Te Koronga

I have to admit that i love change! I am not always accepting of change - at least immediately, but i know change is good for me. So, I've been at the PE department for just over a year and a lot of things have occurred. Let me see, here are the things i am involved with:

1. I'm involved in the Geo-Spatial CoRE
2. I'm involved in the Nga Pae bid 
3. I submitted a proposal to Te Putahitanga
4. I have just finished writing up Te Koronga article
5. I have a draft for a new paper: Ethno-Cartography

Been a great year so far

And now i need an income of around $8,000 by the middle of December so that i can take care of my expenses from Jan -  March 2015. So i am looking at my options!

H

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS 2013

It has been a long time since i posted on my blog - 2010 was the date of the last post. So, this is going to be a quick catch up post!

So to cap off 2010, i handed in my PhD to the PhD office and then waited. . .
2011
Let me see:
I waited for 5 months for my dissertation to be returned marked to me - five months!

A really good friend of mine, Mark Laws passed away in December of 2010 - drowned. He and I were at University together at Otago - he was one smart Maori - he ended up at Awanuiarangi Wananga. So my wife and I went to his tangi in Maketu. Good catch up with old friends: Robin Martin, Inia Ashford, Toroa Pohatu, Karina Laws, Pip Pehi and many others.

One of the other things we did at the same time was visit Matakana Island - Hinewais family - not long after that, her mother passed away. Now that was a huge trip north!

2011 I graduated with my PhD and it was absolutely awesome! My Aunty Bubba came down, my cousins came up from Invercargill - Rose and Hineauri and we had a huge hangi!

I began working at the Casino - interesting work - passing time really!

Lets see: 2012
Still working at the Casino
Took leave to head over to the States to attend the NAISA conference in Connecticut - amazing! Also spent time in New York before heading to LA where i spent time with Carey and then i popped up to San Fran to catch up with Rosemarie

I also went to Sydney Australia to the Google Outreach Launch - spoke at the workshop and met a lot of interesting and smart people

I also did a couple of mapping contracts via CFRT for Aapakura and Te Rohe Potae

2013

• Started the Mapping contract for Tuwharetoa - 153 maps! around 2000 waahi tapu sites
• Started at the PE School as a Teaching Fellow
• Set up Te Koronga research group for our Maori students at the PE school
• Waahi tapu database - design/build
• Hosted Google Outreach in Taupo Turangi (Raleigh Seamster)
• Went to the Maori GIS conference
• Accompanied Raleigh and Graeeme (Google) to Awanuiarangi in Whakatane
• Attended the research workshops with Leonie Pihama and Sara-Jane Tiakiwai at Hopuhopu - awesome!

That's the catch up!

Hauiti

Discover Your Strengths

I was reading John Assaraf and Murray Smith's book "The Answer" last night (fascinating book by the way!) where they talk about discovering your unique strengths -because your strengths are what provide you with the tools to build your life in ways that take maximum advantage of those aspects of yourself. This when your goals come easily!

Discover your Strengths

"NOW, DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS" written by Buckingham and Clifton provide some of those answers. Based on a Gallup study of over two million people who have excelled in their careers, NOW, DISCOVER YOUR STRENGTHS uses a revolutionary programme to help readers discover their distinct talents and strengths. The product of a twenty-five year, multi-million pound effort to identify the most prevalent human talents, the StrengthsFinder programme introduces thirty-four talents or 'themes' and reveals how they can best be translated into personal and career success.

Each copy of the book contains a unique password that gives the reader access to the StrengthsFinder Profile, a Web-based interview that analyses people's instinctive reactions and immediately presents them with their five most dominant strengths. Once readers know which of the thirty-four talent themes dominates their personality, they can make practical applications at three levels: as an individual, as a manager and within an organisation. Readers learn what kind of environments will allow them to flourish; how managers can better cultivate their employers' talents; and how almost all organisations inhibit the talents of their people and need to change.

Indigenous Cartography: the mapping of New Spain

Although Cortés conquered the Aztec empire in 1521, imperial Spain knew little about the Mexican territory under its control when Philip II acceded to the throne in 1556. As part of a vast project to learn about its territories in the New World, Spain commissioned a survey--the Relaciones Geográficas--of Spanish officials in Mexico between 1578 and 1584, asking for local maps as well as descriptions of local resources, history, and geography. Offering the most complete contemporary record of what sixteenth-century Mexico looked like, the sixty-nine manuscript maps from this survey also highlight the gulf between colonial and indigenous conceptions of Mexico.

In Mapping New Spain, Barbara Mundy illuminates the complex cultural negotiations that colonists and indigenes undertook in mapping the colony. Her book explains both the Amerindian and the Spanish traditions represented in these early colonial maps, and traces the gradual reshaping of indigene world views in the wake of colonization.

The eight color plates and numerous other illustrations from the Relaciones Geográficas maps reproduced in this volume provide unique insights into how people from different cultural traditions--from Spanish officials to small-town indigenous artists--perceived the landscape of colonial Mexico. The first book to consider both indigenous and Spanish contributions to the mapping of Mexico, Mapping New Spain will interest not only historians of art and cartography, but also scholars and general readers interested in Mexican history.

The Paepae: Spatial technologies and the geography of narratives

Yesterday was a day to remember! I took my Doctoral Dissertation to my Department for printing and eventual submission for examination! I went to the 11th floor of the Commerce building on Clyde street, The University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand with my USB pen drive containing copies (PDF & docx) of my dissertation - and handed over to Heather for printing.

It was then that i noticed the view - been a long time since i have stopped to admire the 'views' - She let me take a photo from her balcony:

The view from the top!

The PhD

I am absolutely thrilled to be at this stage - I couldnt think of another place i would rather be right now! Lots of toil, struggle, sweat and tears as well a huge sacrifice of time and energy, missed holidays and family events - it is with the deepest respect that i thank my family for their infinite patience and tolerance!

How I wish my Mum was alive to see this moment! Ngaa mihi atu ra ki a koe e te kui

Otiraa, ki te whaanau - Teenei taaku e mihi atu ki a koutou katoa

te manawanui o Ranginui ki a koutou!

Hauiti

PGIS

I just finished watching this video on PGIS participatory GIS - worth a watch

Localisation, Participation and Communication: an Introduction to Good PGIS Practice from CTA on Vimeo.

MAI 2010 - the Otago Group

Some of my colleagues who attended the MAI 2010 Doctoral Conference included Donna and Tia both in the Psychology Department at Otago University. Donna has just submitted and Tia is at the business end of her data collection. If you were to ask me what they are studying I couldn't really tell you but what i can tell is that they are both great students with good minds for seeing through the fog and getting on with the business.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Tia and Darnell, Pete, Ann-Marie, Fallin.

The Otago Group was up first and there were some very interesting and challenging presentations.

Lorna rom the Botany department spoke about her research above Norway - it's to do with flowers that grow at 78 degrees latitude - fascinating research! A flower that generates 22 degrees C at an air temperature of 8 degrees C.