Kōrero | Presentations

Associate Professor Dianne Sika-Paotonu is the 2022 recipient of the Prime Minister’s Science Communication Prize, recognising her work as a leading voice on immunology and vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic. She is the first Pacific winner of this award, that also acknowledged her efforts to engage and connect with communities, work towards improving prevention for rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease, and seeking to address heart health and cancer inequities, within Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific Region.

Ngāi Tahu/Ngāti Kahungunu/ Ngāti Toa & Rārua/ Ngāti Hikairo/ Tūwharetoa / Ngāti Hauiti / Ngāti Whitikaupeka/ Pākehā.

Dr Karaitiana Taiuru is a leading authority and a highly accomplished visionary Māori technology ethicist specialising in Māori rights with AI, Māori Data Sovereignty and Governance with emerging digital technologies and biological sciences. He brings extensive expertise in mātauranga, tikanga Māori, te Tiriti and advocacy for digital Māori rights and data sovereignty and a profound understanding of the intersection between Māori knowledge and emerging technologies.

Professor Rebecca Priestley is a science writer and academic at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. Her new book, End Times, interweaves the stories of two periods in Rebecca’s life: a late 1980s encounter with evangelical Christianity amid the threat of the nuclear arms race, and a 2021 road trip haunted by the threats of climate change, conspiracy theories, and a massive overdue earthquake.

Rob started Storybox in 2007 and provides strategic and creative direction for their campaigns, installations, and interactive projects. He also executive produces Storybox’s documentary content. His passion for storytelling and creating experiences stretches across film, multimedia, creative direction and light/art festivals. Rob has led the creation of projects for a wide range of clients (Te Papa, Wellington Water, NZ Sevens, STA Travel, Ministry of Culture and Heritage, NZTA, UNICEF) and arts festivals (NZ Festival Of the Arts, Sydney Vivid, Glow Eindhoven, Lumina Portugal, China Shanghai International Arts Festival, LUX Wellington).

Passionate about creating excellent learning experiences - and constantly learning more about how we can do this - Maire is a learning designer who has worked on programmes communicating information on a huge range of topics, from high-voltage electrical systems, to interactions between fertiliser chemicals and groundwater, or the differences between genotypes and phenotypes of stock.

Kiri Reihana (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Te Whakatōhea, Ngāi Tūhoe) is a kairangahau - Māori scientist who is a currently a PhD candidate bringing Te Ao Māori and Eurocentric sciences together in the marine arena. Kiri is a Taiao ora specialist, environmental health specialist who applies her research to mobilising mātauranga (Māori knowledge) with iwi (tribe) and hapū throughout New Zealand. Using digital platforms to create innovative Māori science solutions. Kiri is the designer of the ‘WAIOra’ (Ngati Tahu Ngati Whaoa, Tapuika) and ‘NGAHEREOra’ (Ngāti Rangi) customised, iwi specific, mobile applications which are mātauranga-based assessment and monitoring tools, as well as other mātauranga based digital resources such ‘Eko’ the ecology game www.eko.nz (National), ‘Karanga a Tanemahuta’ the VR experience and ‘Kaitiakitanga i te Au Warawara’ graphic novel (Te Rarawa). She also sits on the `Tīwaiwaka trust board, a Te Ao Māori conservation movement led by Pā, Rob McGowan, one of New Zealand’s foremost rongoā experts https://www.tiwaiwaka.nz/, in championing the vision of ‘Ka ora te whenua, Ka ora te tangata’ (when the land is well, the people are well).

Liza (she/her) is a data enthusiast based in Tāmaki Makaurau. She teaches statistics and data science at the University of Auckland, having recently returned from three years at the University of Toronto in Canada. She is also a statistical consultant, though tends to prefer "Data Ambassador" to describe her work representing people's data back to them in meaningful ways. In Liza's teaching, research and consulting, there is a throughline about helping people use data to support good decisions. Her particular interests lie in the realms of health, equity and education, with her research focusing on statistics education and applied statistics, specifically exploring life-course predictors of mortality in Aotearoa. As a consultant, she develops and analyses surveys for business, education and not-for-profit groups.