I am a doctoral student at Va'aomanū Pasifika, Victoria University of Wellington but you'll find me working on different things from time to time - sometimes teaching, sometimes writing for other projects, sometimes public speaking, working on discreet projects for government or helping out on projects by other Pacific researchers.

I have undergraduate degrees in English Literature and Public Policy, and completed my Masters degree at the University of Auckland in 2012 under the supervision of past NZ Poet Laureate, Samoan-Tuvaluan-papa'ā poet and scholar, Assoc. Professor Selina Tusitala Marsh. My Masters work looked at the history of Cook Islands Māori writing in English, and focused on key poets of the 1980s and 90s; Jean Mason, Vaine Wichman (nee Rasmussen), Makiuti Tongia and Kauraka Kauraka.

As a Pacific Studies scholar, I have an interdisciplinary practice. That means I often work at the intersections of history, literary studies, cultural studies, anthropology, linguistics, and the social sciences more broadly. My academic research has largely focused

on the Cook Islands and its peoples but I have worked professionally on a number of projects concerning Pacific communities; literary publishing, Pacific broadcasting, Pacific film and Treaty history in Aotearoa. My current research looks at genealogical practices in the Cook Islands, with a focus on its theoretical potential for decolonial pedagogy and research. I have been known to teach (ha!) and enjoy the discussion of research methods and methodology, particularly in Indigenous and Pacific contexts. It's an area that has always fascinated me and given it is an area that is constantly developing, I never get sick of learning, writing, teaching and thinking about the future of our intellectual traditions. I am coming up to the end of my doctoral project (submission in December 2020) so I'm currently looking for the next big project on the horizon. In the near future, I have speaking engagements before the end of the year. I also have writing projects underway, one on COVID-19, another on the importance of cultivating dreaming in future-building projects both for government strategy but also ongoing nation-building. I'm also looking forward to seeing some of my publications come out in the next few months. For the next big research project though? I'm interested in exploring contemporary connections and the history of familial networks between the Cook Islands and Mā'ohi Nui (French Polynesia and further east). I'm not sure what this will look like yet but if anyone is keen to collaborate on what would be an epic project... do get in touch!

Share a favourite quote and why it’s particularly meaningful for you.

"Taka'i koe ki te papa 'enua, 'akamou i te pito 'enua, a'u i to'u rangi" - this passage from Puati Mata'iapo is quoted all the time which is unsurprising because it's beautiful and rich and honestly, if there was ever a manual for how we go into the world, this is it. It's a powerful image, isn't it? It's metaphorical and symbolic, but for many it is also very literal. How many of us have literally attached the pito ē te 'enua ki te 'enua? More than that, I think the passage is just good methodological advice for research practice.

Know the stakes that you have in your work, connect strongly to your personal and intellectual foundations. And then? Explore. Ask questions. Carve out your world.

I’m honoured to be a part of the Association's work. My hope is that those interested in research, learning and community, will take ownership of this organisation. The Association is here to hold space for our people and its researchers to come and talk with one another openly, to discuss careful research and to push one another to think harder and more deeply about the research and social issues that face us.