this scholarship with his support.”
University of Waikato Vice-Chancellor Neil Quigley says he is delighted to see the partnership taking flight, and the benefits the Award will provide to students and their whānau.
“These new scholarships provide an opportunity to learn from our first-class academics, teachers and researchers, and we look forward to welcoming Award recipients to the University of Waikato next year.
“We hope that this scholarship and their University studies will have positive ripple effects for them, their families and communities.”
Claire is excited about the ongoing opportunities for the University and Trust to work together with partnered events and conferences, knowledge-sharing and research.
“We are looking at ways we can continue to support each other, with mutual benefit, and make a positive difference to the lives of people in our community, which is really exciting.”
Based at the Settlement Centre Waikato on Claudelands Park, the Trust works with around 800 clients each year, providing a wide range of services and programmes for migrants and former refugees.
To find out more about the University of Waikato and HMS Trust Award, please visit the University scholarships webpage.
Preference will be given to first-time applicants, those with strong academic achievement or potential, and those with financial need. The intention is to award it to different students each year, but applicants can reapply for subsequent years.
Applications are now open and will close on 1 February 2024.
Source: University of Waikato – Press Release/Statement:
Headline: Restoring ecosystems to boost biodiversity is an urgent priority – our ‘Eco-index’ can guide the way
Biodiversity continues to decline globally, but nowhere is the loss more pronounced than in Aotearoa New Zealand, which has the highest proportion of threatened indigenous species in the world.
We hope our Eco-index initiative will help change the story for nature.
It is with sadness the University announced the passing of Dr Sue Dymock last week a Senior Lecturer in Te Kura Toi Tangata School of Education.
Sue’s colleagues describe her as a principled and focused scholar, serving the community with integrity and say she will be remembered most for her generosity and knowledge.
Sue was farewelled at a service at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Hamilton today, 9 November.
A passionate teacher and educator until the end, donations of children’s books, brought to her service, will be distributed to schools within the Waikato to honour Sue’s Hamilton Children’s Reading Centre for children who can’t read good.
A Givealittle has also been set up to honour Sue and continue to support financially disadvantaged children with reading difficulties.
“Sue will be greatly missed by her colleagues and the students for whom her work and research had such an impact,” says Dr Cheng.
Sue joined the University in February 1999 as a Lecturer in the then Department of Arts and Language Education, becoming a Senior Lecturer in 2003.
Her research and practice focused on understanding and supporting students with literacy difficulties, in particular, dyslexia. She had published ten books on supporting teachers to teach reading and to work with dyslexic students, with most of these books published by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
Sue saw that her strengths included being able to translate research to practice and making research accessible for students and educators, says colleague, Deputy Head of Education in Te Kura Toi Tangata, Dr Maurice Cheng.
Sue’s latest book, The New Zealand Dyslexia Handbook (2nd edition) is due to be published soon. She also produced a set of 24 video clips to accompany this publication, which she hoped would make the latest knowledge more accessible to researchers, teachers, literacy education practitioners and students.
Many of her research publications were with collaborator Emeritus Professor of Massey University, Tom Nicholson, who she saw as both a great mentor and a great friend, says Dr Cheng.
In the past 12 months Sue’s work included publication in the top peer-reviewed journal Reading Research Quarterly (USA). Dyslexia Seen Through the Eyes of Teachers: An Exploratory Survey. Susan Dymock, Tom Nicholson. Sue was also invited to contribute a column in the International Literacy Association (USA) publication on dyslexia.
Sue was also the Director of the Hamilton Reading Centre (formerly Hamilton Children’s Reading Centre), established in 2003 and was behind raising more than $750,000 for the centre from a series of generous funders. The Centre offers specialist diagnosis and tuition for primary and secondary students with literacy difficulties, including dyslexia, at no cost. Over the years, the Centre has served several hundred children in Hamilton and the surrounding area.
In 2016, Sue was selected as a Fellow of the International Academy of Research in Learning Disabilities. Her book The New Zealand Dyslexia Handbook (1st edition) was the runner-up for Best Resource in Higher Education in the 2015 Copyright Licencing New Zealand Education Awards. Within the University, she received the Community Impact Research Excellence Award for her leadership and service associated with the Reading Centre.
Besides her teaching and research, Sue took great joy and satisfaction in serving as the Academic Co-ordinator for International Students. Many international students will remember Sue, who offered not only academic induction and guidance, but also pastoral care.
Coming from Portland, Oregon USA, Sue was very empathetic to the hurdles international students had to pass through and was very proud to have the plate – Academic Co-ordinator – International, on her door, says Dr Cheng.
Women coastal scientists face multiple barriers to getting into the field for research. These include negative perceptions of their physical capabilities, not being included in trips, caring responsibilities at home and a lack of field facilities for women. Even if women clear these barriers, the experience can be challenging.
This is a problem because fieldwork is crucial for gathering data, inspiring emerging scientists, developing skills, expanding networks and participating in collaborative research.
Our collective experience of more than 70 years as active coastal scientists suggests women face ongoing problems when they go to the field. Against a global backdrop of the #MeToo movement, the Picture a Scientist documentary and media coverage about incidents of sexual harassment in the field, conversations between fieldworkers and research managers about behaviour and policy change are needed.
Disrupting the narrative: Women fieldworkers operating equipment, carrying gear and fixing engines. Women in Coastal Geosciences and Engineering network
Our research: what we did and what we found
In 2016, we surveyed both male and female scientists about their experiences of gender equality in coastal sciences during an international symposium in Sydney and afterwards online.
From 314 responses, 113 respondents (36%) provided examples of gender inequality they had either directly experienced or observed while working in coastal sciences. About half of these were related to fieldwork.
Our recent paper in the journal Coastal Futures revisits the survey results to further unpack fieldwork issues that continue to surface among the younger generation of female coastal scientists whom we supervise in our jobs. Many of those younger women don’t know how to address these issues.
The paper includes direct quotes from 18 survey respondents describing their experiences. One woman, a mid-career university researcher, said:
As I fill in this survey, the corridor of the building I work in is lined with empty offices. My colleagues are out on boats doing fieldwork. I have a passion for coastal science. That’s why I’m working in a university. But I have a disproportionately large share of administrative, pastoral and governance duties that keep me from engaging in my passion. I’m about to go to a committee meeting of women, doing women’s work (reviewing teaching offerings). Inequality is alive and well in my workplace!
Collectively, the responses highlight barriers to fieldwork participation and challenges in the field, such as sexual harassment and abuse.
A pressing issue, on and off campus
Universities have recently been criticised for failing to respond to sexual violence on campus. But women employed by universities working off campus – at field sites – can be even more vulnerable.
The social boundaries that characterise day-to-day working life in the office and the laboratory are reconfigured on boats or in field camps. Personal space is reduced. Fieldworkers can be required to sleep in close proximity to one another, potentially putting women in vulnerable situations.
As this female early-career university researcher wrote:
Sometimes women are ‘advised’ to avoid fieldwork for security reasons. Or [we] are considered weak, or we are threatened by rape for being with a lot of men.
Women working on boats commonly face inadequate facilities at sea for toileting, menstruation and managing lactation. Some women said they were “not allowed to join research vessels” or “prevented from [joining] research in the field because of gender”.
Reminded of our personal experiences
Just reading the survey responses was difficult for us. Tales of exclusion and discrimination were particularly confronting because they resonated with our own personal experiences. As one of us, Sarah Hamylton, recalls:
I remember spending a hot day in my early 20s on a small boat taking measurements over a reef. I was the only female. When one of the four guys asked about needing the toilet, he was told to stand and relieve himself off the stern. I had to hold on, so I was desperate when we returned to the main ship in the afternoon.
But that wasn’t the only challenge Hamylton encountered on that trip:
We got back into port and the night before we departed to go home, I was woken by the drunken second officer banging on my cabin door asking for sex. The following year women were banned from attending this annual expedition because someone else had complained about sexual assault.
Gender stereotypes and discrimination
Coastal fieldwork demands diverse physical skills such as boating, four-wheel driving, towing trailers, working with hand and power tools, moving heavy equipment, SCUBA diving and being comfortable swimming in the surf, in currents or underwater.
But our survey revealed roles on field trips – and therefore opportunities to learn and gain crucial field skills – are typically handed to men rather than women. Several respondents observed female students and staff being left out of field work for “not being strong enough” and “too weak to pick stuff up”.
Body exposure can also be an issue for women in the field. Close-fitting wetsuits and swimsuits can increase the likelihood of womens’ bodies being objectified by colleagues. Undertaking coastal fieldwork while menstruating can also be a concern.
Another of us, Ana Vila-Concejo, notes:
Some scientific presentations show women in bikinis as a ‘beach modelling’ joke. Beyond self-consciousness, I have felt vulnerable wearing swimmers and exerting myself during fieldwork. Women students and volunteers have declined to participate in field experiments for this reason, particularly while menstruating.
The issue of body exposure also sheds light on the interconnections between race, religion, class and sexuality, which can create overlapping and intersectional disadvantages for women. Vila-Concejo adds:
I am old enough now that I don’t care anymore. I can afford a wetsuit, but many students and volunteers don’t have one. For some women, it isn’t socially or culturally acceptable to wear swimmers, or even to do fieldwork.
Five suggestions for improvement
To improve the fieldwork experience for women in coastal sciences, our research found the following behavioural and policy changes are needed:
publicise field role models and trailblazers to reshape public views of coastal scientists, increasing the visibility of female fieldworkers
improve opportunities and capacity for women to undertake fieldwork to diversify field teams by identifying and addressing the intersecting disadvantages experienced by women
establish field codes of conduct that outline acceptable standards of behaviour on field trips, what constitutes misconduct, sexual harassment and assault, how to make an anonymous complaint and disciplinary measures
acknowledge the challenges women face in the field and provide support where possible in fieldwork briefings and address practical challenges for women in remote locations, including toileting and menstruation
foster an enjoyable and supportive fieldwork culture that emphasises mutual respect, safety, inclusivity, and collegiality on every trip.
These five simple steps will improve the experience of fieldwork for all concerned and ultimately benefit the advancement of science.