Ocean Mercier

Ocean Ripeka Mercier
At 2019 Research Honours Aotearoa
Alma materVictoria University of Wellington
AwardsMāori Academic Achievement Award in Physics, Inaugural Recipient, 2002; Ako Aotearoa Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award, 2012; New Zealand Association of Scientists Cranwell Medal 2017
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics, Māori Science
ThesisOptical Conductivity of Colossal Magnetoresistance Manganites (2002)
Doctoral studentsElizabeth Kerekere[1]

Ocean Ripeka Mercier is a New Zealand academic specialising in physics and Māori science.

Career

After a B.Sc. (Hons) Mercier did a PhD at Victoria University of Wellington, in association with Industrial Research Ltd.[2][3]

Mercier is involved in the field of Māori science, the application of scientific principles and mātauranga Māori to real-world problems. As well as teaching it,[4] she presents a television programme on the topic called Project Mātauranga,[5] now in its second season.[6][7] Mercier is on the editorial board of the MAI Journal.[2]

In 2017 she was awarded the New Zealand Association of Scientists Cranwell Medal for science communication efforts.[8][9] In 2019 Mercier was awarded the Royal Society Te Apārangi's Callaghan Medal.[10] She was a part of the Imagining Decolonised Cities Team, which won the 2021 Te Rangaunua Hiranga Māori Award, conferred by the Royal Society Te Apārangi.[11]

Selected publications

  • Harris, Pauline and Ocean Mercier. Te ara pūtaiao o ngā tūpuna, mō ngā mokopuna: science education and research In Mulholland, M. (2006). State of the Māori nation: Twenty-first-century issues in Aotearoa. Auckland [N.Z.]: Reed.
  • Mercier, O. R., Asmar, C. and Page, S. (January 1, 2011). An academic occupation: mobilisation, sit-in, speaking out and confrontation in the experiences of Maori academics. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 40, 81-91.
  • Mercier, Ocean Ripeka. 'Glocalising' Indigenous Knowledges for the Classroom. In Dei, G. J. S. (2017). Indigenous philosophies and critical education: A reader. New York: Peter Lang.
  • Mercier, Ocean Ripeka. What is decolonisation? In Elkington, B. (2020). Imagining decolonisation. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books.
  • Mercier, Ocean Ripeka and Beth Ginondidoy Leonard "Our Indigenous brothers and sisters are available for us and we are available for them": non-local relationships nurturing research through an Alaska-Aotearoa online student exchange. In Sumida, H. E. and Martin, N. D. (2020). Indigenous knowledge systems and research methodologies: Local solutions and global opportunities. Toronto: Canadian Knowledge.
  • Palmer, S. and Mercier, O. R. (April 3, 2021). Biotechnologies in pest wasp control: taking the sting out of pest management for Māori businesses?. New Genetics and Society, 40, 2, 155-177.

Personal life

Mercier is of Ngāti Porou descent.

References

  1. ^ Kerekere, Elizabeth (1 January 2017). Part of The Whānau: The Emergence of Takatāpui Identity - He Whāriki Takatāpui (Doctoral thesis). Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington.
  2. ^ a b "Ocean Mercier – Te Kawa a Māui – School of Māori Studies – Victoria University of Wellington". Victoria.ac.nz. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  3. ^ Mercier, Ocean (2002). Optical Conductivity of Colossal Magnetoresistance Manganites (Doctoral thesis). Open Access Repository Victoria University of Wellington, Victoria University of Wellington. doi:10.26686/wgtn.16945906.
  4. ^ "MAOR-124 – Te Kawa a Māui – School of Māori Studies – Victoria University of Wellington". Victoria.ac.nz. 15 November 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  5. ^ "Project Matauranga (TV Series 2012– ) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  6. ^ "Māori Influence and Innovation Celebrated in New Season of Project Mātauranga | Māori Television". Maoritelevision.com. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  7. ^ "Project Matauranga series 2 to profile ground-breaking work of Maori scientists | Te Arawa Whānau Ora Collective". Tearawawhanauora.org.nz. 23 August 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  8. ^ "New Zealand Association of Scientists – Cranwell Medal". scientists.org.nz. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  9. ^ Wellington, Victoria University of (20 November 2017). "Dr Ocean Mercier wins prestigious Science Communicator's Medal". Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  10. ^ "2019 Callaghan Medal: "A bridge between worlds" – physical science and mātauranga Māori". Royal Society Te Apārangi.
  11. ^ "2021 Te Rangaunua Hiranga Māori Award: What decolonisation might mean for Aotearoa's towns and cities". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Retrieved 21 November 2021.