Associate ProfessorRachael Ka'ai-Mahuta

Dr Rachael Ka'ai-Mahuta is Māori (Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu), Hawaiian, Cook Island Māori, and Sāmoan. Rachael is an Associate Professor in Te Ara Auaha, the Faculty of Design and Creative Technologies where she is based in Te Ipukarea Insitute of Indigenous Knowledge as Associate Director. Rachael is also the innaugural Director of Te Ranga Tukutuku AUT Māori Research Network.

Rachael holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours (First Class) and a Master of Arts (First Class) from the University of Otago and a Doctorate from AUT. Her Master of Arts thesis was written in te reo Māori.

After graduating with her PhD in Māori Development, she became a Te Wheke-a-Toi Post-Doctoral Fellow in 2011. In 2013, Rachael completed a certificate in Indigenous Peoples’ Rights and Policy at Columbia University. Rachael is also a graduate of Te Panekiretanga o te Reo, Institute of Excellence in the Māori Language (2016) and holds the Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission) Certificate of Competency in Interpreting and Translating the Māori Language (2020). From 2015 to 2018, Rachael completed a term as a Commissioner to the Library and Information Advisory Commission (LIAC).

One of Rachael's strengths is curriculum development. In 2020, Rachael was an Academic Development Advisor in Communication Studies co-developing and refining the paper DIGD507 Mahitahi | Collaborative Practices. She currently teaches on that paper and has been a recipient of three awards as part of the DIGD507 development and teaching team, including a Vice-Chancellor's Commendation for Teaching Excellence.

Rachael has worked on and led several research projects focussed on the revitalisation of the Māori language. Many of those projects have seen Rachael work and, in some cases, publish with esteemed academics such as Sir Tīmoti Kāretu, the late Professor James Te Wharehuia Milroy, and the late Professor John Moorfield.

Rachael has been invited to present the keynote address at international conferences including the 2018 International Internet Preservation Consortium Web Archiving Conference and the 2021 Australex Conference where she co-presented with Associate Professor Dean Mahuta. In 2024, she was invited to present the Dr Yunupingu Plenary Lecture at the Joint Meeting of the American, Australian and New Zealand Mathematical Societies alongside her PhD student, Michael Miller, on the Te Pūnaha Matatini CoRE funded project, Te Ara o te Reo Māori: The Trajectory of the Māori Language.