Patricia Pillay | September Giving Kupe Leadership Scholar

MASTER OF ARTS (ANTHROPOLOGY)

The name ‘Te Whakahura a Kupe’ expresses the spirit of discovery. I am passionate about engaging as many people in science as possible and helping everyone to discover how both science and history can inform major socio-environmental and physical changes in the future. Science plays a central role in our life and policy makers and the wide public can’t make informed decisions without understanding the scientific basis of these. It’s a major challenge which calls for leadership. My love for both communicating science and for heritage management, means I want to lead discussion on the critical issues now emerging about effective science and the sustainable use of our natural and cultural resources. Essential is the active involvement of Iwi and inclusion of Maori values. We are a young country and fortunate to have the strong presence of indigenous communities which gives us a unique opportunity to accommodate different value systems, outside of traditional academia. We should embrace these different world views in order to increase our understanding of sustainability and building a more inclusive and equitable society.

Sponsor: September Giving Trust

Mentor: Dame Anne Salmond, FRSNZ, 2013 New Zealander of the Year, Rutherford Medal winner, anthropologist, environmentalist and author.