Rate My Professor Terina Raureti

Dr. Terina Raureti (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Kapu) serves as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Centre of Indigenous Science within the Division of Sciences at the University of Otago. Her academic journey at the university includes a Bachelor of Physical Education (BPhEd), Postgraduate Diploma in Physical Education (PgDipPE), Master of Physical Education (MPhEd) completed in 2019, and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) awarded in 2023. Her master's thesis, supervised by Anne-Marie Jackson and Hauiti Hakopa, was titled 'Kia mārama ai te ihi, te wehi o Mukukai: The influence of swimming on whānau engagement with water.' Raureti's PhD thesis, 'Kauora: A theory and praxis of swimming for Māori,' supervised by Anne-Marie Jackson, Chanel Phillips, and Chris Button, achieved a historic milestone as the first community-based PhD oral defence at the University of Otago, held at Te Pou-o-Tainui Marae in Ōtaki with participation from approximately 100 whānau and community members, including contributions from the local kura.

Raureti's research specializations lie in indigenous science, focusing on Māori water safety, whānau-centred swimming practices, and their contributions to health and wellbeing. Through her PhD, she developed the Kauora model to understand and promote swimming from a whānau Māori perspective, aiming to strengthen connections to wai (water) for hauora (health) and reduce drowning disparities in Māori communities. As part of Te Koronga, the kaupapa Māori research and teaching rōpū, she established Whānau Fit in 2016 within the School of Physical Education, Sport and Exercise Sciences to promote te reo Māori and physical activity. Currently, as a Coastal Peoples Southern Skies (CPSS) Postdoctoral Fellow, she applies her research by developing self-sustaining swimming programmes for kura. Key publications include 'Mukukai: kaitiaki o te ao kauhoe: the influence of swimming on whānau engagement with water' in MAI Journal (2023, with Anne-Marie Jackson and Chelsea Cunningham), 'Stable prevalence of obesity among Ngāti Whātua 4-year-old preschoolers' in the Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand (2019, co-authored), and 'Setting sail and returning home: Research voyaging in Aotearoa' (2020, co-authored). Her contributions advance decolonised approaches in physical education and indigenous health research.