Dr Amohia Boulton, Director of Whakauae Research Services Ltd recently delivered a keynote address at the Australasian Research Management Society (ARMS) Conference 2026, held between the 9th-11th of September 2026. Her keynote, entitled Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua: Reflecting back to chart our future, spoke directly to the conference theme of Connected Futures: Partnerships, Platforms and People Powering Research, and told the story of the emergence and growth of Whakauae as an iwi-owned health research centre. The 2026 conference theme was a particularly timely reminder of the importance of people and relationships in our efforts to undertake transformative research in our communities, during a time in which the use of technology, particularly AI, is being lauded as the solution to producing more effective research outcomes.
Held in Perth, known as Boorlooto the traditional owners of the Whadjuk Nyoongar nation, the setting for the conference was the Perth Convention Centre on the banks of the Swan River, Derbarl Yerrigan. The conference itself attracted more than 860 delegates from around the world, and from nations as varied as Pakistan and Singapore to Norway and the UK.
Ahead of the conference, Amohia attended both the pre-conference meeting of the Directors of Research and the Indigenous Special Interest Group, the latter meeting being an important space for Indigenous Research Managers to come together and strategise and discuss how research offices can better support Indigenous researchers and the challenges, barriers and possible solutions to providing support.
Speaker highlights from the conference included the opening keynote given by Sharath Sriram (Chief Scientist/Science Advisor of Western Australia) and the closing keynote by Professor Fiona Wood, a world-renowned British-born Australian plastic and reconstructive surgeon famous for co-inventing revolutionary "spray-on skin" technology to treat burns victims. Other highlights included attending the conference dinner at Optus Stadium, the President’s dinner held at the Hilton Hotel and regular morning walks amongst the many parks that surround downtown Perth.
With the conference now completed for another year, the Indigenous Special Advisor to the ARMS Board, Jaylene Wehipeihana and Amohia are considering how they can maximise some of the discussions that were held over the four days with the Indigenous research managers who attended. The idea of an edited collection, showcasing the work of Indigenous research managers has been mooted, and Amohia and Jaylene are investigating the possibility of pulling such a collection together as are source for the society.
A copy of Amohia’s presentation can be found under our publications tab here: Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua: Reflecting back to chart our future
Dr Amohia Boulton, Director of Whakauae Research Services Ltd recently delivered a keynote address at the Australasian Research Management Society (ARMS) Conference 2026, held between the 9th-11th of September 2026. Her keynote, entitled Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua: Reflecting back to chart our future, spoke directly to the conference theme of Connected Futures: Partnerships, Platforms and People Powering Research, and told the story of the emergence and growth of Whakauae as an iwi-owned health research centre. The 2026 conference theme was a particularly timely reminder of the importance of people and relationships in our efforts to undertake transformative research in our communities, during a time in which the use of technology, particularly AI, is being lauded as the solution to producing more effective research outcomes.
Held in Perth, known as Boorlooto the traditional owners of the Whadjuk Nyoongar nation, the setting for the conference was the Perth Convention Centre on the banks of the Swan River, Derbarl Yerrigan. The conference itself attracted more than 860 delegates from around the world, and from nations as varied as Pakistan and Singapore to Norway and the UK.
Ahead of the conference, Amohia attended both the pre-conference meeting of the Directors of Research and the Indigenous Special Interest Group, the latter meeting being an important space for Indigenous Research Managers to come together and strategise and discuss how research offices can better support Indigenous researchers and the challenges, barriers and possible solutions to providing support.
Speaker highlights from the conference included the opening keynote given by Sharath Sriram (Chief Scientist/Science Advisor of Western Australia) and the closing keynote by Professor Fiona Wood, a world-renowned British-born Australian plastic and reconstructive surgeon famous for co-inventing revolutionary "spray-on skin" technology to treat burns victims. Other highlights included attending the conference dinner at Optus Stadium, the President’s dinner held at the Hilton Hotel and regular morning walks amongst the many parks that surround downtown Perth.
With the conference now completed for another year, the Indigenous Special Advisor to the ARMS Board, Jaylene Wehipeihana and Amohia are considering how they can maximise some of the discussions that were held over the four days with the Indigenous research managers who attended. The idea of an edited collection, showcasing the work of Indigenous research managers has been mooted, and Amohia and Jaylene are investigating the possibility of pulling such a collection together as are source for the society.
A copy of Amohia’s presentation can be found under our publications tab here: Titiro whakamuri, kōkiri whakamua: Reflecting back to chart our future
