麻豆传媒团队

Why did you decide to study Environmental Science?

I've always had a passion for te taiao, the environment. Participating in UC鈥檚 He Puna P奴taio course in Year 10 allowed me to foster that and see that this is a career space I can fit into.

I found that the sector was lacking strong M膩ori scientists, and I feel that, as tangata whenua, we have been acting as kaitiaki for our environment for a very long time. I think that鈥檚 been lost over the past few generations, so it's really important to have strong M膩ori wahine and t膩ne filling that space where our ancestors once did.

听

What do you want to do after finishing your degree?

I鈥檓 majoring in Freshwater, so my end goal is to go home 鈥� I whakapapa to Whanganui 鈥� and fix up the awa, make sure that it's thriving, and care for that area of my iwi.

听

What are your lecturers like?

I love all my science lecturers. They have an immense amount of passion that they share with the class. We have really open conversations, and I feel a lot more equal with my lecturers than I did with my high school teachers.

听

Are there any collaborative aspects of the degree?

My degree is very diverse, and I've had the pleasure of connecting with a lot of different people through different labs and group projects. It involves heaps of collaborative work where we get to show our strengths and what particular area we're passionate about.

For example, in my Geography course, we had to get into a team and create a community initiative that we could do ourselves, to help the environment in any way that we chose. My group went tree planting, did data analysis on it, and shared our results with the class.

听

How do field trips and lab work come together?

Field trips are a big part of my degree, and there鈥檚 usually a lab component. My favourite so far was analysing ducks at Jellie Park to study their feeding habits. We then crunched our data back at the lab to figure out if our hypothesis was correct.

I鈥檓 a hands-on learner, so I'm very excited to go on more field trips and I love the lab work because I鈥檓 learning how to use a lot of equipment that鈥檚 brand new to me. I鈥檓 grateful to always have my lab partner or group mates to back me up, and I love having that space to make mistakes so that I can learn to do things the right way.

听

Why did you decide to stay in Christchurch and come to UC?

I was born and raised in Christchurch, and I wanted to stay close to my family and watch my sisters grow up. UC also made such a strong connection with my high school that I felt like part of the UC wh膩nau before I even enrolled.

I met a lot of the UC M膩ori team through events and coming to campus, which made me feel more prepared and confident to start on the first day knowing that there were people who already knew me and would be looking out for me. I didn't even look anywhere else. I knew that UC was the choice for me.

听

Do you belong to any UC clubs?

I'm involved with Te Akatoki, the M膩ori Students Association. They run things like kapa haka, mahi Mondays, social sports. We can go there and study, have a quiet space. It鈥檚 nice having something familiar, a community that I already felt like I fit into. I also belong to EnviroSoc, which is not only for environmental students, but anyone who is passionate about te taiao.