title: Bite

authors: Mitchell, Tori

subjects: poetry

abstract: Bite is a collection of blunt confessional poetry draped in honesty, identity, and 21st century feminism, examined through lived experience with eating disorders, sexuality, trauma, disconnect from family and culture, love and loss, and what it means to be a girl growing up. The collection explores these raw concepts with vulnerability, through the eyes of ‘wolf girl’, in hopes that talking loudly about these topics will force the public to challenge the silence and stigma around them.  

This thesis was inspired by Maori Mythology, and all of the Polynesian poets who showed me how important it is for women of colour to share their stories and experiences. It was also influenced by feminist artists Jenny Holzer, Tracey Emin, and Barbara Kruger, whose art embodies the content of these poems in a literal way: freedom of expression, stripped bare and unflinching. The poetry in this collection is confronting, visceral, and filled with bite.

text: Bite Bite is a collection of blunt confessional poetry draped in honesty, identity, and 21st century feminism, examined through lived experience with eating disorders, sexuality, trauma, disconnect from family and culture, love and loss, and what it means to be a girl growing up. The collection explores these raw concepts with vulnerability, through the eyes of ‘wolf girl’, in hopes that talking loudly about these topics will force the public to challenge the silence and stigma around them.  

This thesis was inspired by Maori Mythology, and all of the Polynesian poets who showed me how important it is for women of colour to share their stories and experiences. It was also influenced by feminist artists Jenny Holzer, Tracey Emin, and Barbara Kruger, whose art embodies the content of these poems in a literal way: freedom of expression, stripped bare and unflinching. The poetry in this collection is confronting, visceral, and filled with bite.

year: 2020

title: Exploring the potential of Te Whāriki in supporting a decolonising educational reform in classroom

authors: Corlett, Melissa Jane

abstract: This thesis begins with a deep belief in the potential of Te Whāriki, a bicultural curriculum document born of the dual heritages of Aotearoa/New Zealand, to support the educational reform needed. There is a need to decolonise our classrooms and create contexts for learning where Māori students feel they can belong and also thrive. The pathway to achieving this reality is complex. It requires a deep foundational understanding of our shared histories in order to move from deficit positions about Māori learners to ones of agency and hope. While strong relationships are important it was by connecting with Māori metaphors that we were able to move beyond the rhetoric and begin to build shared understandings and greater respect for knowledge from te ao Māori. The process of whakawhiti kōrero or dialogic and iterative sense making furthered our combined theorising. The whakataukī and metaphors embedded in Te Whāriki were foundational to these contexts as they strengthened our collective abilities as teachers to make the learning more meaningful and fun.
This research process provided me with valuable insights into the way my own power and beliefs can inhibit potential collective learning. Despite this it was the content of Te Whāriki that helped to enable the learning of myself and my participants, creating safe and supportive contexts for our collective learning to begin to grow. 
While this research strengthened my own beliefs in the potential of Te Whāriki it also assisted my participants to become more open to this potential as well. In this endeavour, time was required to engage with the more expert other, whether this was from other people or through the use of artefacts. The relational and culturally responsive pedagogy that we had learned to implement in our classrooms was also able to be connected with, as our shared unlearning and learning flowed.

text: Exploring the potential of Te Whāriki in supporting a decolonising educational reform in classroom This thesis begins with a deep belief in the potential of Te Whāriki, a bicultural curriculum document born of the dual heritages of Aotearoa/New Zealand, to support the educational reform needed. There is a need to decolonise our classrooms and create contexts for learning where Māori students feel they can belong and also thrive. The pathway to achieving this reality is complex. It requires a deep foundational understanding of our shared histories in order to move from deficit positions about Māori learners to ones of agency and hope. While strong relationships are important it was by connecting with Māori metaphors that we were able to move beyond the rhetoric and begin to build shared understandings and greater respect for knowledge from te ao Māori. The process of whakawhiti kōrero or dialogic and iterative sense making furthered our combined theorising. The whakataukī and metaphors embedded in Te Whāriki were foundational to these contexts as they strengthened our collective abilities as teachers to make the learning more meaningful and fun.
This research process provided me with valuable insights into the way my own power and beliefs can inhibit potential collective learning. Despite this it was the content of Te Whāriki that helped to enable the learning of myself and my participants, creating safe and supportive contexts for our collective learning to begin to grow. 
While this research strengthened my own beliefs in the potential of Te Whāriki it also assisted my participants to become more open to this potential as well. In this endeavour, time was required to engage with the more expert other, whether this was from other people or through the use of artefacts. The relational and culturally responsive pedagogy that we had learned to implement in our classrooms was also able to be connected with, as our shared unlearning and learning flowed.

year: 2022

title: Molecular Systematics of the New Caledonian Cryptocaryeae (Lauraceae)

authors: Carter, Sophie Nicole

subjects: Phylogenetics

abstract: New Caledonia is an archipelago located in the southwest pacific.  It has a tropical climate influenced by the surrounding sea and is recognised as a “biodiversity hotspot”.  The flora of New Caledonia is poorly understood especially in regards to Lauraceae which has not undergone taxonomic revision since Kostermans 1974 taxonomic treatment.
The aim of this study was to test the taxonomic delimitations of the Lauraceae sub-family Cryptocaryeae in New Caledonia.  This study tested whether the New Caledonian Beilschmiedia, Cryptocarya and Endiandra are monophyletic.  Were these genera the result of one or more colonization events?  This study tested if the Cryptocarya group forms two clades as suggested by Rowher et al. (2014) and van der Merwe et al. (2016).
The phylogenetic analyses were conducted using ITS and Bayesian inference, 58 new complete ITS sequences were generated. Majority of the sequences generated were New Caledonian specimens, overall the topology of the tree was well supported.
New Caledonian Beilschmiedia and Endiandra are monophyletic, whereas, the New Caledonian Cryptocarya are not monophyletic.  New Caledonian Beilschmiedia and Endiandra are most likely the result of a single colonization event for each genus and subsequent radiation.  New Caledonian Cryptocarya are most likely the result of multiple colonization events.  The relationship between the clades of Beilschmiedia and Endiandra are unresolved.  Cryptocarya forms two strongly support clades supporting the findings of Rohwer et al. (2014) and van der Merwe et al. (2016).
Between Beilschmiedia, Cryptocarya and Endiandra, there are at least six putative new species and five genetically diverse species.  These samples need to undergo taxonomic revision and potential reidentification.  The biogeographical relationship between New Caledonian Cryptocaryeae and the rest of the Cryptocaryeae sampled is unresolved and requires further data collection and study.

text: Molecular Systematics of the New Caledonian Cryptocaryeae (Lauraceae) New Caledonia is an archipelago located in the southwest pacific.  It has a tropical climate influenced by the surrounding sea and is recognised as a “biodiversity hotspot”.  The flora of New Caledonia is poorly understood especially in regards to Lauraceae which has not undergone taxonomic revision since Kostermans 1974 taxonomic treatment.
The aim of this study was to test the taxonomic delimitations of the Lauraceae sub-family Cryptocaryeae in New Caledonia.  This study tested whether the New Caledonian Beilschmiedia, Cryptocarya and Endiandra are monophyletic.  Were these genera the result of one or more colonization events?  This study tested if the Cryptocarya group forms two clades as suggested by Rowher et al. (2014) and van der Merwe et al. (2016).
The phylogenetic analyses were conducted using ITS and Bayesian inference, 58 new complete ITS sequences were generated. Majority of the sequences generated were New Caledonian specimens, overall the topology of the tree was well supported.
New Caledonian Beilschmiedia and Endiandra are monophyletic, whereas, the New Caledonian Cryptocarya are not monophyletic.  New Caledonian Beilschmiedia and Endiandra are most likely the result of a single colonization event for each genus and subsequent radiation.  New Caledonian Cryptocarya are most likely the result of multiple colonization events.  The relationship between the clades of Beilschmiedia and Endiandra are unresolved.  Cryptocarya forms two strongly support clades supporting the findings of Rohwer et al. (2014) and van der Merwe et al. (2016).
Between Beilschmiedia, Cryptocarya and Endiandra, there are at least six putative new species and five genetically diverse species.  These samples need to undergo taxonomic revision and potential reidentification.  The biogeographical relationship between New Caledonian Cryptocaryeae and the rest of the Cryptocaryeae sampled is unresolved and requires further data collection and study.

year: 2017