This conference presentation will include findings from research conducted in South Auckland with four high schools using a new Maori health framework designed by Dr Heke that looks at the role of the environment in informing human health. More specifically, Dr Heke will talk about:

- Indigenous concepts of health where ancestral environmental knowledge supersede those of people
- An introduction to maramataka – an explanation of Maori physical activity and nutrition based on Maori interpretations of tidal movements versus use of a Gregorian calendar
- Contemporary Google Earth examples of place based learning for health
- Aspirations for indigenous global health

BIOGRAPHY
Dr Ihirangi Heke, of Waikato-Tainui descent, was raised in the South Island mountain adventure environment of Queenstown, before it was popularly known as such. Over the past 10 years he has been active in helping Māori and other indigenous groups abroad, build their own health and wellness activities based on their traditional environmental knowledge. Dr Heke was recently awarded a research grant to compare Systems Science and Whakapapa (Maori Genealogical Connections) by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and retains an Honorary Research Fellow postion to the University of Auckland’s Department of Biostatistics.