Making space for Indigenous science to flourish is part of the Māori health leader’s big vision.

Marking the dawn of a new year, Matariki is a time for reflection and setting goals in pursuit of a vision. And for Dr Jade Le Grice, the vision is, and always has been, big: to reclaim “our stories, our tapu and our ways of being”.

Associate Dean Māori in the Faculty of Science, Jade (Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa) is a senior lecturer in psychology, whose research focuses on what it means to decolonise sexuality, reproduction and gendered identity in Aotearoa. Her research challenges colonial norms that have dictated perceptions of the bodies, sexualities and places in the world of Māori. It’s not just about reclaiming Māori knowledge, says Jade, but reclaiming the essence of who Māori are.