2025
NGĀ RINGA RANGAHAU RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
9–11 July 2025
Te Aho a Māui | EIT Hawke’s Bay
SYMPOSIUM DAY ONE
Wednesday 9th July 2025
Tū mai rā e Te Ara o Tāwhaki
From exploring black holes to sailing by the stars, this journey unites science and Māori astronomy through the lens of Matariki mā Puanga.
Dr Pauline Harris - Astrophysicist
Analysing peak energy use on dairy farms reveals smarter ways to reduce emissions and costs through timing and innovation.
Jefferson DewResearcher, Climate
Change Policy
Mā te whakarongo ka mōhio...
Freshwater governance must honour Māori rangatiratanga to restore the health of our wai and awa.
Jaxson Tautala-Hanita Environmental Researcher
Ngāti Kahungunu’s climate resilience is strengthened by weaving Indigenous knowledge into local adaptation strategies.
Ashleigh Keenan Climate Change Researcher
Revitalising traditional Māori birthing practices strengthens hapū ora and reclaims wāhine wisdoms.
Jean Te Huia Midwife and Doctoral Researcher
Spiritual care grounded in wairua is essential for transforming our health system to reflect Māori healing needs.
Dr Eleanor Brittain Senior Lecturer and Clinical Psychologist
Culturally safe staffing ratios, led by Māori nurses, are critical for achieving equitable health outcomes for our people.
Kerri Nuku Kaiwhakahaere, Nurse and Midwife
SYMPOSIUM DAY TWO
Thursday 10th July 2025
Recognising tikanga as Aotearoa’s first law invites us to reimagine a constitution grounded in Māori values and Indigenous law.
Dr Carwyn Jones Constitutional Law Expert
Reviving ancestral waiata from manuscripts brings tīpuna voices back to our marae and enriches our cultural legacy.
Brian Morris Te Reo Māori Scholar
Graduate voices reveal the long-standing cultural impact of Te Ūranga Waka degrees on whānau, hapū and iwi.
Pareputiputi Nuku & Parekura Rohe-Belmont Māori Studies Lecturers
Our reo, whenua, and whakapapa are eternally linked - each carrying the memory and mauri of our ancestors.
Hone Morris Associate Professor of Te Reo Māori
Revitalising te reo through radio archives creates a powerful tool for learners and preserves dialects for future generations.
Dr Joseph Selwyn Te Rito Māori Language Advocate and Researcher
Tailoring precision health tools for Māori ensures our genetics and tikanga guide personalised medicine for future generations.
Dr Phillip Wilcox Genomics Researcher
Tāne – Tika Tonu restores wellbeing for tāne Māori through ancestral models of protection and whānau-led healing.
Zack Makoare Community Leader and Researcher
Embedding ngā taonga tuku iho into early childhood learning honours whakapapa and transforms educational practice.
Diana Cruse
Early Childhood Researcher
Heretaunga marae-led pandemic response demonstrates the power of community leadership in hauora Māori.
Beverly Te Huia Māori Health Advocate
Mātauranga Māori must be rebalanced in our curriculum to reflect the richness and relevance of Indigenous knowledge.
Dr Piata Allen Educational Researcher
Kaumātua and whānau in Wairoa share a clear vision for kaupapa Māori aged care led by and for their own community.
Tuakana August Aged Care Researcher
Whanaungatanga offers a foundation for leadership and communication that uplifts Māori staff and inspires change.
Sarah Ngawati Social Work Leader and Researcher
Māori dietitians navigate racism and tokenism while working to transform the health system from within.
Rhiannon Jones Public Health Researcher
Kapa Haka holds deep healing power for rangatahi Māori, restoring identity, connection, and collective strength.
Jade Marino Gifford Rangatahi
Wellbeing
Researcher
Our gut (puku) is a source of wisdom; traditional food practices reconnect whānau to Indigenous pathways to wellness.
Dr Sally Rye Health Researcher
Karanga is more than a call—it is a koha that nurtures wāhine, connects generations, and strengthens mana motuhake.
Piri Te Raina Galbraith Cultural Practitioner and Researcher
Tino rangatiratanga is being reclaimed by restoring mātauranga Māori as the foundation of identity and wellbeing.
Gabrielle Kupa
Sovereignty and Identity Researcher
Restoring Rongomaiwahine reclaims the ancient grammar of our Tohunga reo to transform te reo Māori education through Indigenous syntax, rhythm, and worldview.
Ngaire Rewarewa Aben Social Work Educator and Researcher
SYMPOSIUM DAY THREE
Friday 11th July 2025
Our curiosity is a pathway to knowledge—one shaped by whakapapa, identity and kaupapa Māori inquiry.
Professor Suzanne Pitama Dean, Otago Medical School
Kaumātua wellbeing thrives through research grounded in manaaki, lived experience, and whānau voice.
Matthew Bennett & Sid Ropitini
Kaumātua Health Researchers
Wairua offers a transformative force for public service, guiding a more humane, conscious, and kaupapa Māori approach to leadership and wellbeing in Aotearoa.
Kristen Maynard Public Service Researcher
Taonga Ihi Orooro reconnects us with the sacred vibrational energies of ihirangaranga to restore wairua, wholeness, and collective wellbeing through a Kaupapa Māori sound healing practice.
Waireti Roestenburg –
Wairua-Centric Practitioner and Researcher
Testing a Critical Success Factors framework for Tribal Self-Governance in health care offers vital lessons from Native American models to inform Māori-led devolution and tino rangatiratanga in Aotearoa.
Dr Mara Andrews Indigenous Governance Researcher
SYMPOSIUM DINNER
Thursday 10th July 2025
NGĀ MIHI TO OUR SPONSORS & SUPPORTERS
This event was made possible through the generous support of our sponsors and supporters. Your contributions helped remove financial barriers, making the event more inclusive and accessible to all.
We acknowledge EIT’s commitment to research, the promotion of mātauranga Māori, and its fundamental support of Te Ara o Tāwhaki Marae.
We especially acknowledge the support of Ngāti Kahungunu Iwi, whose significant financial and communications contributions helped bring this kaupapa to life.
A special mihi to Kohuorangi, a new and emerging collective committed to kaupapa Māori storytelling through photography and videography. Your koha of time has ensured the moments of this event are beautifully captured and remembered.
