Tessa Thomson

Ngāti Tukorehe
Victoria University - Te Herenga Waka, Masters Student

Tessa is a second year Masters student in Marine Biology at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington, and she has an undergraduate degree in science majoring in Marine Biology and Māori Resource Management.

Through He Papa Moana, Tessa was able to design a thesis topic that both centres the mātauranga Māori held by her hapū, but also provides further research and resources to a marine biology topic close to her hapū and their hītori. Tessa’s thesis explores the decline in the toheroa population along the Horowhenua Coast, through interviews with whānau members, evaluation of previous population studies, and finally a present day population study.

Tessa is supported by Dr Ocean Mercier, and she has gained invaluable insight and advice from the rest of the He Papa Moana team throughout her postgraduate studies, when asked about her mahi Tessa says “I am so excited to hand in a piece of work that shows the value of mātauranga Māori and iwi in coastal ecosystem management.”