Producing the Acceptable Sex Worker discusses the
persistent influence of stereotypes about sex work.

New Zealand decriminalised sex work in 2003 with the Prostitution Reform Act. Almost 20 years later, how have ideas about the sex industry changed?

Dr Gwyn Easterbrook-Smith is a tutor at the School of Humanities, Media and Creative Communication on Massey University’s Wellington campus. Their new book Producing the Acceptable Sex Worker considers this question by looking at how sex workers have been discussed in the news media.

“I’m interested in looking at media representations because for a lot of people, that’s one of the main places they learn about the sex industry,” Dr Easterbrook-Smith says. “Most sex workers carefully manage who they tell about their jobs, because of the stigma which is still attached to the work. So, many people either don’t know, or don’t know that they know, a sex worker. That lack of personal knowledge or experience makes the media a really important site where ideas about the industry can be reproduced or challenged.”

Dr Easterbrook-Smith’s research found that post-decriminalisation, some sex workers were increasingly presented as acceptable or respectable, but that acceptability was highly contingent and not available to all sex workers.

“While obviously people of all genders do sex work, I found that women, both trans and cisgender, were vastly more likely to be discussed in coverage of sex work, which I think is important to note since a lot of the narratives around the work are quite gendered,” Dr Easterbrook-Smith says.

Sex worker rights organisations often focus on the idea that sex work is work, and this came through in some media coverage of sex work in Aotearoa New Zealand – although this was more likely to be the case if the women involved were cisgender, charged relatively higher prices, and worked indoors.

“When sex workers did have their work treated as a real job, this was often accompanied by an explicit or implicit comparison to other sex workers, suggesting the stigma of the job may just be shifted around rather than genuinely reduced.

“Sex workers who continued to be stigmatised in news media coverage were often those who were marginalised in other ways – transgender women, particularly those who do street-based sex work, and migrant sex workers, who are specifically excluded from the protections of the Prostitution Reform Act.

“The ways that they were stigmatised as sex workers were often linked to other groups which they were also a part of. This really highlights the importance of paying attention to the multifaceted nature of people’s identities, that is, taking an intersectional approach, to discussing sex work.”

Producing the Acceptable Sex Worker also discusses the persistent influence of stereotypes about sex work, which influence the sort of stories that are told about sex work, even when the stories are being refuted.

“One thing I found quite a lot in some of the older texts I analysed, dating from the earlier 2010s, was an emphasis on people not ‘looking like’ a sex worker. Well, what do you mean by that? What does a sex worker look like? And obviously the intention there is that the reader is going to understand this as a positive thing, but in doing that, you’re reinforcing the idea that ‘sex worker’ is this negative identity which people should distance themselves from. What you’re seeing there is the comparison between different kinds of sex workers, but also the issue where old stereotypes about the industry can be really limiting, shaping how it’s discussed, even in fairly positive coverage.” 

Producing the Acceptable Sex Worker, published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, is available on pre-order now from Amazon.

Funded by the Earthquake Commission (EQC), the Massey-led research project will investigate how agencies have communicated risk during times of inactivity, unrest, eruption, and post-eruption in previous volcanic events in this country and globally, to create an effective approach for future events.

Lead researcher Associate Professor Julia Becker from the Joint Centre for Disaster Research says communication of volcanic risk varies over time, depending on the status of the volcano and the population at risk, and is challenging due to the unpredictability of an eruption.

“We want to learn from our previous responses and use our results to help improve New Zealand’s volcanic preparedness, resilience, emergency management and warnings. Communication about such aspects is essential to inform decision-making and keep New Zealanders safe.”

While Dr Becker’s research primarily focuses on volcanic risk communication, the research scope will also include aftershock communication approaches that were useful to agencies and the public during the Canterbury earthquake sequence.

“We want to see whether communication for earthquakes could be transferable to a volcano context. It’s clear that an integrated approach would help to understand the range of ways to effectively communicate volcanic risk and provide advice for decision-making.”

Dr Becker is one of 13 recipients of EQC’s 2022 Biennial Grants. She will be leading a research team from Massey and GNS Science, working alongside the Department of Conservation, local iwi and  agencies responsible for volcanic risk management in New Zealand, including Determining Volcanic Risk in Auckland (DEVORA).

EQC Research Manager Dr Natalie Balfour says communications about any natural hazard are crucial to keep the public safe and informed.

 “This research will ensure that important lessons from the past are not lost and will help us communicate volcanic risks more effectively in the future. New Zealand experiences a range of volcanic activity and eruption styles.

“The eruptions of Mt Ruapehu [1995/96], Te Maari Crater [2012], and events overseas such as in Tonga, all provide us opportunities to learn. Successful communication of volcanic risk will help the public and other decisionmakers to better plan and prepare. 

“We’re funding this project as it fits perfectly with EQC’s vision to create better understanding of the natural hazards we face and how we can better prepare for them.”

Light rail investment has become a new arena of global competition to make the most liveable cities in the world. There are more than 35 cities in Australia, Canada and the United States alone that have built or are in the process of building light rail in their cities. Therefore, Government announcements on spending more than $14 billion on the Auckland Light Rail are not surprising. 

Light rail is popular among politicians, as it has been associated with the “cool/modern image” of the 21st-century city and is considered a silver bullet to solve a range of problems such as environmental problems  like carbon emissions related to transport, air quality, and urban sprawl, health problems such as physical activity and its ability to combat obesity, heart diseases and blood pressure, and mental health issues such as depression and isolation,  economic problems such as regenerating cities/corridors for housing, retail and offices and  transport problems such as congestion and the related energy usage.  

However, very few studies have considered the huge investment into light rail from a transport justice perspective. Transport justice, as an extension of social justice, can be divided into process (inclusion in the decision-making process) and distributive (allocation of benefits and costs) justices. 

Transport “process” justice will engage Māori, provide Māori with the opportunity to be involved in project governance and management roles, acknowledge and use their knowledge of the environmental health of Manukau Harbour, apply a Māori-inspired urban design framework in station design and conduct consultations as per the formal and informal planning practices in Auckland. 

However, the real question is the issue of transport “distributive” justice: whether over 700,000 (46 per cent of the total population) Māori, Pacific and other ethnic communities living in Auckland will get benefit from the $14 billion investment into light rail.  

The Māori population is mainly concentrated in southern and western suburbs such as Manurewa, Henderson–Massey, Papakura, Ōtara–Papatoetoe, Māngere–Ōtāhuhu and Franklin. Māori living in the south, especially Māngere, will get access to the light rail system, whereas Māori living in the northwest will have to wait until other light rail projects are planned in those areas.

Ethnic communities, especially Asian and Indian people, use nearly double the public transport in Auckland compared with the metropolitan average. The light rail route passing through Mt Roskill and Mt Albert provides an opportunity for these ethnic populations to transform an automobile-dependent city to a much more public-transport friendly city. 

Light rail will connect two major employment hubs (the CBD and the Airport). However, the majority of Māori work all over the city and travel during non-peak periods, so might have limited use of the light rail system for job purposes. In contrast, the majority of the ethnic population is mainly involved in part-time work, and need good connections and off-peak services. Integrating light rail with other public transport services and frequency will determine the usage of services by ethnic minority communities. 

Māori families are disproportionately dependent on cars because of their large family structures, health needs, the affordability of cars and the need to travel to meet cultural obligations. There is limited research available on Māori and public transport usage, but research on Māori and cycling shows that socio-economic inequities such as inflexible work conditions and lack of access to places of importance to Māori are creating barriers to cycling that might be relevant to light rail route and feeder design. Therefore, it is unlikely light rail will be well used by Māori. Although most ethnic communities consider cars as a status symbol, they are also excited to welcome “cool light rail” for social status reasons as well.  

Auckland Council has advanced the light rail project as an urban development project to regenerate housing, retail and office buildings alongside the route, and have a larger impact on the overall city. On the one hand, it will be good for future urban development and for generating economic activities within the city. On the other hand, it may displace the low socio-economic population of Māori, Pacific and immigrants living near the light rail route. The Tāmaki Regeneration project and City Rail Link project show the complex interactions among authorities, community organisations and displaced population and businesses during the construction and regeneration period. Therefore, it is important to devise collaborative co-design and co-creation strategies that make light rail a tool for affordable housing, especially for transitioning Māori and ethnic populations to homeownership and small businesses. 

The Māori, Pacific and immigrant-descent population in Tāmaki Makaurau is youthful. Therefore, the regeneration process should be carefully designed to involve youth, women and children to make a more equitable and secure future for them.

“Inclusive transport access” – enabling all people to participate in society through access to social and economic opportunities – is a key objective of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Government Policy Statements on transport produced by Labour in 2018 and 2021. However, there is limited research on how these aspirational goals will be achieved in the light rail project in Auckland. 

As a public transport advocate, I am excited about the Government’s announcement of building a light rail system in Auckland, however light rail will be a fragile investment if the everyday travel needs of Māori, Pacific and ethnic communities will not be accommodated and the benefits of $14 billion will not be redistributive. Fostering this ethic of care for diverse people living in Auckland is key for academics and activists to continue reminding the Government and Auckland Council of their responsibility for social and transport justice.  

Dr Muhammad teaches transport and urban planning at the School of People, Environment and Planning at Massey University.

Dr John Griffiths.

Dr John Griffiths, School of Humanities, Media and Creative Communication, has won the 2021 Alan Mason Award for Historical Studies which is awarded annually by the Geoscience Society of New Zealand.

The award will enable Dr Griffiths to carry out research into exhibitions displaying New Zealand’s mineral wealth between 1851 and 1990. 

“During this time many exhibitions were staged across the world, to both inform and entertain visitors and to promote a nation’s products,” Dr Griffiths says.

“They have been described as ‘glorified showrooms’, in which nations and firms displayed goods in the hope of encouraging sales. They were also where a nation demonstrated its economic progress. A key aspect of the contribution that New Zealand made to these exhibitions was displaying its mineral wealth. 

“My project aims to provide a comprehensive account of each of the exhibitions staged, the minerals that were displayed and why those minerals were valued in the Empire and indeed, globally.” 

Dr Griffiths will also examine the main organisers of these exhibitions, especially those who took it upon themselves to display the minerals.  

“I’ll also research how these exhibitions and the minerals displayed, changed across time.” 

The Alan Mason Award will also enable Dr Griffiths to publish articles in historical journals based on his research and to travel to Wellington to undertake further research in the National Library of New Zealand and Archives New Zealand. 

The series of exhibitions that Dr Griffiths will research begins with the Great Exhibition of 1851 and runs through to the later twentieth century.  

“This research is important because it will focus on New Zealand’s contribution to these hugely popular global events,” Dr Griffiths says. 

The Geoscience Society of New Zealand represents its community by providing collaborative leadership, advocacy and information to connect people and Earth sciences within Aotearoa New Zealand and has more than 700 members from universities, Crown Research Institutes, industry and consultancies.  

Alan Mason was a leading science historian. Following retirement from a business career, he chronicled the history of geology in New Zealand, and produced three biographies of pioneer geologists.

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences has four contributors to the book - the largest of any one university.

Professor Glyn Harper wrote a chapter on the campaigns in North Africa, while Dr David Littlewood contributed a chapter on New Zealand society during the war. Shawn Mawdsley, who is completing his PhD through Massey and is a tutor in the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, wrote a chapter on the war in Europe, as well as co-authoring the chapter on Australasian special operations with Dr Rhys Ball, who is also from the Centre for Defence and Security Studies.

Professor Harper says in March 2018, Paul Bartrop, Professor of History and Director of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies Centre at Florida Gulf Coast University, invited him to contribute a chapter on the North African campaign for a book on the history of the Second World War he was editing.

“After I agreed to write the chapter, Paul asked if I knew of other military historians who might want to contribute. I put him in touch with other Massey historians including the three who contributed to the book. It clearly demonstrates Massey’s considerable strengths in military history and war studies, especially on the multifaceted complexion of the Second World War,” Professor Harper says.

The publication brings together cutting-edge research from a number of leading scholars on the Second World War. It covers military campaigns, the social and cultural impacts of the war, mass atrocities, and how the war has been perceived by historians and the public.

Professor Harper wrote the chapter on North Africa based on research he completed for a 2015 publication on the same topic. It covers events in North Africa from 1940 to May 1943, including the three critical battles of El Alamein.

“This book is a significant publication in Second World War history,” Professor Harper says. “It features the latest trends in the scholarship of the conflict. Some of the world’s foremost authorities on the Second World War have written for this book, including Greg Kennedy, Richard Overy, Robin Prior, Jonathan Fennell and Gary Sheffield. Studies of 18 different countries including China, Japan, Germany, the USA and New Zealand are featured. The book will be a comprehensive reference volume for Second World War studies.”

PhD student Shawn Mawdsley says the book achieves a good blend of early career researchers and established names. “I think this is essential for ensuring the continued development of our field and those who work within it. I’m sure it will remain a vital reference work for anyone interested in the Second World War.”

Dr Littlewood says Massey’s contribution to the book demonstrates the university’s excellent reputation when it comes to researching war and society. “Not only do we have the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, but many members of the history programme are also experts in this area.”

“While my brief was to write a chapter on New Zealand society during the war, I chose to focus specifically on the introduction and application of conscription. This is my main area of research and was the subject of a Marsden Fast Start project that I began in 2017,” Dr Littlewood says.

He argues that conscription was the single most important factor that impacted on New Zealand society during the war, and was applied to a much greater extent than in Australia or Canada.

“Over 300,000 men were balloted for military service, and in 1942 conscription was extended into the productive and civil defence spheres, and to women as well. This meant it was a web that entangled the whole of New Zealand society. Yet despite the immense burdens that conscription imposed, the level of resistance to it was remarkably limited. Some New Zealanders were conscientious objectors, absented themselves from work, or appealed against being called up, but the majority carried out their obligations as required. This was largely because New Zealand already had a long-established tradition of ‘big government’ and state control, and because conscription was seen to meet the popular demand for fairness and equality of sacrifice.”

For Shawn Mawdsley, contributing to the publication was a great opportunity. “An important part of any PhD programme is becoming acquainted with the publishing process, so I jumped at the prospect of writing a couple of chapters. I authored a chapter on the European campaign – something that was difficult to do within the confines of a single chapter. Moreover, lockdown conditions imposed some unique limitations on my writing, but in essence my overview chapter forms the frame around which the other authors can add more detail. It serves as an introductory piece for the land component of the European war. I also co-authored a second chapter, alongside Dr Rhys Ball, where we analysed the development of Australasian special operations. In this chapter, I drew upon my previous postgraduate research at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies, and I think it was a good example of how Massey students can collaborate with more senior staff to produce tangible academic outputs.”

Shawn was drawn to Massey for its strong reputation in military history and defence. “It was the reason I first enrolled, and I know of others who were drawn to the university due to the expertise of faculty members and the focus of courses on offer. I think we can see the benefits of that in this publication.”

For more information or to purchase a copy, visit the Routledge website.

The partnership will focus on three areas:

1. Interdisciplinary research into effective disaster risk reduction

2. Enabling effective use of products and tools for risk reduction

3. Strengthening the links between research and policy / practice.

JCDR Director Professor David Johnston says, “The partnership will enhance the contribution of risk communication and social sciences to improving disaster risk management in the future.”

A key part of the partnership includes a JCDR secondment working part-time with EQC on important projects. The first of these is Dr Emma Hudson-Doyle, Senior Lecturer at JCDR and an Executive Committee member of the Science Communicators Association of NZ (SCANZ).

Dr Hudson-Doyle is a specialist in science and risk communication, with a particular focus on the communication of uncertainty. Her interests lie at the interface between physical science and critical decision makers, and the effective communication of science advice, forecasts and warnings before, during, and after natural hazard events.

“This secondment is an exciting initiative to bring academic knowledge and policy and practice together through more effective communication. I feel very lucky to be involved, as it enables me to apply my research to enhance communication capability at the interface between scientists and stakeholders.”

Dr Hudson-Doyle has joined the Resilience and Research team at EQC to work on three main areas:

1. Identifying ways to build EQC’s funded researchers’ science communications skills

2. Advising on communicating uncertainty in the National Seismic Hazard Model Revision Project

3. Advising on communicating risk and uncertainty in the development of EQC’s Risk and Resilience Portal. 

EQC Chief Resilience and Research Officer Dr Jo Horrocks says they are committed to developing a framework that enhances the collaboration and alignment approach that will improve hazard resilience in Aotearoa New Zealand through this partnership.

“We’re really excited to have Emma join the EQC team. We have already seen that through her expertise, knowledge and people skills, she is an asset to the team and the partnership.”

About JCDR

Established in 2006, the Joint Centre for Disaster Research undertakes collaborative multi-disciplinary applied teaching and research that aim at understanding the impacts of disasters on communities, improving risk management and enhancing community preparedness, response and recovery from various hazard events. Find out more about JCDR here.

About EQC

EQC’s mission is to reduce the impact on people and property when natural disasters occur. One of the Commission’s four strategic outcomes is to improve the resilience of New Zealanders through effective natural hazard risk reduction. EQC achieves this through credible research, data, education and building strong, reciprocal stakeholder relationships.The Commission’s disaster resilience vision for New Zealand is that natural hazard resilience becomes embedded in all aspects of decision making for our homes, towns and cities. One step in achieving this is to develop constructive partnerships and enduring relationships with our key stakeholders like this partnership with JCDR. By doing this, EQC can provide a collaborative approach to informing and driving risk-reduction activities. Read more about EQC’s Resilience and Research function here.

Dr Sharon Crooks

Dr Crooks is a lecturer at the School of Psychology, whose research involved a multi-perspective, participant-led exploration of in/ex-clusion in New Zealand mainstream high schools, privileging the voices of senior autistic students.

Her study investigated identity acceptance, wellbeing and achievement. Her findings suggest that barriers to inclusion are typically framed by students to include autistic ignorance, compromised human rights, and neoliberal consequences, being the limited opportunities for teacher support and meaningful learning. In contrast, good interpersonal and caring relationships are at the heart of inclusion experiences.

Tertiary students, parents, and professional autistic ‘advocates’ also contributed to these discussions. Taken together, Dr Crooks’ findings speak to contemporary issues involving constrained educational and mental health resources.

Dr Crooks says her doctorate is the culmination of a long journey with Massey as a ‘distance student’, whilst being a mum to three.

“I’m most grateful to everyone who made it possible, especially extended family and great supervision.

Dr Kousar Sadeghzadeh

In her thesis There and Back Again, Research Assistant and Tutor at the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing Dr Sadeghzadeh examined whether, when and how consumers’ engagement with fantasy stories told through servicescape atmospherics influences their emotions, behaviour, and brand personality perceptions.

As consumers’ responses to the same story differ depending on the story character they empathise with, her thesis further examined how empathy with positive versus negative characters influences consumers’ responses in fantasy designed servicescapes.

Her findings suggest that regardless of the character type highlighted by atmospherics, consumers equally engage with fantasy stories in servicescapes which increase their positive emotions and behaviour while decreasing the negative emotions. Brand personality is perceived positively when a negative story character is highlighted by the servicescape atmospherics.

She says her journey to the world of fairies has not yet come to an end. 

“There’s still much out there I love to explore, examine, and explain on bringing elements of fantasy into reality in the marketplace."

Dr Sadeghzadeh plans to bake delicious desserts and celebrate her fantastic achievement and cheer the unexpected adventures ahead with family and friends. She also looks forward to a magical feast at Hobbiton movie set once the travel restrictions are lifted.

Dr Abdelhamid Safa

Dr Safa is a teacher trainer at the Professional and Continuous Education and an Assistant Researcher in the Institute of Education with 21 years of teaching experience.

He investigated the impact of an exemplary post-graduate Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programme, the Master of Education (Teaching and Learning) (MTchgLn), on beginning teachers’ professional preparedness to cater for diverse learners. His thesis investigated the programme’s effectiveness to prepare equity-oriented, knowledge-based teachers through the eyes of graduates and Lead Teachers.

The findings confirm the positive experience of the MTchgLn graduates to cater for diverse learners. Implications based on these findings are considered for ITE educators and education policy makers in Aotearoa New Zealand to respond to the challenges of today’s multicultural education by prioritising equity.

He says balancing coursework, teaching and parenting presented its own challenges.

“A PhD is never a solo affair; there’s a team aspect to it.”

He is very grateful for the endless support and constant encouragement from his family, friends, colleagues and his supervisors, Associate Professors Sally Hansen and Alison Sewell.

“It hasn’t been easy, but I knew this was what I wanted to do — and that helped me stay inspired and motivated. This is the beginning of another journey in my life. I feel very excited and happy!”

Dr An Le

Dr Le is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Built Environment, her thesis explored challenges in managing school buildings in New Zealand and developed a framework to help school stakeholders manage their property effectively.

Her study argued that all stakeholders are responsible for working closely as a team as they have both direct and indirect impacts on each other’s performance in managing school property. She conducted a mixed qualitative and quantitative study to develop the framework that enhances the collaboration of people involved in the process by a set of diagrams with inputs, outputs, controls and mechanisms of each activity in the management system.

The findings highlight the most needed improvement areas to increase the maturity level of New Zealand’s school property management. She is currently conducting research on exploring capacity and capability of the New Zealand construction sector, so that enables the stakeholders to avoid the lack of ability to deliver the future projects.

She says it is fantastic to have completed her doctoral thesis and “this is the beginning of another chapter in my life”.

Clockwise from top left: Dr Isaac Henderson, Dr Marianne Simon, Dr Heshani Edirisinghe and Dr Amarachukwu Nnadozie Nwadike.

Dr Isaac Henderson

Dr Henderson has been a lecturer in the School of Aviation since 2016. His thesis Re-thinking the brand concept for air transportation was initially meant to be research into airport branding. However, the study took a different turn within the first 12 months as it became obvious that the brand concept lacked conceptual clarity with competing definitions that were irreconcilable with each other. This lack of conceptual clarity has been imported into many other disciplines such as air transportation.

He undertook empirical work to assist in ameliorating the issues surrounding brand definition. This work supported a return to a Label and Associations Model of the brand, where the brand is a name or logo that is used to recall associations held in memory, known as brand associations. He then applied this model to study airline and airport brand choice and the creation of airport brands.

The results contrast with extant literature by suggesting that it is the tangible attributes of air travel products and services (e.g., price, reliability), rather than the abstract attributes (e.g., reputation, social responsibility), that matter to air travellers.

He says that while there were plenty of challenges throughout the doctoral journey, the most difficult was when his son Aidan was born only 2 and a half weeks before his oral examination. "Most of the defence was prepared while Aidan was sleeping on me so that my wife could catch up on sleep."

Dr Marianne Simon

Writing Consultant for the Centre for Learner Success Dr Simon takes great pride in being able to support students to be confident and independent learners. Her research examined how New Zealand schools enhanced teacher development and integrated the accountability and development requirements of teacher appraisal.

She found that adapting a coherent framework that aligns and intertwines multiple systems, people, and roles, within a culture that loves learning and enables teachers to flourish, was more likely to foster a developmental teacher appraisal approach. The study also discovered that having a developmental focus is not sufficient to make appraisal meaningful. It must be embedded amongst teachers and leaders who have a love for learning.

She says the research process has been a huge learning curve for her where it challenged and pushed her to build good skills and knowledge as a beginner researcher.

“I appreciate the support and encouragement from my family, friends, colleagues, and supervisors, Associate Professor Jenny Poskitt and Dr Peter Rawlins.”

She wishes she could celebrate this achievement with her family in Malaysia, but that is too difficult under the current border restrictions. Nevertheless, she is looking forward to celebrating with her husband, son, and friends over the Christmas holidays.

“Remember, that you can achieve anything you want in life if you put your mind to it”.

Dr Heshani Edirisinghe

Dr Edirisinghe is a part-time lecturer at the School of Natural and Computational Sciences. Her thesis investigated the biology and behaviour of New Zealand ladybirds, providing insights into the establishment success of introduced species.  

Assessing phenotypic variation in introduced species is key to understanding establishment processes and thereby improving the effectiveness of biocontrol and conservation programmes. Her thesis is the first study to compare phenotypic variation between introduced and native New Zealand ladybirds and the first molecular phylogeny to include native New Zealand ladybirds. Her research provides valuable insights into introduction biology and garners support for the hypothesis that high levels of intraspecific variation increase the establishment success of introduced species.

She says undertaking a PhD was a challenging but wonderful experience.

“I am extremely grateful for my amazing panel of supervisors, family and friends, for making my PhD journey special and memorable.”

Dr Amarachukwu Nnadozie Nwadike

Dr Nwadike is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School of Built Environment. He is working on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment funded study Creating capacity and capability for New Zealand construction sector.

He investigated the impacts of building code amendments in New Zealand and found that regular building code amendments were significant in reducing disaster impacts. The study also discovered that introducing a two-step consultation process would help present the right questions to the code users before the final amendment process.

Dr Nwadike proposed a three-year building code amendment interval while advising proactive training for building code users and regulators. From his findings, he developed an evidence-based framework that informs and guides the building code regulators in improving the New Zealand building code.

He says completing his doctorate degree at Massey University was the best decision he made.

“My doctoral journey was an overwhelming experience, especially graduating during the COVID-19 pandemic era.”

Associate Professor Christine Kenney

Te Toi Whakaruruhau o Aotearoa, the new mātauranga Māori Disaster Risk Reduction Centre began development in July 2020, as a partnership between the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and Massey University.

The collaborative project is led by the Centre’s Director, Associate Professor Christine Kenney, (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Awa ki Kāpiti, Ngāti Toarangatira, Ngāi Tahu) from the School of Psychology. The multi-disciplinary senior research team includes Associate Professor Jon Procter, (Muaūpoko, Ngāti Apa, Ngāi Tahu) and Dr Acushla Sciascia, (Ngāruahine Rangi, Ngāti Ruanui and Te Āti Awa) from the School of Agriculture and Environment, as well as Senior lecturer Dr Suzanne Phibbs (Ngāi Tahu) from the School of Health Sciences.

Professor Kenney says Te Toi Whakaruruhau o Aotearoa is being developed in part to address the shortfall of a research centre that solely focuses on Māori disaster risk reduction interests and aspirations.

“We see strengthening Māori research leadership and workforce capability in disaster risk reduction as key element in ensuring positive Māori development, and the centre will play a leading role in that. In collaboration with tangata whenua, we will also engage in projects that showcase how mātauranga Māori can innovate disaster risk reduction knowledge and practices throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.

“As partners of EQC, we have a shared vison for a disaster resilient nation. The centre research is conducted by Māori for Māori in culturally acceptable ways and in response to Māori concerns, which align strongly with EQC aspirations.”

She says creating a research whānau that links Māori disaster risk reduction researchers and disaster risk reduction sector agencies with Māori communities together in a culture-based way, has never been done before.

“Our centre is uniquely positioned to facilitate improved Crown Māori relationships within the disaster risk reduction space that will provide benefits for Māori communities and wider New Zealand.”

The centre’s mission is underpinned by a desire to seed inter-disciplinary research that builds Māori disaster risk reduction capabilities and research workforce capacity across Aotearoa, Dr Kenney adds.

“Whakawhanaungatanga has been especially important and within the Te Toi Whakaruruhau whānau, we are operating a tuakana-teina model of support, in which our next generation research leaders (both community and tertiary institution-based) are accessing research mentorship from senior Māori researchers, stipends and opportunities to come together in ways that reinforce their cultural identities, more usually our hui are conducted on marae.

“Going forward we are focusing on building researcher capability in earth, environmental, health and social sciences and emergent researchers’ projects are focused in the area of natural hazards and emergency management, climate change as well as disaster risk reduction, governance, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery and resilience.”

For more information about Te Toi Whakaruruhau o Aotearoa, visit their website here.

Scientists and citizens during the Festival of Science on the Chatham Islands, 2021.

“Citizen contributed data can be used to fill in gaps in hard to reach or remote places. Moreover, citizen science can help connect the public with science organisations and build capacities for communities towards their response to high impact weather,” Dr Tan says.

“For example, the Kaingaroa School on the Chatham Islands has recently added its own weather station, which provides data to the WMO Global Weather Models in real-time. Citizen contributed data can help improve local weather forecasts thus enabling the community to make safer decisions around fishing and boating activities,” she adds.

Other initiatives include a special journal issue on citizen science and the demonstration project series – a collection of web stories on successful citizen science projects.

Winners of the Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne Essay prize.

Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne, Headland literary journal, and Massey University’s School of Humanities, Media, and Creative Communication have today announced the winners of one of the country’s most substantial awards for short form nonfiction, the Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne Essay Prize.

Massey’s Dr Thom Conroy, Editor-in-Chief of Headland and chair of the judging panel, acknowledged “the bittersweet challenge of selecting winners from a wide and deep pool of absolute all-stars. The ones that rose to the surface were able to illuminate the theme of radical connectivity in ways that were socially engaged, intensely personal, and profoundly unexpected.”

The first prize of $750 was awarded to University of Otago social anthropologist Dr Susan Wardell for Red Zone Pie, which draws on her research on memory and memorialisation, wellbeing and trauma. Dr Conroy praised Dr Wardell’s winning entry, which “takes us on a foraging journey through Christchurch’s red zone and beyond, foraying into a cross-cultural and repurposed future that reconnects us with a past that refuses to be erased.” 

Dr Conroy also announced David Vass’ How blue is your river? as the second place winner  of $250. Described as “a poetic but clear-eyed rumination on the tragic ecological degradation of the Clutha River from someone whose connection to the place is as sustained as it is radical.”

Feana Tu‘akoi’s Ko Au Te Whenua, Ko Te Whenua, Ko Au: From Camping to Colonisation with Rita Angus, placed third. Judges said it was “a deftly woven and brilliantly observed critique of the environmental, moral, and artistic legacy of colonisation in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

The panel highly commended Maia Ingoe for Whakarongo Ki Te Taiao. In tackling the theme of ‘Radical Connections’, writers were asked to align with Zealandia’s vision of connecting people with nature and restoring and protecting Aotearoa New Zealand’s native taonga.

Gini Letham, Lead Ranger Science Communication for Zealandia, congratulated all writers and noted that the winning piece, Red Zone Pie was a “beautiful read about how people can interact and have a relationship with nature in varying ways in an urban environment, which speaks to Zealandia’s mission of restoring nature in the capital city.”

The three winning entries will be published in full in Issue 16 of Headland and will be  available to read on the Headland website: www.headland.org.nz

Members of the research project team with the Toi Āria team during one of the workshops
in Nelson.

Many of us know that feeling when an earthquake hits – sometimes our first thoughts are wondering whether it is even an earthquake, which means potential life-saving seconds are lost before we take action.

An Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) system can get these crucial seconds back so that people can be better prepared when the shaking starts.

The Crisis Response and Integrated Simulation Science Laboratory (CRISiSLab), a research and learning laboratory based in the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR) at Massey University, has been investigating the feasibility of a low-cost sensor and community-based Earthquake Early Warning system since 2020.

Dr Raj Prasanna, the CRISiSLab Lead for the EEW project says, “We were motivated to start the project by the high levels of seismic risk in New Zealand and the rapid development of accessible technology that now makes it feasible to explore EEW options.

“EEW is a risk mitigation tool that can potentially reduce the impacts of earthquakes. Studies have shown that EEW systems can potentially mitigate injuries and reduce damages and can also help people to psychologically prepare for strong ground shaking.”

People and community

People and the community are central to the team’s EEW project and there is a strong social science component to the project. This is therefore a social science research team as well as a technical research team.

“Right from the outset, we wanted people and communities to be at the centre of the project. We made sure that we started the project by understanding people’s needs and perceptions before developing the system,” Dr Prasanna says.

“We conducted community workshops to understand people’s perceptions, concerns and expectations of an EEW. The social science team has also been investigating the societal use and acceptability of an EEW in Aotearoa New Zealand.”

The social science team maintains a community-of-practice of EEW researchers, practitioners, and technology manufacturers in Aotearoa New Zealand and globally.

“The community-of-practice acts as a platform for stakeholders to come together and generate essential discourse on developing EEW solutions appropriate for Aotearoa New Zealand. The platform also allows us to proactively learn from, and seek out possible collaboration with, experts around the globe. We regularly meet and host activities such as webinars with international EEW experts.”

The project team has also engaged with tāngata whenua since the start of the research programme in 2020.

“Our engagements with Māori have been supported by guidance from Associate Professor Christine Kenney. Māori partners have helped us understand and appreciate Māori worldviews. EEW systems in New Zealand must be developed in partnership with tāngata whenua in order to facilitate reciprocal sharing of knowledge between Māori and EEW scientists, equitable access to, and the cultural relevance of, new risk communication tools.”

How does it work?

An EEW system uses a network of sensors to gather and supply information about earthquakes in real-time.

“Two key concepts that enable EEW systems to work. One is that information travels faster than seismic waves, and the second is that an earthquake’s damaging secondary waves [S-waves] arrive much later than the less destructive primary waves [P-waves]. Using these two concepts, we integrate the capabilities of sensors, telecommunication networks and earthquake detection algorithms to quickly detect that an earthquake is happening. The system then sends information to locations further away to warn that ground shaking will be arriving.”

Key partnerships

The team works in partnership with EQC (which provided funding through the Biennial Contestable Fund 2020), QuakeCoRE, Resilience to Nature’s Challenges (RNC) and different agencies and groups to conduct community workshops. These groups, such as WREMO, AF8 and EastCoast Lab have strong connections with communities.

The team of researchers are from different disciplines and various areas across Massey including: Dr Raj Prasanna, Dr Julia Becker, Dr Marion Tan, Professor David Johnston, Alicia Cui, Syed Yasir Imtiaz, Chanthujan Chandrakumar and Rangana Sampath from the Joint Centre for Disaster Research; Associate Professor Anna Brown from Toi Āria: Design for Public Good; Dr Kristin Stock from Massey Geoinformatics Collaboratory; and Associate Professor Christine Kenney from Te Toi Whakaruruhau o Aotearoa.

External collaborators on the project include seismology expert Caroline Holden (SeismoCity), telecommunication and broadcasting specialist Dr Amal Punchihewa, earthquake engineer Dr Seokho Jeong (Changwon National University, South Korea), software and database expert Nandika Liyanage (ALSO, Germany), creative resilience specialist Emily Lambie, and PhD student Rasika Nandana (Victoria University of Wellington).

Project timings

Dr Prasanna says the project is currently at a feasibility study stage. “We have finished gathering data to understand the public’s expectations and perceptions and we will use what we learned from the communities to design an experimental network.

“We have currently deployed nearly 20 sensors in the Wellington region and have completed testing the performance of an experimental sensor network in a laboratory setting. Currently, we are in the process of testing the accuracy and reliability of our network and algorithms in a real-world setting with real-time earthquake data. The initial feasibility study is expected to finish in July 2022.

“However, based on the finding of the ongoing work we are expecting to secure long-term funding to expand our current work and potentially build a working prototype consisting of a large number of low-cost sensors installed in a number of regions across Aotearoa New Zealand.”

Presented by Stuff and Westpac, the Women of Influence programme shares the remarkable stories of women who are making a difference to the lives of New Zealanders. Each year, the programme shines a light on the amazing work Kiwi women are doing, from a grassroots level to the global stage, and helps propel New Zealand’s future leaders and rising stars to bigger and better things.

Dr Farrelly says this is an opportunity to celebrate the women in Aotearoa who have worked incredibly hard to protect their communities from plastic pollution.

“There are so many incredibly influential women listed as finalists so I am feeling like a bit of an imposter. However, over the last 24 hours I have come to see this as an opportunity to showcase the human rights injustices of plastic pollution.

“This provides a platform to express profound gratitude and aroha for all those passionate and brilliant wāhine in Aotearoa and around the world who have volunteered hundreds of hours of time, wisdom, and labour to protecting their communities from plastic pollution. Many of these women juggle family responsibilities and extremely demanding day jobs. I suspect some of these women are on the cusp of burnout (and others have described past burnout). They never rest because they know that if they don’t do the mahi, nobody else will. This is also an opportunity for me to reflect on my privilege and the responsibilities and obligations that come with it.”

Due to COVID-19 disruptions, the awards celebration originally scheduled for 21 October is now postponed to 10 February 2022. You can register your interest for awards tickets here.

The cover of Entanglement.

If you could go back in time to change one thing in your life, what would it be? And would you take the opportunity to change it? That is the premise of Professor Bryan Walpert’s new novel, Entanglement.

Entanglement is the beautifully written story of a “memory-impaired time traveller (who) attempts to correct a tragic mistake he made in 1976 when, panicked, he abandoned his brother on a frozen lake in Baltimore”.

The novel takes place, and goes back and forth between three periods: a time traveller working to correct the mistake he made in 1976; a novelist in 2011 researching at the Centre for Time in Sydney who becomes romantically involved with a philosopher from Aotearoa; and a writer in 2019 at a lake retreat in New Zealand after the disintegration of his marriage following another tragedy.

As these three stories unfold over the novel, the three lives “become entangled in a tale of love, desperation and physics.”

Professor Walpert, who teaches creative writing in the School of Humanities Media and Creative Communication, has always been fascinated by time. “What ‘time’ is exactly is quite slippery. St. Augustine wrote, ‘If no one asks me, I know. If I wish to explain it to one that asketh, I know not.’ The more I read about time, the more interesting it became,” he explains.

“And I’ve also always loved time travel stories. I’ll read or watch pretty much anything to do with time travel. But I wanted to write something that didn’t merely follow a prescribed formula – a book that had a different take on it.”

To create Entanglement Professor Walpert read a lot of books or articles on time ­– on the physics of time, on the philosophy of time, on the possibilities of time travel and on the history of time travel stories.

One intriguing aspect to the book is that part of it is set in a fictionalised version of the Centre for Time at the University of Sydney.

“That’s actually a real place that I wanted to visit. They were very welcoming when I approached them about a visit, and in the end I spent three weeks there. I went to campus nearly every day ­– they gave me a desk and computer to use, and they invited me to seminars and sat down to talk with me over coffee and loaned me books. At first I wasn’t sure what they would think about time travel questions – I thought they’d dismiss them, but they were quite happy to talk about it. So that was a useful bit of research and a lot of fun.”

The book has already received some great reviews. Nicholas Reid, wrote in The Listener that the book “is really a complex reflection on the nature of time, memory and regret.”

Madison Hamill, author of Specimen has said “… I freaking love this book! Walpert has not only the ear of a poet, but also the ruthlessness of a novelist skilled at unpicking human relationships. Trust me, this story will unfold like a set of dominoes arranged in the shape of your heart.”

It’s been a busy year for Professor Walpert, with his latest collection of poetry Brass Band to Follow, his fourth poetry collection, published by Otago University Press earlier this year. He’s the author of Late Sonata, winner of the 2020 Seizure Viva La Novella Prize, as well as a short story collection, four books of poetry and two of literary criticism. His work has appeared in New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada, and has been recognised by the Montreal International Poetry Award, the New Zealand International Poetry Competition and the James Wright Poetry Award.

Entanglement is published by Mākaro Press and will be released on 11 November.

The Manawatū-local began studying at Massey University in 2008 and alternated between studying full-time and working part-time, and then working full-time and studying part-time.

“I used Massey’s flexibility to my advantage and developed my own schedule using the support of lecturers, family and friends,” she says. 

Courtney graduated with a Diploma in Business Studies in 2014 and graduated again the following year, with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Environmental Studies.

After studying she knew she wanted to work for the Horizons Regional Council, but was unsure in which area. A quick chat and some advice from a former rural advisor at the council Pete Taylor, helped steer her in the right direction.

“Pete told me there was a vacancy in the local plant nursey and suggested that I should apply for it. This plant nursery Starter Plants worked alongside local government and the Green Corridors Project. After 18 months, I was working in a general managers position and had gained a mammoth amount of knowledge in native plant husbandry.

“The timing couldn’t have been more perfect because then the role I am currently in was advertised and I was able to tick all the boxes. In July 2018, I became a Freshwater Advisor at Horizons Regional Council.” 

The role involves working with landowners and community groups providing advice and connecting them to funding to support the fencing and planting of riparians and natural wetlands. 

“The end goal is to improve water quality and make our degraded awa safe for future generations,” she says. “Not only do I get to help improve water quality, enhance biodiversity and native aquatic habitat – I get to reconnect people with the awa and at times, that is the most rewarding outcome.”

While working for Horizons she was also able to continue her studies and in 2019 she graduated with a Certificate in Sustainable Nutrient Management in New Zealand Agriculture.

Courtney says studying various programmes with Massey helped to prepare her for working in this area. 

“The Planning and Treaty of Waitangi papers assisted with my understanding and ability to read policy and Geography and Earth Science learnings helped me in regards to the engineering infrastructure of things like drainage schemes and culverts in our waterways and the way these interact with the movement of water.” 

Her advice for other students is to find a way of studying that works for them – and to not be afraid to ask questions. 

“I found that it wasn’t until my final years of study that I had enough courage to ask questions, this helped my understanding of topics and my assignments, greatly.”

The university is one of nearly 500,000 participants currently registered for the annual drill exercise.

The drill will take place at 9:30am on Thursday, 28 October. If the date and time don’t work for you, you can ShakeOut any time within two weeks and still be counted.

Massey has partnered with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in various ways for nearly 15 years, and under the current strategic partnership for five years. 

Director of the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR) Professor David Johnston describes this as a "strategic partnership aligned with the Resilience to Nature's Challenges National Science Challenge and QuakeCoRE."

The partnership has enabled the university to use research projects for real world impact and given students the opportunity to engage with practitioners and learn about the broader research context in New Zealand.

Dr Lauren Vinnell's research evaluates the ShakeOut drills in New Zealand.

Dr Lauren Vinnell who is based at the JCDR, has been working with a team since 2018 to evaluate the ShakeOut drills in New Zealand. They surveyed people 11 months after the drill and compared those who did and didn’t participate.

“The data shows that people who participated have a much better understanding of how to protect themselves during an earthquake. Looking at how people get injured in earthquakes, we have some convincing evidence that drop, cover and hold will reduce the chance of injury. We’re leading the way for producing evidence for benefits of the drill - if you participate in the drill, you’re more likely to know how to drop, cover and hold and do it during earthquakes, which means you are less likely to be injured.”

Find out more about Dr Vinnell’s research in this video.