Our research team
Our team has expertise in Māori data sovereignty and Māori data governance, data privacy, cybersecurity, te Tiriti o Waitangi jurisprudence, Māori entrepreneurship and mātauranga Māori.
- Professor Tahu Kukutai is a social scientist who is recognised internationally for her work on Indigenous demography and Indigenous data sovereignty. She is also Pou Matarua| Co-Director of Aotearoa's only Māori Centre of Research Excellence, Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga.
- Associate Professor Marama Muru-Lanning is a leading anthropologist who specialises in transdisciplinary research methods and human-environmental relationships. Marama is also Director of the James Henare Māori Research Centre.
- Dr Jason Mika is an expert in indigenous entrepreneurship, management and methodologies. Jason is also Co-Director of Te Au Rangahau, Massey Business School's Māori Business Research Centre.
- Robert Pouwhare has decades of experience in broadcasting, particularly in Māori film and television.
- Professor David Watts was a Privacy Commissioner, and is an expert in data protection law, policy and regulation.
- Associate Professor Vanessa Teague is an Australian cryptographer living and working on Wurundjeri land in Southeastern Australia, who is known for her work on secret sharing, cryptographic protocols, and the security of electronic voting. Vanessa is also the CEO of Thinking Cybersecurity.
- Vanessa Clark is an expert in Māori Data Sovereignty and entrepreneurship.
- Nicholas Jones is the PhD candidate on the team. Nick is highly organised and conscientious and has experience in a breadth of community research project.
- Dr Rogena Sterling a legal and multidisciplinary scholar, was the first Intersex person to get a PhD in Aotearoa. Their research focuses on human rights, Identity and well-being, biopolitics of data and statistics, intersex issues, tikanga and environmental law
- RoimataoteAroha Jacob is the Research Assistant working on this project. RoimatataoteAroha is a current master’s student of Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao. Her research focuses on the evolution of Ngāti Hauā leadership, beginning with our tupuna Te Waharoa . Her passions lie with Te Reo Māori and nurturing second language learners, which she has done for the past 5 years through Te Tohu Paetahi. She has also been involved with Te Hononga ā-Kiwa as a student, a tuakana and now, an alumni.