EXPERTS SEARCH

A central question that animates my research is: What supports quality teaching? I have applied this question to curriculum-based teaching and learning in schools, teacher preparation, my own teaching within initial teacher education, and more broadly to teaching in the academy. 

My research coalesces around the practice of teaching and lived experiences of teachers and learners. I have published in relation to curriculum issues and developments and how teachers navigate curriculum changes, teacher development and teacher preparation programmes and systems, practice-focused research in initial teacher education, pre-service teacher identity development as culturally responsive and sustaining teachers and as critically engaged educational professionals, twenty-first century education and development of critical information literacy and digital citizenship, social sciences education, and gender relations and ICT in schooling contexts. 

A major research project I was involved in as a co-investigator was the Teaching and Research Learning Initiative (TLRI) research project titled "Shifting the conceptualisation of knowledge and learning in the integration of the new New Zealand Curriculum in initial and continuing teacher education." My current research projects relate to understanding curriculm developments and teachers' voices in relation to curriculum changes, practice-oriented assessment in teacher education, and exploration of the complexity of teaching.

I began my career as a secondary school teacher, before moving into teacher education and academia. This grounding as a teaching professional means that I value relationships with teachers and their roles as curriculum leaders and developers.

I am interested in how information-rich computational systems can better support human discovery and learning, particularly through tools that enable more interpretable and collaborative forms of understanding and communication. Focus areas include:

• Intelligent systems for environmental and social challenges
• GIScience and spatial data science
• Representation across machine learning models, natural language, and domain-specific data
• Dynamic and automated scientific workflow systems
• Decentralized knowledge systems

Kia ora! My name is Ellie - I love pushing the boundaries of interactive technology. I enjoy working on storytelling projects with a central identity/kaupapa of curiosity, knowledge and play, with particular interest in cinematic AR/VR, games, physical and/or digital interactive exhibitions and virtual film production.

My professional background is within film and television, with a special focus on factual/educational media. My academic interests are within the development of 360-degree cinematic virtual reality and non linear storytelling experiences, with my recent research being on interactive portals. In particular, my focus is on 360-degree scene transitions utilising cutting edge, novel techniques for enhancing narrative and spatial coherency in VR spaces.

I am an Assistant Lecturer at the School of Earth and Environment of the University of Canterbury. I teach remote sensing for Earth observation and geospatial analysis using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and multispectral optical imagery. My research involves radar signal processing for Earth observation and biological applications and radar instrumentation.

Heba is a lecturer and researcher in accounting, auditing, sustainability reporting, and stakeholder accountability in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her research focuses on the quality and credibility of corporate financial and sustainability reporting and on how different stakeholders perceive, interpret, and use reported information. She holds a PhD in Accounting from Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury.

A central strand of her work examines sustainability reporting and assurance, including the role of assurance in strengthening the credibility of corporate disclosures and supporting stakeholder trust. Her research also explores climate-related disclosure, financial auditing, reporting regulation, and the extent to which reporting and assurance practices promote meaningful organisational accountability rather than primarily serving managerial or reputational purposes.

Heba primarily uses qualitative research methodologies, including interviews, document analysis, and interpretive approaches. Her work contributes to debates on corporate accountability, reporting credibility, stakeholder engagement, sustainability governance, and the role of accounting and assurance in supporting transparent and accountable organisational decision-making.

Dr. Dwain D. Allan is the founding director of Taiwhanga Whakahaere Hinengaro – The Mind Control Lab at the University of Canterbury and a leading expert on the psychology of success. His work focuses on how we can change, direct, and harness the power of the mind to unlock greater potential and achieve success in a world of accelerated flux. He is especially interested in the subjective aspects of the mind — and, more particularly, the profound but hidden influence they exert on objective reality. In addition to his core research programme, Dr. Allan is a recognised authority in the fields of human–AI interaction, social robotics, systems science, and the relationship between the mind and social technology products.

Beyond academia, Dr. Allan is a respected founder, board member, advisor, and go-to expert for success-motivated individuals. Clients include world-class founders, CEOs, executives, athletes, coaches, and thought leaders, whom he teaches how to use his models and methods. Unsurprisingly, therefore, Dr. Allan has a special interest in producing scholarly knowledge that is both theoretically important and practically useful.

His iwi affiliations include Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Raukawa, and Ngāti Whakaue.

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Research Topics:

➟ Success Psychology

➟ Mindsets and Self Beliefs

➟ Mental Performance and Psychological Thriving

➟ Mind and Behaviour Change

➟ Psychological Interventions

➟ Meaning and Mental Representation

➟ Placebos and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

➟ Plasticity and Change

➟ Confidence and Self-Efficacy

➟ Psychological Construction and Perceptual Control 

➟ Computational and Theoretical Neuroscience of Feedback

➟ Drive and Motivation

➟ Peak Performance and Coaching Psychology

➟ Executive and Leadership Psychology

➟ Social Influence and Cyberpsychology

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UC Research Commitments:

➟ Societal Resilience

➟ Sustainable Futures

➟ Technology for Real-World Benefit

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Media Keywords:

➟ Psychology 

➟ Success 

➟ Beliefs 

➟ Mindsets

➟ Achievement 

➟ High-Performance

➟ Mental Performance

➟ Mental Wellbeing

➟ Winning

➟ Flourishing 

➟ Thriving

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📌  Dr. Allan is not currently considering PhD students. If you're interested in working with the lab, please complete the Lab Membership Form → HERE. 

My research is primarily interested in how proteins do their jobs, and the myriad of structural forms and interactions that affect their functioning. By using structure-function relationships as a scaffold, I am interested in how this function can be tuned to yield desirable functional features. This research involves studying both soluble and membrane proteins, with an emphasis on studying enzymes. Alongside the proteinaceous research, I am interested in fundamental aspects of mass spectrometry analyses of proteins, and developing supporting software, to uncover new and enabling methodologies.

The research combines structural biology, mass spectrometry, biochemistry, and synthetic biology to investigate the molecular mechanisms of proteins and enzymes, with applications ranging from bioplastic production to antimicrobial resistance and drug discovery. 

I am a forest engineer and quantitative geneticist, fascinated by variability in natural and human-made forest ecosystems. I focus my efforts on characterizing and exploiting wood variability trends, in an effort to increase site productivity and forest value. I collaborate with domestication and breeding projects, including the New Zealand Radiata Pine Breeding Programme and Drylands Forest Initiative (durable eucalypts).

My personal website contains copies of all my publications. https://luis.apiolaza.net

My research is aimed at understanding how tourism can be a tool for sustainable development. Applying critical and community-engaged approaches, I explore how social entrepreneurship can make tourism an equitable and sustainable form of livelihood for local communities and subsequently create positive community change. Advocating for sustainable consumption in tourism, my research also examines the environmentally responsible behaviours of tourists. My other research interests include community development, geotourism and geopark development, and critical tourism studies. I serve as Research Notes Editor for Tourism in Marine Environments, Editorial Board Member for Tourism Management Perspectives, and Review Editor for Frontiers in Sustainable Tourism. Apart from academic research, I have been actively involved in practitioner-based research for tourism planning consultancy projects in the Philippines and New Zealand.