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News
| | MEDIA RELEASE: First time national awards for outstanding Maori academic achievement | | Since being founded four years ago, Nga Pae o te Maramatanga has played a key role in providing pathways to academic achievement for Maori. Nga Pae o te Maramatanga, hosted by the University of Auckland, is one of seven Centres of Research Excellence established by the government in 2002.
The lifetime contributions of eminent Maori, whose outstanding leadership as scholars, researchers and intellectuals, were acknowledged at an inaugural awards evening held by Nga Pae o te Maramatanga (New Zealand’s Maori Centre of Research Excellence) in Auckland tonight.
The inaugural ‘Tohu o te Maramatanga’ Research Excellence Awards were presented to:
• Distinguished Professor Sidney Moko Mead
• Emeritus Professor Ranginui Walker
• Emeritus Professor Bruce Biggs (posthumous)
• Emeritus Professor Sir Hugh Kawharu (posthumous)
The awards dinner was co-hosted by the Minister of Maori Affairs, Hon. Parekura Horomia and Maori Party Co-Leader Dr Pita Sharples.
An independent panel of Professor Margaret Mutu (Auckland), Dr Rawiri Taonui (Christchurch) and Rauru Kirikiri (Wellington) selected the winners on the basis of their:
• strong and proven track record in research excellence
• contribution to breaking down barriers and forging new pathways for Maori transformation
• dedication throughout their lives to the betterment of Maori and the nation
• being role models to present and future Maori researchers.
The ongoing Research Awards Programme – including Fellowships - was launched at the awards evening, recognising excellence in advancing knowledge, in building Maori research capability and improving knowledge exchange and transformation of New Zealand society.
click here to download full media release with brief bios of award winners
For more information or images please call:
Susan Huria
Huria Anders
021 962 704
National Maori academic achievement award partners
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| | A new look into the secrets of pigeons’ GPS | | |
14
February 2007: Speculation
about how pigeons navigate looks likelier to be resolved definitively with new
research demonstrating for the first time that pigeons determine position using
the intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field.
Research by Dr Todd Dennis and team, Mr
Matt Rayner and Professor Michael Walker at The University of Auckland, and
published today in the Proceedings of the
Royal Society B: Biological Sciences shows that pigeons have their own GPS,
or Geomagnetic Positioning System, that they use to navigate using the Earth’s magnetic
field. The research also raises new potential for later
applications, through further research of the process of pigeons’ geomagnetic
positioning system, to develop systems for underwater use where global
positioning satellite technology does not work.
Their research shows that when pigeons are
released from a site which has a magnetic anomaly they make a highly structured
response to the magnetic anomaly before turning to fly home.
Dr Dennis said, “These
results have been very encouraging and point us towards now looking at what
information the pigeons extract from the geomagnetic field when they orient
their flight parallel and perpendicular to the anomaly.
“What has for a long
time been an unconfirmed theory, we are now confident that pigeons really do
use the intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field to determine position during
homing.”
The researchers used global positioning
satellite devices to confirm clear reactions by the pigeons to the magnetic anomaly
and show that the pigeons use their own GPS to detect and respond to changes in
the Earth’s magnetic field.
Results showed that a large proportion of
the pigeons would fly up to several kilometres parallel and/or perpendicular to
variations in the local intensity or strength of the field caused by the anomaly before redirecting themselves towards
their loft.
Professor Walker, who
is also Joint Director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand’s Maori Centre for Research Excellence, said,
“This result is completely novel and gives us a unique insight into animal
navigation. The fact that the work was completed through a collaboration
between the School of
Biological
Sciences and Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga is very satisfying.”
The research was supported by funding from
the Marsden Fund, The University
of Auckland, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, and by Mr Jack Longville whose pigeons were used by the researchers in
their experiments. Click here for TVNZ video coverage | |
| | Maori science scholarship recognised | | 19 September 2006:
Dr Michael Walker’s achievement in scientific research will be honoured
when he gives his Inaugural Lecture as Professor at the School of
Biological Sciences at The University of Auckland at Waipapa Marae
tomorrow.
For Michael, whose lecture will be on groundbreaking
work in showing that animals have a magnetic sense that they use to
travel long distances, the Professorship marks recognition of his work
as a scientist. It is also a marker in a broader quest for him of
increasing Maori involvement in research and the sciences.
A
Joint Director of Nga Pae o te Maramatanga, the national Maori Centre
of Research Excellence, Michael has had a career-long commitment to
promoting Maori involvement in the sciences.
In 1991 he set up
the Tuakana Programme to ensure Maori and Pacific Island students in
biology succeeded in their first year at university and stayed to
complete their degrees.
As a result of the programme, enrolment
and pass rates doubled, the programme is now used in all faculties of
the University and has been extended to work with secondary schools in
South Auckland.
Aiming to produce a new critical mass of Maori
research, Nga Pae o te Maramatanga is on track to achieve a key goal of
supporting 500 new Maori PhDs within five years. Its research has
involved over 2000 Maori scholars, community members and international
academics in the past year.
“For me, it’s been a journey of
undertaking scientific research and also wanting to contribute to
extending Maori scholarship,” Michael says. “I’m honoured and delighted
with this Professorship, and at the great results we’ve been seeing in
retaining more Maori and Pacific Island students in the sciences.
“We have a long way to go, but the results of the work being done through the Centre have been really encouraging.
“For
a lot of people, Maori and research have been two separate words. I’m
looking forward to seeing that change and to seeing the Maori
representation in research become as strong as it already is in the creative
arts.” | |
| | Maori artist finds a place to stand | | 29 August
2006: Opening tonight is Moana Nepia’s work titled, Turangawaewae that
addresses the issue of New Zealanders finding a place to stand amongst
our diversity.
The exhibition being held at the Mary Newton
Gallery in Wellington is supported by the Maori Centre of Research
Excellence, Nga Pae o te Maramatanga and is running from 30 August to
16 September.
The work is a display of large photographic images
and several sculptures that have come out of Nepia’s dance and
choreography work.
Professor Linda Smith, Joint Director at Nga
Pae o te Maramatanga said, “We are very pleased to be able to support
Moana in his work and hope to continue supporting many researchers to
produce great outputs that benefit all areas of New Zealand culture,
including the arts.”
Nepia is currently conducting a research
project on Future moves in Maori dance through Nga Pae o te Maramatanga
and this exhibition is the first output from the project. The project
will provide a research-informed body of knowledge on contemporary
Maori dance forms that also include kapa haka.
His other work
has recently toured New Zealand, Canada and the United States in the
exhibition, Te Aho Mutunga Kore, The Eternal Thread.
University of Auckland News article | |
| | Annual Report shows research success at Maori CoRE | | 1
August 2006: As the only Centre for Research Excellence with an
explicitly social focus, Nga Pae o te Maramatanga, which is based at
the University, has set itself some ambitious goals. One, for example,
is to contribute to 500 Maori PhDs over five years. With Maori
doctorates traditionally counted in handfuls this is no small task. But
as its latest Annual Report confirms, the Centre is well on track to
meet this and a wider vision of using excellent research to promote
social change.
Running a doctoral support service at seven
sites, the Centre is now working with 200 PhD students. At the Victoria
University of Wellington alone it has contributed to a five-fold growth
in PhD enrolments over the past eighteen months, says Professor Michael
Walker, who with Professor Linda Smith is one of the Centre’s two Joint
Directors. Professor Walker says, “We are aiming to build a critical
mass of excellent researchers and are very proud of the gains already
made by the researchers we support.” Along with the University of
Auckland, the Centre’s other founding entities are the Universities of
Otago, Victoria and Waikato, Te Whare Wananga o Awanuiarangi, Te
Wananga o Aotearoa, and the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Along with
Maori scholars and international academics the Centre’s work has also
involved numerous community groups in the applications of research.
Over
the period covered by the Annual Report the Centre’s research resulted
in the publication of 22 peer reviewed academic papers, seven new books
and internationally regarded publications, and over 25 academic
research projects. Some, such as a research project led by Dr Mere Kepa
on healthcare services for elderly Maori outside urban areas, was
promptly taken up for action by health service providers. A project
involving Dr Shane Wright at the School of Biological Sciences,
supported by the Centre, showing that evolution moves faster in the
tropics was published in the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences and was reported in Nature and the Economist.
Many
challenges remain, says Linda. “For example, most Maori PhD candidates
are in their forties, with a myriad of other responsibilities and
twenty years older than their colleagues. So for them individually, as
well as for us as a community, there is a lot to do. But we feel very
pleased with the gains we have made and are looking forward to what
comes next.”
University of Auckland News article
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| | Maori research centre conference focuses on future | | 14
June 2006: Leading international and New Zealand researchers will
address a traditional knowledge conference focusing on future
indigenous wellbeing that opens in Wellington today.
Hosted by
the Maori Centre of Research Excellence, Nga Pae o te Maramatanga, at
Te Papa Tongarewa, the conference will draw on a wide range of
experience in looking at ways of both defining and building wellbeing
for indigenous peoples on their own terms, Professor Linda Tuhiwai
Smith, the Centre’s Joint Director said.
“Our aim is to generate
discussion by drawing on past and present experience to identify how
things can be better for the future,” she said.
International
speakers from Africa, North America, Australia and Mexico will address
the conference, Matauranga Taketake, on a theme of, Indigenous
Indicators of Well-being: Perspectives, Practices, Solutions.
Speakers
include Dr Diery Seck, the Director of the United Nations African
Institute for Economic Development and Planning, and a former economist
with the World Bank, and Dr Holly Dublin, the Chair of the Species
Survival Commission, which is the largest of the six Commissions of the
World Conservation Union.
Dr Karina Walters, an enrolled citizen
of the Choctaw Nation and Associate Professor at the University of
Washington in the School of Social Work, will outline studies on
preventive strategies for HIV and other risk factors. Erykah Kyle,
Mayor of the Palm Island Aboriginal Council in Queensland, will talk on
initiatives to rebuild community strengths.
Local speakers include Professor Mason Durie and Dr Mere Kepa.
“Nga
Pae o te Maramatanga is a first for New Zealand, and long-term we are
aiming to use the power of research to create gains for Maori, and for
everyone in society,” Professor Michael Walker, the Centre’s Joint
Director, said.
“We are building excellent research, drawing on
the skills of high quality people and passing the benefits of this back
to the communities we work with. This conference helps us advance that
process.”
Over 250 delegates are attending the conference.
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| | Sir Tipene O’Regan new Chair for Maori research centre | | 6
June 2006: Prominent Maori leader, academic and professional director
Sir Tipene O’Regan has been appointed Chair of the University of
Auckland-based Centre of Research Excellence, Nga Pae o te Maramatanga.
Welcoming
Sir Tipene, the Acting Chair, Professor Tom Barnes said, “Sir Tipene
has an enormous contribution to make at a governance level and his
appointment is highly valued by the Board.”
Sir Tipene is the
former Chair of the Ngai Tahu Maori Trust Board, Ngai Tahu Holdings
Corporation, Te Ohu Kai Moana, The Sealord Group Ltd, Deputy Chair of
Transit New Zealand, current director of Hanover Group, a previous
director of Television New Zealand and founding Chair of Te Tapuae o
Rehua Ltd.
In September 2004 he was appointed assistant
Vice-Chancellor (Maori) at the University of Canterbury where in 1992
he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature.
Professor
Stuart McCutcheon, Vice Chancellor of the University of Auckland, said,
“With his academic knowledge and understanding, wide ranging knowledge
of Maori economic development and his reputation within the business
community, Sir Tipene is a major asset to Nga Pae o te Maramatanga as
we work towards producing valuable Maori knowledge and research.”
“Our unique goal of 500 Maori PhD enrolments in five years will be furthered by his Chairmanship,” said Professor Barnes.
Nga
Pae o te Maramatanga supports research and development that fosters
healthy communities in healthy environments, encourages social and
educational transformation and brings a uniquely Maori worldview to new
frontiers of knowledge.
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