KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Rob Kitchin
Rob Kitchin is a professor in the Maynooth University Social Sciences Institute and Department of Geography. His research examines the production of digital geographies and his present ERC-funded project (2022-27) is ‘Data Stories: Telling Stories About and With Planning and Property Data’. He is the (co)author or (co)editor of 36 academic books and (co)author of over 200 articles and book chapters, and he has delivered over 300 invited talks at conferences and universities. He has been an editor of Dialogues in Human Geography, Progress in Human Geography, and Social and Cultural Geography, and co-editor-in-chief of the International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. He is a recipient of the Royal Irish Academy’s Gold Medal for the Social Sciences. Tahu Kukutai
Tahu Kukutai (Ngāti Tiipa, Ngāti Māhanga, Ngāti Kinohaku, Te Aupōuri) is Professor of Demography at The University of Waikato and Pou Matarua (Co-Director) of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Centre of Research Excellence. Tahu specialises in Māori and Indigenous population research and has written extensively on issues of Māori population change and identity, Indigenous data sovereignty, official statistics and ethnic classification. She has undertaken research for iwi, Māori communities, and Government agencies, and provided strategic advice across a range of sectors. Tahu is a founding member of the Māori Data Sovereignty Network Te Mana Raraunga and the Global Indigenous Data Alliance, and is a Board member of Pūhoro STEMM Academy. She has degrees in History, Demography and Sociology from The University of Waikato and Stanford University. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. |
Meg Parsons
Of Māori (Ngāpuhi), Lebanese, and Pākehā heritage, Dr Parsons is an historical geographer whose research adopts transdisciplinary and decolonising approaches to examine how indigenous communities understand and respond to intersecting processes of social and environmental changes. The majority of her research and teaching focuses on bringing a decolonial lens to theories, policies, and practices surrounding climate change adaptation, environmental governance and management, and sustainable transformations. She is a Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, the co-Editor-in-Chief of Climate Risk Management, the author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and was the contributing author to the IPCC WGII Sixth Assessment Report.
Of Māori (Ngāpuhi), Lebanese, and Pākehā heritage, Dr Parsons is an historical geographer whose research adopts transdisciplinary and decolonising approaches to examine how indigenous communities understand and respond to intersecting processes of social and environmental changes. The majority of her research and teaching focuses on bringing a decolonial lens to theories, policies, and practices surrounding climate change adaptation, environmental governance and management, and sustainable transformations. She is a Associate Professor at the University of Auckland, the co-Editor-in-Chief of Climate Risk Management, the author of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and was the contributing author to the IPCC WGII Sixth Assessment Report.
Karen Fisher
(Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato-Tainui) is a Professor in the School of Environment, University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau, New Zealand. She is a Human Geographer, whose research is focused on society-environment relations, environmental governance, and the politics of resource use. She is currently involved in several interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects that explore the social, legal, and political dimensions of ecosystem-based management approaches to coastal and marine management in Aotearoa New Zealand, Indigenous rights and interests in environmental governance and management, and the intersections between science/Indigenous knowledges and policy in responding to environmental challenges. Recent work considers the relationship between environmental justice and human rights and especially the impacts of colonisation on Indigenous peoples’ rights, values, and interests.
(Ngāti Maniapoto, Waikato-Tainui) is a Professor in the School of Environment, University of Auckland | Waipapa Taumata Rau, New Zealand. She is a Human Geographer, whose research is focused on society-environment relations, environmental governance, and the politics of resource use. She is currently involved in several interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects that explore the social, legal, and political dimensions of ecosystem-based management approaches to coastal and marine management in Aotearoa New Zealand, Indigenous rights and interests in environmental governance and management, and the intersections between science/Indigenous knowledges and policy in responding to environmental challenges. Recent work considers the relationship between environmental justice and human rights and especially the impacts of colonisation on Indigenous peoples’ rights, values, and interests.
Keynote Panel Place naming in Aotearoa: A century of the Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa Robin Kearns is Professor of Geography and Head of the School of Environment at the University of Auckland. He has researched and published across a wide range of themes including the cultural politics of place naming. Robin has been appointed to New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa since 2020. Michael Roche is Emeritus Professor of Geography in the School of People Environment and Planning at Massey University, Palmerston North. He has published on historical and contemporary aspects of forestry and agriculture in New Zealand, on the development of university geography, and from 2007-19 was member of the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa. Gerry O’Reilly is Associate Professor in Geography, and International Coordinator for the School of History and Geography at Dublin City University. His research and teaching interests are in geopolitics, political, economic, and cultural geography, sustainable development, and education. Regarding Humanitarian Action and Geopolitics and as Faculty member of ECHO (EU Humanitarian Office) - sponsored NOHA (Network on Humanitarian Action), he was Erasmus Mundus Visiting Fellow at the Western Cape University (2009), Toronto York University (2008) and Columbia University NY (2007). Gerry is Vice President of EUROGEO - EAG (European Association of Geographers). Wendy Shaw has been the Secretary for the New Zealand Geographic Board Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa for 26 years. The Board is a statutory body of government which processes official place names. The Board aims to ensure that New Zealand’s unique place naming practices, procedures, principles, and policies allow for standardised, consistent, accurate, robust and enduring official place naming decisions. While ever-changing attitudes and expectations pose challenges for official place naming, Wendy’s mahi seeks to recognise cultural heritage alongside practical location identification – on land and on the sea floor. |
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lynda.johnston@waikato.ac.nz
Keep up to date with all the news on our facebook page