Dr Alana Alexander and Dr Erica Newman have received the inaugural Māori Early Career Awards for Distinction in Research in this year’s Otago Research Awards.
Two Otago Research Award winners have been recognised for their research which gives back to the community.
Dr Alana Alexander (Ngāpuhi: Te Hikutū, Pākehā), of the Department of Anatomy, and Dr Erica Newman (Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi), of Te Tumu – School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies, have been awarded Māori Early Career Awards for Distinction in Research.
The award, one of two new categories added to this year’s Otago Research Awards, was introduced to celebrate excellence in research undertaken by Māori researchers as they develop their careers at Otago.
Dr Alexander is passionate about weaving together Te Ao Māori and science, two things that do not often overlap.
“Science and mātauranga Māori have different ways of gathering information about the world and I think they are even more powerful when used in tandem,” she says.
“Mātauranga Māori is its own distinct knowledge system that is worthy of inclusion and is a treasure that is a privilege to access to do these kinds of research projects.”
One of her research projects involves using genomes from Hector’s and Māui dolphins to determine the impact of future climate change on whales and dolphins, by comparing this to the impacts that past climate change (like ice ages) had on them.
“We’re trying to look at a window into the past,” she says. “By being able to peak into the past and see how many dolphins there were in different climates of the past, we can get an idea about how susceptible they might be to climate change going forward.”
In addition, Dr Alexander’s team is looking at the recent impact fisheries have had on the species, how much interchange there was between Māui and Hector’s dolphins, and whether there are any signatures of susceptibility or resistance to toxoplasmosis in their genomes.
Dr Alexander also works with the East Otago Taiāpure to share her genetics knowledge on projects and kaupapa that are important to them. The Taiāpure’s focus is on having a thriving pāua fishery in the future.
“Sometimes we can get a little bit isolated at the University as researchers and get driven by what we find interesting but that’s not necessarily the same thing the community is keen to hear about, so it’s such an awesome way to see what is relevant to local communities.”
More broadly, she is a Principal Investigator on another research project, Ruatau, that is “about upskilling communities in genomics at the same time as allowing people to experience being in Māori environments and getting a little more confident on the cultural side of things”.
The idea of community is important to Dr Alexander, who thanked Te Puaka Rearea, an early and mid-career rōpū for people who whakapapa Māori at the University, for their support, as well as Te Poutama Māori and her many mentors, colleagues and students.
“Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.”
For Dr Newman, whānau has played a huge role in her research.
Her current research focuses on the descendants of adopted Māori tamariki raised in non-Māori households and descendants’ journey to establish a connection to their Māori whānau.
“It’s looking at their journey in finding their taha Māori, so understanding who they are and how they want to fit within Māori society.”
While the journey can be difficult, it is important for people to feel a sense of identity, understand who they are and feel grounded in their whenua, she says.
Dr Newman knows that firsthand as the descendant of a Māori adoptee. Her mother was adopted into a Pākehā whānau and they have recently connected to a sister on her taha Māori.
“When we were searching – before DNA testing – going through government departments and gaining information, we came up against a lot of roadblocks.
“We knew a name had been written down for my mum’s father but due to privacy laws we weren’t allowed it.”
It was a Pakeha name but there was no indication if it was a first or last name.
Dr Newman says it often felt like they were taking three steps forward before hitting a barricade.
She hopes her research will inform government legislation.
The Adoption Act 1955 is based on the idea there should be a complete break between the child and their birth parents.
“For those who have been through the closed stranger adoption, searching for whakapapa is a difficult and emotional journey that is often handed down to following generations,” she says.
“Hence, there will always be generations of people who are disconnected from their whakapapa. It’s always going to have an impact on those adopted within that legislation and their whānau.”
Dr Newman says she was shocked and pleased to find out she’d won the Māori Early Career Awards for Distinction in Research.
“I feel really privileged to be acknowledged in this way and receive the award.”