Research interests
Yvonne Taura (Ngāiterangi, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Uenuku, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is a kairangahau Māori (researcher) in the Manaaki Taiao rōpū (Māori research team), based in the Hamilton office. Since 2014, she has been involved in the Wetlands Programme led by Manaaki Whenua, contributing to kaupapa Māori approaches in environmental research and restoration.
In 2016, she completed a two-year part-placement secondment in partnership with Waikato-Tainui. Her primary project during this time focused on supporting Waikato-Tainui tribal members to deepen their understanding of mātauranga Māori and apply this knowledge to the management of key ecosystems such as freshwater. In 2017, she co-edited and published the cultural wetland handbook, Te Reo o Te Repo – The Voice of the Wetland, a collaborative project between Manaaki Whenua and Waikato-Tainui. The handbook shares processes for facilitating renewed and vibrant connections between whānau and their repo (wetlands), understanding cultural resources, and capturing learnings from on-the-ground case studies of wetland restoration and monitoring using cultural indicators. In 2020, Yvonne collaborated with the team at Science Learning Hub to develop Tuihonoa Te Reo o Te Repo, a suite of bilingual digital educational wetland resources available in both te reo Māori and English, drawing extensively from the Te Reo o Te Repo handbook series. In 2021, she co-edited the second volume of the wetland handbook series, Te Reo o Te Repo – Kei konei tonu au, which continues to elevate the voices of our repo through the voices of our repo through the stories and knowledge of hāpori Māori across Aotearoa.
In 2018, she worked alongside senior kairangahau Māori and kai sovereignty leaders Dr Jessica Hutchings and Dr Jo Smith on Storying Kaitiakianga kaupapa Māori land and water food story, a kaupapa Māori land and water food story project that fostered fresh thinking about economic productivity and environmental wellbeing. This collaboration continued in 2021 through the Marsden-funded research Kai Atua: Food for hope and wellbeing. In 2025, she contributed to the publication of Pātaka Kai: Growing kai sovereignty, a book that focuses on kaupapa Māori food growing practices and a return to restorative relationships with nature.
Since 2018, Yvonne has been undertaking her PhD at the University of Waikato with the support of Manaaki Whenua. Her doctoral research explores appropriate communication of mātauranga Māori and Māori-centred collaborative science research for Māori.
Her research interests include kaupapa Māori research, freshwater science research, iwi environmental management, and science communication.
Qualifications
Waikato
MSc (Hons) Biological Sciences
2013
Publications
Awatere S, Harmsworth G, Harcourt N, Taura Y, Taylor L, Wilcox M, Hyslop J 2023. Whakamana te tangata – ka whai oranga te taiao: Indigenous led approaches for catchment health in Aotearoa-New Zealand. PLOS Water 2(12): e0000170. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000170
Taura Y, Gerbeaux P 2021. Foreword. In: Gallagher K, Pyle D ed. Rohe kōreporepo: The swamp, the sacred place. Christchurch, New Zealand Wick Candle
Taura Y, Waiti P, Buntting C 2021. Tuia ngā repo me ngā tāngata = Reconnecting communities with their wetlands. 11 11 In: Taura Y, van Schravendijk-Goodman C, Clarkson B ed. Te reo o te repo - Kei konei tonu au = The voice of the wetland - I am still here. Hamilton, New Zealand, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research New Zealand. Pp. 137-149
Taura Y, van Schravendijk-Goodman C, Clarkson B 2021. Te Haerenga o ngā pukapuka repo = Connecting wetlands and people through stories. 1 1 In: Taura Y, van Schravendijk-Goodman C, Clarkson B ed. Te reo o te repo - Kei konei tonu au = The voice of the wetland - I am still here. Hamilton, New Zealand, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research New Zealand. Pp. 13-24
Taura Y, van Schravendijk-Goodman C, Clarkson B 2021. Introduction. In: Taura Y, van Schravendijk-Goodman C, Clarkson B ed. Te reo o te repo - Kei konei tonu au = The voice of the wetland - I am still here. Hamilton, New Zealand, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research New Zealand. Pp. 1-12
Taura Y, van Schravendijk-Goodman C, Clarkson B 2021. Te reo o te repo - Kei konei tonu au = The voice of the wetland - I am still here. Hamilton, New Zealand, Manaaki-Whenua - Landcare Research New Zealand.
Taura Y 2020. Te Wharekura o Maniapoto: Kura ā-Iwi - educating the community. 7 7 In: Hutchings J, Smith J ed. Te Mahi Oneone Hua Parakore: a Māori soil sovereignty and wellbeing handbook. Christchurch, New Zealand, Freerange Press. Pp. 106-121
Hutchings J, Smith J, Taura Y, Harmsworth G, Awatere S 2020. Storying kaitiakitanga : exploring kaupapa Māori land and water food stories. MAI Journal (Online) 9(3): 183-194.
Reihana K, Taura Y, Harcourt N 2019. He tohu o te wa - Hangaroa pūtaiao: Signs of our times - Fusing technology with environmental sciences. New Zealand Journal of Ecology 43(3). https://doi.org/10.20417/nzjecol.43.31
Lyver PO, Ruru J, Scott N, Tylianakis JM, Arnold J, Malinen SK, Bataille CY, Herse MR, Jones CJ, Gormley AM, Peltzer DA, Taura Y, Timoti P, Stone C, Wilcox M, Moller H 2019. Building biocultural approaches into Aotearoa - New Zealand's conservation future. Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand 49(3): 394-411. WOS:000487530400008 https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2018.1539405
Taura Y, Duggan I 2017. Impacts of willow and willow control on zooplankton. In: Taura Y, van Schravendijk-Goodman C, Clarkson B ed. Te reo o te repo, the voice of the wetland: connections, understandings and learnings for the restoration of our wetlands. Hamilton, New Zealand, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research and Waikato Raupatu River Trust. Pp. 129–134
Taura Y, van Schravendijk-Goodman C, Clarkson B ed. 2017. Te reo o te repo, the voice of the wetland: connections, understandings and learnings for the restoration of our wetlands. Hamilton, New Zealand, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research and Waikato Raupatu River Trust. 201 p.
Harcourt N, Awatere S, Hyslop J, Taura Y, Wilcox M, Taylor L, Rau J, Timoti P 2021. Kia Manawaroa Kia Puawai: enduring Māori livelihoods. Sustainability Science. WOS:000707957900002 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-01051-5
Taura YM, Duggan IC 2020. The relative effects of willow invasion, willow control and hydrology on wetland zooplankton assemblages. Wetlands 40(6): 2585-2595. WOS:000566053400002 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13157-020-01359-5
Memberships
- Board Member - Sponsorship Delegate, House of Science Central Waikato