Dr John Pirker (Ngāi Tahu) is a lecturer in Biological Sciences at the University of Canterbury. John’s research interests centre around aquaculture, including marine ecology, marine algae and evolution and behaviour within marine ecological systems. In addition to his research, John is also involved in the Māori Research Advisory Group (MRAG) and Marine Ecology Research Group (MERG)

Peter Adds is an Associate Professor at Te Kawa a Maui - the School of Māori Studies at Victoria University of Wellington. He is from the Otaraua Hapu of Te Ātiawa in Taranaki. His academic training is in archaeology but he has extensive experience in Treaty Settlements and is also an accomplished Treaty trainer. He was the claimant researcher for the Taranaki Land Claim and subsequently the claim negotiator for Te Ātiawa. He is also the inaugural and current Chairperson of the Māori Association of Social Science.