Adjunct Associate Professor Shaun Ogilvie is one of 24 M膩ori academics featured in a new book. Photo: Grant Maiden
Adjunct Associate Professor Shaun Ogilvie听(Te Arawa and Ng膩ti Awa) is one of 24 M膩ori academics featured in a new book听.
Associate Professor Ogilvie specialises in scientific research that is grounded in M膩ori values and m膩tauranga (traditional knowledge) and focuses on the connections between people and nature.
He says M膩ori knowledge systems and modern science need to have an equal footing to help solve environmental challenges. 鈥淭he idea of humans not being connected to our environment is a problem that underpins a lot of the climate issues we are facing now.
鈥淩eturning to indigenous ways of thinking that emphasise how people are connected with nature can lead to some innovative solutions.鈥
Associate Professor Ogilvie, who is also the Director of Christchurch company Eco Research Associates Ltd, says m膩tauranga M膩ori and Western science are different but they can be complementary rather than competing against one another.
For example, m膩tauranga M膩ori has informed his research into isolating a naturally occurring toxin from a native plant听(tutu) that could be used as an alternative to the poison 1080. He has also explored the commercial feasibility of using m膩tauranga M膩ori-based traditional fish traps (pots called t膩ruke with an entrance at the top) instead of commercial trawling to reduce bycatch,听and听听found in shellfish.
It was while he was studying towards his Masters degree in Ecology at Otago University that Associate Professor Ogilvie began to question how science could be applied in a way that was useful for M膩ori communities and whether it could encompass M膩ori knowledge and perspectives.
He says the landscape of science 鈥 particularly in ecology - has changed over the past 30 years, and M膩ori knowledge systems have become naturally recognised as a valuable source of wisdom.
He believes there is now more support and encouragement for M膩ori university students. 鈥淭here鈥檚 more scope for having a conversation about things M膩ori within the University compared to when I was coming through, but there鈥檚 still some way to go. We could do with a lot more M膩ori professors.
鈥淚 think the area where change needs to happen is in the higher levels of science funding institutions where there鈥檚 an inherent bias towards Western ways of doing science.鈥
Associate Professor Ogilvie studied te reo at university, first at Otago, and then at UC, to better understand his heritage and he says learning the language gave him a better understanding of m膩tauranga M膩ori as a way of being and engaging in the world.
He writes in the book that it was also a way to redress the balance as his late mother Ngarokitawhiti (Noeleen) Ogilvie was punished as a child at school for speaking te reo.
He has dedicated his chapter, called听Curiosity and Connection, to her, and adds that his curiosity about the natural world was nurtured growing up in Waiuku, near Auckland, with his听P膩keh膩 father who treasures native flora and fauna.
The other UC academic featured in听Ng膩 Kete M膩tauranga听is听Head of Aotahi School of M膩ori and Indigenous Studies Sacha McMeeking.
- Ng膩 Kete M膩tauranga:听M膩ori scholars at the research interface听is edited by Jacinta Ruru (Raukawa, Ng膩ti Ranginui) and Linda Waimarie Nikora (T奴hoe, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti) and published by Otago University Press.
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