The team at Whakauae are all delighted that Dr Tanya Allport has joined us as our new senior researcher. With a background in Māori health and wellbeing research, Tanya has a passion for kaupapa Māori research, and research that effects positive change in the community. Tanya's whakapapa is to Te Ati Awa (Whanganui-a-Tara) from her father's side, and German from her mother's side. Spending her early childhood years living in Germany, Tanya returned to New Zealand to finish her schooling and attend the University of Auckland, where she gained her PhD in Comparative Literature, writing about a ‘triple trauma' model in Māori and German literature. Tanya has worked in Māori health and education, Treaty of Waitangi research, and in urban Māori community research before coming to Whakauae. Tanya is a mum to two daughters and lives in the Waitakere ranges with her extended whānau and various assortment of dogs. When Tanya is not busy researching, she practices yoga or visits the West Coast beaches where she is learning to stand upright on a surfboard.
