Merata Kawharu

Professor
Merata Kawharu
MNZM
Professor Merata Kawharu MNZM
	Kawharu and the governor-general, Sir Jerry Mateparae, hongi at her investiture as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2012
Relatives	Hugh Kāwharu (father)
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Oxford
Thesis	Dimensions of Kaitiakitanga: an investigation of a customary Maori principle of resource management (1998)
Academic work
Discipline	Māori culture
Sub-discipline	Kaitiakitanga
Institutions	University of Auckland; University of Otago

Merata Kawharu MNZM is a New Zealand Māori writer and academic active in the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and the Māori Heritage Council. Her principal research is on the concept of kaitiakitanga (or guardianship) within Māori culture.

Affiliating to the Ngāti Whātua and Ngāpuhi iwi,^[1] she is the daughter of Sir Hugh Kawharu.^[2]

Academic career

After a Rhodes Scholarship took her to Oxford University for a PhD in anthropology, Kawharu returned to the New Zealand to posts at the universities of Auckland and Otago and roles with the United Nations, UNESCO, NZ Historic Places Trust Board and Māori Heritage Council. She is a principal investigator at Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga.^[3]^[4]

In the 2012 New Year Honours, Kawharu was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to Māori education.^[6]

^ "Associate Professor Merata Kawharu". University of Auckland. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
^ "Honours for high-achieving Kiwis". Stuff.co.nz. 10 January 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
^ "Associate Professor Merata Kawharu | Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga". Maramatanga.ac.nz. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
^ "$470,000 grant made". Otago Daily Times. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
^ "Associate Professor Merata Kawharu". LINZ. 11 July 2013. Archived from the original on 28 July 2014. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
^ "New Year honours list 2012". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2018.