University of Waikato's newest Professors: Professor Trevor Daya-Winterbottom, Professor Bridgette Masters-Awatere and Professor Jason Mika
Three academics have been promoted to Professor and 10 to Associate Professor.
Academic promotions recognise outstanding contributions to research, teaching, student supervision and leadership within the University as well as the achievement of an international reputation in each academic’s area of specialisation.
Promotion to Professor
Professor Trevor Daya-Winterbottom, Te Piringa Faculty of Law
Professor Daya-Winterbottom's teaching and research focuses on environmental law and public law. He is a New Zealand member of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on Protection of People at Sea and was the first New Zealand-based academic to be the Deputy Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Academy of Environmental Law.
Professor Bridgette Masters-Awatere, Te Kura Whatu Oho Mauri School of Psychology
Professor Masters-Awatere (Te Rarawa, Ngati Kahu ki Whangaroa, Tūwharetoa ki Kawerau, Ngai te Rangi) focuses on research which critiques the systems and structures that either facilitate or have an impact on Māori flourishing and psychological sense of wellbeing. This includes consideration of a collective experience that engages multiple voices in the context of individual descriptions of experiences. She is a Fellow of the New Zealand Psychological Society and member of the Accreditation Commitee of the New Zealand Psychologists Board.
Professor Jason Mika, Te Raupapa Waikato Management School
Professor Mika (Tūhoe, Ngāti Awa, Whakatōhea, Ngāti Kahungunu) is a kaupapa Māori business scholar whose research and teaching centres on Māori and Indigenous business, inspired by Māori and Indigenous entrepreneurs and small business owners. He searches for distinctive approaches to business and economics that combine ancestral knowledge and practice with the challenges and opportunities of modern day economies.
Promotion to Associate Professor
Dr Patrick Barrett, Te Kura Aronui School of Social Sciences
Dr Barrett researches public policy in relation to a wide range of issues. He studies drivers of policy change, how evidence is used in policy decisions, and how to improve public participation in planning and policymaking. In teaching, he focuses on what drives and blocks policy change and how to improve the use of evidence and inclusivity in policy decisions.
Dr Andreea Calude, Te Kura Toi School of Arts
Dr Calude is a data linguist, with a keen interest in New Zealand English, a special focus on the use of words borrowed from te reo Māori, and a secondary and growing interest in the language used on social media. Most recently, she published Linguistics of Social Media: An Introduction and successfully obtained her second Marsden grant.
Dr Juliet Chevalier-Watts, Te Piringa Faculty of Law
Dr Chevalier-Watts is a specialist in charity law, equity and trusts, and religious law. She lectures and publishes nationally and internationally, and her contributions to literature include monographs, co-authored books, book chapters, consultancies, commissioned reports, journal articles, and interviews.
L-R: Catherine Chidgey, Dr Tim Edwards, Dr Kim Hébert-Losier and Dr Jacob Heerikhuisen.
Catherine Chidgey, Te Kura Toi School of Arts
Ms Chidgey’s novels include The Wish Child, Remote Sympathy, The Axeman’s Carnival and Pet, and she has won the fiction prize at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards twice. She enjoys the contact with new writers teaching brings, as students’ ideas and willingness to take creative risks feeds her own writing. She is currently completing her ninth novel.
Dr Tim Edwards, Te Kura Whatu Oho Mauri School of Psychology
Dr Edwards teaches and conducts research on learning and behaviour, with a particular focus on how dogs can learn to provide information to humans about what they smell. In one of his current applied research projects, he is evaluating dogs’ ability to detect lung cancer. In a series of basic research projects, he is evaluating dogs’ learning and perceptual capabilities related to odour identification.
Dr Kim Hébert-Losier, Te Huataki Waiora School of Health
Dr Hébert-Losier’s research centres on objective quantification and understanding of lower-extremity mechanics in health and sport. Her work has global impact and recognition in three key areas: screening to prevent sport injuries, running mechanics and footwear, and calf muscle function and testing. She teaches functional anatomy, sports biomechanics, and research methods underpinned by a teaching philosophy revolving around building strong foundations, teaching with identity, and being student-centric.
Dr Jacob Heerikhuisen, Au Reikura (Te Kura Rorohiko me ngā Pūtaiao Pāngarau) School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences
Dr Heerikhuisen’s research centres around the heliosphere, a large structure formed around the solar system by the interaction of the Sun with the galaxy. He develops and runs numerical simulations that are constrained by and complement data obtained by NASA space missions such as Voyager and IBEX.
L-R: Dr Ēnoka Murphy, Dr Armon Tamatea and Dr Haki Tuaupiki.
Dr Ēnoka Murphy, Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao, Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies
Dr Murphy (Ngāti Manawa, Ngāi Tuhoe, Ngāti Ruapani, Ngāti Kahungunu) teaches te reo and tikanga Māori and completed his PhD in 19th century warfare in Aotearoa. His research passions are in the areas of Indigenous history and tikanga. Dr Murphy was the Prime Minister’s Educator of the Year and received a Kaupapa Māori Award at the 2023 Te Whatu Kairangi – Aotearoa Tertiary Education Awards.
Dr Armon Tamatea, Te Kura Whatu Oho Mauri School of Psychology
Dr Tamatea (Rongowhakāta, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) has worked extensively with violent and sexual offenders in the criminal justice arena for more than 20 years. He is the lead researcher for Nga Tūmanakotanga, a multi-year MBIE-funded research programme that aims to understand and reduce prison violence in New Zealand. His other research interests include psychopathy, gang communities, and culturally-informed approaches to offender management.
Dr Haki Tuaupiki, Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao, Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies
Dr Tuaupiki (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Waikato) has a strong research focus on Māori voyaging knowledge and traditional navigation in te reo Māori, which sees him drawing on ancestral knowledge in areas such as astronomy, science and maritime studies. He is a practitioner and dedicated advocate for the preservation, regeneration and revitalisation of te reo Māori, a Fulbright Scholar and a Marsden Fund recipient.
