# Priscilla Wehi

Priscilla M. Wehi (nee McCallum) is a New Zealand ethnobiologist and conservation biologist. As at July 2021 she is an associate professor at the University of Otago and on the first of that month officially undertook the role of director of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a centre of research excellence in complex systems and data analytics. During the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand Te Pūnaha Matatini scientists have developed mathematical models of the spread of the virus across the country that influence the New Zealand government's response to the outbreak. In 2021 Wehi was awarded the Hill Tinsley Medal.

## Education

Wehi has a master's degree from Lincoln University, where she studied brushtail possums. She undertook her PhD at the University of Waikato's School of Māori and Pacific Development. Her doctoral thesis was entitled Harakeke (Phormium tenax) ecology and historical management by Maori: The changing landscape in New Zealand.

## Career

After completing her PhD Wehi obtained positions at several research institutions including at Massey University (working with Mary Morgan-Richards) and the University of Otago. She was then employed at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research where she undertook research into wētā, and advocated for the use of indigenous knowledge to inform research into biodiversity. Wehi also led a team of researchers at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu investigating Māori exploration of Antarctic waters. Their research suggested that Māori were possibly the first people to sight the continent of Antarctica. As at July 2021, Wehi is an associate professor at the University of Otago.

## Awards

In 2014 Wehi was granted a Royal Society Te Apārangi Rutherford Discovery Fellowship. In 2019 Wehi was a recipient of the Outstanding Publication on New Zealand Ecology award, conferred by the New Zealand Ecological Society. In 2020 the biological sciences department of the University of Canterbury awarded Wehi their Inspirational Alumna Award. In 2021 Wehi was awarded the Hill Tinsley Medal with the New Zealand Association of Scientists recognising Wehi's "pioneering innovative research at the intersection of science and indigenous knowledge".

## Selected publications

* Priscilla M Wehi; William L Wehi (24 November 2009). "Traditional plant harvesting in contemporary fragmented and urban landscapes". Conservation Biology. 24 (2): 594–604. doi:10.1111/J.1523-1739.2009.01376.X. ISSN 0888-8892. PMID 19961510. Wikidata Q30954240.
* Priscilla M. Wehi; David Raubenheimer; Mary Morgan-Richards (17 December 2013). "Tolerance for nutrient imbalance in an intermittently feeding herbivorous cricket, the Wellington tree weta". PLOS One. 8 (12): e84641. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...884641W. doi:10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0084641. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3866171. PMID 24358369. Wikidata Q35073358.
* Staffan Jacob; Priscilla Wehi; Jean Clobert; Delphine Legrand; Nicolas Schtickzelle; Michele Huet; Alexis Chaine (2 August 2016). "Cooperation-mediated plasticity in dispersal and colonization". Evolution. 70 (10): 2336–2345. doi:10.1111/EVO.13028. ISSN 0014-3820. PMID 27480245. Wikidata Q36091951.
* Priscilla M Wehi; Hemi Whaanga; Steve A Trewick (1 July 2012). "Artefacts, biology and bias in museum collection research". Molecular Ecology. 21 (13): 3103–3109. doi:10.1111/J.1365-294X.2012.05589.X. ISSN 0962-1083. PMID 22916347. Wikidata Q34391852.
* Priscilla M. Wehi; Nigel J. Scott; Jacinta Beckwith; Rata Pryor Rodgers; Tasman Gillies; Vincent Van Uitregt; Krushil Watene (6 June 2021). "A short scan of Māori journeys to Antarctica". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand: 1–12. doi:10.1080/03036758.2021.1917633. ISSN 0303-6758. Wikidata Q107185697.
* Priscilla M. Wehi; Murray P Cox; Tom Roa; Hēmi Whaanga (4 June 2018). "Human Perceptions of Megafaunal Extinction Events Revealed by Linguistic Analysis of Indigenous Oral Traditions". Human Ecology. 46 (4): 461–470. doi:10.1007/S10745-018-0004-0. ISSN 0300-7839. PMC 6133014. PMID 30237652. Wikidata Q91600025.