Ngāi Tahu Research Centre

Tim Chambers is an Associate Professor and environmental epidemiologist at the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.

My research examines how environmental exposures and public policy shape population health and health equity in Aotearoa New Zealand. My current programme focuses particularly on drinking water quality and health, including nitrate contamination, microbial water quality, reproductive and child health, cancer, and enteric disease.

I use large-scale linked health and administrative data, environmental monitoring data, geospatial methods and exposure modelling to investigate environmental health risks at a population level. A major focus of my work is developing better ways to characterise historical drinking water exposures, including the integration of water-quality monitoring, spatial data and machine-learning approaches. This work enables national epidemiological studies that would otherwise not be possible.

Recent research includes a national cohort study of more than 735,000 births examining prenatal nitrate exposure and preterm birth, alongside work on nitrate and congenital anomalies, drinking water quality and enteric disease and the potential relationship between nitrate exposure and cancer.

My research has a strong translation and policy focus. I am interested not only in identifying environmental health risks, but in improving environmental monitoring, public-health surveillance and the evidence used to set drinking water and environmental standards. This includes a particular interest in freshwater and drinking water issues within the Ngāi Tahu takiwā and in ensuring that research contributes to equitable health outcomes.

I welcome collaborations and postgraduate research projects in environmental epidemiology, drinking water and freshwater health, spatial epidemiology, linked administrative data, environmental exposure modelling and evidence-informed public-health policy.

Professor John Reid is a researcher whose work focuses on the intersection of sustainability, indigenous knowledge systems, environmental governance, and technological innovation. Based within the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, his research brings together systems thinking, te ao Māori, and interdisciplinary science to address complex social, economic, and environmental challenges facing Indigenous communities and wider society.  His work spans environmental management, regenerative land use, Māori economic development, and the governance of emerging technologies, with particular interests in environmental digital twins, artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and data systems for environmental decision-making. He has led and contributed to major national research programmes that connect researchers, industry, iwi, and government agencies to develop new approaches to sustainability and resilience.  

Matt's research explores how Indigenous worldviews shape the institutions that govern economic activity, environmental management, and public decision-making. Working at the nexus of political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental domains, his research examines how values, knowledge systems, and social organisation influence the ways societies coordinate collective action and pursue development.

A central focus of his work is the application of te ao Māori and mātauranga Māori to contemporary policy challenges, including environmental governance, disaster risk reduction, resource management, economic development, and wellbeing. His research investigates how Indigenous institutions and governance arrangements can inform more resilient, equitable, and sustainable approaches to development while supporting Indigenous aspirations and self-determination.

This work has been applied across a diverse range of sectors, including agriculture, the marine economy, natural resource management, food systems, international trade and exports, climate adaptation, and regional development. Through collaboration with government agencies, Māori authorities, industry, and communities, Matt develops practical frameworks that support evidence-based policy, institutional innovation, and sustainable economic development.

Underpinning this work is an interest in the philosophical foundations of economic and governance systems. Drawing on ontology, epistemology, institutional economics, and systems thinking, Matt develops theoretical frameworks that explain how worldviews give rise to values, institutions, and patterns of social and economic organisation. His research seeks to bridge theory and practice by translating conceptual insights into practical tools that can inform public policy, institutional design, and community development.

Professor Mike Stevens (nō Kāi Tahu) is a historian of the Māori past. His research focuses primarily on nineteenth Kāi Tahu communities and individuals, especially those located south of the Waitaki River, through the lenses of environmental history, maritime history, and port history. He has a particular interest in Bluff, where he was raised, and actively contributes to Te Rūnaka o Awarua and Te Rau Aroha Marae.

Mike is a member of Te Pae Kōrako, the Ngāi Tahu Archive Advisory Committee, and contributed several biographies to volumes 1 and 2 of the award-winning Tāngata Ngāi Tahu.

Ko Takitimu, ko Uruao, ko Makawhiua kā waka

Ko Kāti Waewae, ko Kāti Wheke, ko Ngāi Tūāhuriri, ko Rakaiwhakairi kā hapū

He uri tēnei nō Kai Tahu me Ngāti Kahungunu ki Wairarapa

Mauri ora

I am a Research Fellow Microbiologist based in the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre, UC and supported by the Biomolecular Interaction Centre, UC. My research background spans anaerobic bacterial pathogen physiology, human and ruminant gut microbial health, antimicrobial drug discovery, fungal engineering, and natural products research. 

Currently, my research focuses on weaving Kaupapa Māori and scientific methods to understand the endemic psilocybin-containing mushrooms of Aotearoa, particularly the genus Psilocybe, with the aim of improving the accessibility of psilocybin as a medicine/rokoā, as well as our understanding of these taoka species for enhanced hauora māori outcomes.

Emma (Kāi Tahu, Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Mutunga) is a Professor of Māori Health in the Ngāi Tahu Research Centre. She holds a BSc(Hons) and PhD, both majoring in genetics from the University of Otago. Prior to joining the NTRC, she was a Professor at the University of Otago where she was the Director of the Ngāi Tahu Māori Health Research Unit and Associate Dean Māori for the Division of Health Sciences. Emma has ~20 years experience in Māori public health research and teaching. She has led the development of a number of Māori health courses, supervised a number of post-graduate students (Honours, Masters and PhD levels), and has worked on, or led, a large number of research projects all contributing to improving health outcomes and experiences for Māori.