title: Feelings of home and belonging amongst Bhutanese women and girls with refugee backgrounds who live in New Zealand

authors: Basnet, Sunita

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: This thesis focuses on the everyday home geographies of Bhutanese women and girls with refugee backgrounds in Aotearoa New Zealand. It examines feelings of being at home and belonging for 37 resettled Bhutanese women and girls, and eight men, aged between 12 and 85 years, all living under the third-country resettlement programme in Auckland, Christchurch, Nelson and Palmerston North. Three key informants, who assist with resettlement, are also included in this research. It is argued that everyday experiences of home and belonging are embodied, emotional, and contradictory for Bhutanese women and girls.

Feminist scholarship on gendered feelings of belonging and home informs the framework of the research. Qualitative performative methods are used, comprising 40 semi-structured in-depth interviews; five photo-elicitations; and seven cooking sessions with Bhutanese women. A focus group of five girls aged from 12 to 16 years was also involved in the study. In addition, I adopted a new approach called ‘accidental ethnography’, which comprised stayovers, participant sensing, and cooking sessions in the field. The data gathered was analysed using thematic and discourse analytical approaches. 

My findings are organised into three central themes that relate to belonging and home: bodies; households; and communities. First, I pay attention to the corporeal practices of resettled Bhutanese women and girls in everyday life. Clothing, jewellery, norms, values, language and traditions can enable belonging and feeling at home but they can also generate feelings of discomfort, segregation and being outsiders when two extreme cultures confront each other. Second, I focus on day-to-day activities within households. Creating a familiar environment within households, including being with family, having backyard gardens, consuming culturally appropriate food, maintaining one’s religion and having a sturdy house with meaningful material objects, enable resettled Bhutanese to accept their new country as home. Third, my study shows that a sense of community can enable or hinder participants’ feelings of belonging in New Zealand. Living in smaller cities, being able to exercise and observe Bhutanese traditions, living longer in New Zealand, developing satisfaction with the neighbourhood and feeling safe are all factors that play an important role in forming feelings of community for resettled Bhutanese women and girls.

Feelings of belonging and a sense of being at home are about maintaining, reinforcing and negotiating cultural and gendered identities in New Zealand. This study responds to the lack of critical attention paid to the relationship between home and belonging for resettled Bhutanese women and girls. Considering everyday practices encourages a more critical understanding of belonging and home for women and girls with refugee backgrounds.

text: Feelings of home and belonging amongst Bhutanese women and girls with refugee backgrounds who live in New Zealand This thesis focuses on the everyday home geographies of Bhutanese women and girls with refugee backgrounds in Aotearoa New Zealand. It examines feelings of being at home and belonging for 37 resettled Bhutanese women and girls, and eight men, aged between 12 and 85 years, all living under the third-country resettlement programme in Auckland, Christchurch, Nelson and Palmerston North. Three key informants, who assist with resettlement, are also included in this research. It is argued that everyday experiences of home and belonging are embodied, emotional, and contradictory for Bhutanese women and girls.

Feminist scholarship on gendered feelings of belonging and home informs the framework of the research. Qualitative performative methods are used, comprising 40 semi-structured in-depth interviews; five photo-elicitations; and seven cooking sessions with Bhutanese women. A focus group of five girls aged from 12 to 16 years was also involved in the study. In addition, I adopted a new approach called ‘accidental ethnography’, which comprised stayovers, participant sensing, and cooking sessions in the field. The data gathered was analysed using thematic and discourse analytical approaches. 

My findings are organised into three central themes that relate to belonging and home: bodies; households; and communities. First, I pay attention to the corporeal practices of resettled Bhutanese women and girls in everyday life. Clothing, jewellery, norms, values, language and traditions can enable belonging and feeling at home but they can also generate feelings of discomfort, segregation and being outsiders when two extreme cultures confront each other. Second, I focus on day-to-day activities within households. Creating a familiar environment within households, including being with family, having backyard gardens, consuming culturally appropriate food, maintaining one’s religion and having a sturdy house with meaningful material objects, enable resettled Bhutanese to accept their new country as home. Third, my study shows that a sense of community can enable or hinder participants’ feelings of belonging in New Zealand. Living in smaller cities, being able to exercise and observe Bhutanese traditions, living longer in New Zealand, developing satisfaction with the neighbourhood and feeling safe are all factors that play an important role in forming feelings of community for resettled Bhutanese women and girls.

Feelings of belonging and a sense of being at home are about maintaining, reinforcing and negotiating cultural and gendered identities in New Zealand. This study responds to the lack of critical attention paid to the relationship between home and belonging for resettled Bhutanese women and girls. Considering everyday practices encourages a more critical understanding of belonging and home for women and girls with refugee backgrounds.

year: 2018

title: Filamentous algae as a nutrient scrubber for agricultural drainage treatment

authors: Hariz, Harizah

subjects: Algal turf scrubber

abstract: Filamentous algae nutrient scrubbers (FANS) have potential as a novel on-farm treatment system to remove and recover diffuse nutrients from agricultural drainage water. FANS use attached filamentous algae that grow and assimilate nutrients from the water which are removed when algal biomass is harvested for beneficial use (e.g. biofertilizer, animal feed supplement). This thesis investigated the attachment abilities, growth rates, biomass productivity and nutrient removal rates of four locally isolated filamentous algae species with the potential for use on FANS to bioremediate nutrients in agricultural drainage water.

To date, a standardised method to assess the productivity and nutrient removal of attached filamentous algae and identify target species for FANS cultivation has not been developed. Therefore, a reproducible bioassay was developed to rapidly assess the ability of four filamentous algae species to attach and grow, remove nutrients, and produce harvestable algal biomass using microscale FANS (μFANS) under controlled indoor conditions. This bioassay included the development of a method for rapid seeding by ‘hooking” algal filaments onto the FANS liner to provide initial physical attachment. Within 14 days, a “lawn” of the seeded algae had established and the “hooked” biomass had attached biologically onto the FANS liner. Oedogonium sp. Was identified as the best performing species overall, with the strongest holdfast attachment, high biomass productivity and high nutrient removal rates.

As the growth and bioremediation performance of filamentous algae can vary with seasonal changes in environmental conditions, the performance of four filamentous algae species was assessed under summer and winter ambient outdoor conditions on mesocosm-scale FANS. Oedogonium sp. Had the highest biomass productivity and nitrate removal rates under both seasons, confirming it as the best performing species. In addition, Oedogonium sp. FANS had the lowest contamination in percentage cover of non-target species compared to the other three species under both summer and winter conditions. These results demonstrate that Oedogonium sp. Has a higher tolerance than the other three species to summer and winter ambient temperature and light variation, enabling Oedogonium sp. To maintain dominance on the floway for a longer period. For these reasons, Oedogonium sp. Was identified as a promising target for year-round cultivation on FANS.

FANS operating parameters can strongly influence algal biomass productivity and nutrient removal. Therefore, the effects of the influent flow rate, harvesting frequency and initial standing crop on unialgal Oedogonium sp. FANS biomass productivity and nutrient removal performance were assessed under controlled environmental conditions to remove any variability in performance due to variations in ambient conditions. Results suggested that an initial standing crop of 70-80 g DW m-2, harvesting frequency of four days and influent flow rate of 1 L min-1 (16.7 L min-1 .m width) were optimal for Oedogonium sp. Cultivated on FANS to maximize biomass productivity and nutrient removal under controlled laboratory conditions. These results contribute to understanding the impacts of operating parameters on optimizing unialgal Oedogonium sp. FANS biomass production and nutrient removal performance.

Despite their potential influence on performance, the effects of FANS seeding methods and species composition have received little attention. Therefore, the effects of seeding method (controlled seeding vs. natural establishment) and seeded species composition (single species vs. mixed species algal assemblages) were investigated in FANS treating agricultural drainage on a dairy farm over seven months. FANS seeded using controlled seeding established biomass five times faster (10 days) than FANS left to establish naturally (7 weeks). Overall, the seeding method and species composition of algae seeded on FANS did not significantly affect biomass productivity and nutrient removal performance. However, FANS seeded with a single species (Oedogonium sp.) had a lower contamination rate in terms of percentage coverage of non-target species than FANS seeded with a mixed species assemblage. These results demonstrate that controlled seeding and cultivation of a single target filamentous algae species can help to maintain a higher abundance of a target species on FANS over a longer period of time, enabling the recovery of high-quality biomass with low variation in algae species composition.

This thesis has demonstrated that FANS can be successfully used to treat nutrients in agricultural drainage water, and therefore could be implemented as a novel tool to assist in mitigating diffuse pollution in New Zealand. The findings can be used to provide farmers and land managers with a clearer understanding of how FANS can be used to remove nutrients from agricultural drainage water to meet water quality objectives while minimizing the impacts on farming activities.

text: Filamentous algae as a nutrient scrubber for agricultural drainage treatment Filamentous algae nutrient scrubbers (FANS) have potential as a novel on-farm treatment system to remove and recover diffuse nutrients from agricultural drainage water. FANS use attached filamentous algae that grow and assimilate nutrients from the water which are removed when algal biomass is harvested for beneficial use (e.g. biofertilizer, animal feed supplement). This thesis investigated the attachment abilities, growth rates, biomass productivity and nutrient removal rates of four locally isolated filamentous algae species with the potential for use on FANS to bioremediate nutrients in agricultural drainage water.

To date, a standardised method to assess the productivity and nutrient removal of attached filamentous algae and identify target species for FANS cultivation has not been developed. Therefore, a reproducible bioassay was developed to rapidly assess the ability of four filamentous algae species to attach and grow, remove nutrients, and produce harvestable algal biomass using microscale FANS (μFANS) under controlled indoor conditions. This bioassay included the development of a method for rapid seeding by ‘hooking” algal filaments onto the FANS liner to provide initial physical attachment. Within 14 days, a “lawn” of the seeded algae had established and the “hooked” biomass had attached biologically onto the FANS liner. Oedogonium sp. Was identified as the best performing species overall, with the strongest holdfast attachment, high biomass productivity and high nutrient removal rates.

As the growth and bioremediation performance of filamentous algae can vary with seasonal changes in environmental conditions, the performance of four filamentous algae species was assessed under summer and winter ambient outdoor conditions on mesocosm-scale FANS. Oedogonium sp. Had the highest biomass productivity and nitrate removal rates under both seasons, confirming it as the best performing species. In addition, Oedogonium sp. FANS had the lowest contamination in percentage cover of non-target species compared to the other three species under both summer and winter conditions. These results demonstrate that Oedogonium sp. Has a higher tolerance than the other three species to summer and winter ambient temperature and light variation, enabling Oedogonium sp. To maintain dominance on the floway for a longer period. For these reasons, Oedogonium sp. Was identified as a promising target for year-round cultivation on FANS.

FANS operating parameters can strongly influence algal biomass productivity and nutrient removal. Therefore, the effects of the influent flow rate, harvesting frequency and initial standing crop on unialgal Oedogonium sp. FANS biomass productivity and nutrient removal performance were assessed under controlled environmental conditions to remove any variability in performance due to variations in ambient conditions. Results suggested that an initial standing crop of 70-80 g DW m-2, harvesting frequency of four days and influent flow rate of 1 L min-1 (16.7 L min-1 .m width) were optimal for Oedogonium sp. Cultivated on FANS to maximize biomass productivity and nutrient removal under controlled laboratory conditions. These results contribute to understanding the impacts of operating parameters on optimizing unialgal Oedogonium sp. FANS biomass production and nutrient removal performance.

Despite their potential influence on performance, the effects of FANS seeding methods and species composition have received little attention. Therefore, the effects of seeding method (controlled seeding vs. natural establishment) and seeded species composition (single species vs. mixed species algal assemblages) were investigated in FANS treating agricultural drainage on a dairy farm over seven months. FANS seeded using controlled seeding established biomass five times faster (10 days) than FANS left to establish naturally (7 weeks). Overall, the seeding method and species composition of algae seeded on FANS did not significantly affect biomass productivity and nutrient removal performance. However, FANS seeded with a single species (Oedogonium sp.) had a lower contamination rate in terms of percentage coverage of non-target species than FANS seeded with a mixed species assemblage. These results demonstrate that controlled seeding and cultivation of a single target filamentous algae species can help to maintain a higher abundance of a target species on FANS over a longer period of time, enabling the recovery of high-quality biomass with low variation in algae species composition.

This thesis has demonstrated that FANS can be successfully used to treat nutrients in agricultural drainage water, and therefore could be implemented as a novel tool to assist in mitigating diffuse pollution in New Zealand. The findings can be used to provide farmers and land managers with a clearer understanding of how FANS can be used to remove nutrients from agricultural drainage water to meet water quality objectives while minimizing the impacts on farming activities.

year: 2023

title: Riperata kahutia: a woman of mana

authors: Nikora, Shelley Aroha

subjects: Riperata Kahutia

abstract: Riperata Kahutia is widely remembered as a leader in the history of Tūranganuiā-
Kiwa, who fought to retain and repossess land during the difficult times of the
1860's. During this period of rapid social change and political upheavals resulting
in injustices, the exercise of rangatiratanga took many forms. Responses to
change covered a wide spectrum and there was no 'right' way of doing things,
simply leaders making decisions on the basis of what they and their people
thought at the time were best. Riperata utilised the law as a means of retaining
the land and the mana of her people. While her status as a rangatira was never in
doubt, innuendo surfaced suggesting she may have received more land entitlement
than she was qualified for.
The activities by Riperata may have been different from other leaders but the
purpose was the same: to preserve the people and the land. Her strategies for
doing so, based on her inherited mana and upbringing, her knowledge of local iwi
traditions, her acquisition of new skills introduced by Pākehā and her innovative
approaches to exercising her rangatiratanga, make her a worthwhile study.
This thesis will support the viewpoint that Riperata Kahutia acted on behalf of her
people and for the good of her people. It will be argued Riperata was a visionary
who embraced the changes imposed upon a society enduring the consequences of
colonisation. A major objective is to dispel suggestions she embellished her
rights.

text: Riperata kahutia: a woman of mana Riperata Kahutia is widely remembered as a leader in the history of Tūranganuiā-
Kiwa, who fought to retain and repossess land during the difficult times of the
1860's. During this period of rapid social change and political upheavals resulting
in injustices, the exercise of rangatiratanga took many forms. Responses to
change covered a wide spectrum and there was no 'right' way of doing things,
simply leaders making decisions on the basis of what they and their people
thought at the time were best. Riperata utilised the law as a means of retaining
the land and the mana of her people. While her status as a rangatira was never in
doubt, innuendo surfaced suggesting she may have received more land entitlement
than she was qualified for.
The activities by Riperata may have been different from other leaders but the
purpose was the same: to preserve the people and the land. Her strategies for
doing so, based on her inherited mana and upbringing, her knowledge of local iwi
traditions, her acquisition of new skills introduced by Pākehā and her innovative
approaches to exercising her rangatiratanga, make her a worthwhile study.
This thesis will support the viewpoint that Riperata Kahutia acted on behalf of her
people and for the good of her people. It will be argued Riperata was a visionary
who embraced the changes imposed upon a society enduring the consequences of
colonisation. A major objective is to dispel suggestions she embellished her
rights.

year: 2009