Dr Priscilla Wehi is Co-Director of Te Pūnaha Matatini Centre of Research Excellence in Complex Systems (a national New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission funded initiative). Te Pūnaha Matatini is one of 10 CoREs funded from 2021 until the end of 2028.
Cilla is a conservation biologist with a history of collaborative and creative research. She leads transdisciplinary research, building on her experience in Indigenous socioecological systems, ecology, conservation and animal behaviour. This includes interdisciplinary collaborations, and exploration of narratives and archives from libraries, herbaria and museums that inform current day conservation. I also work on insect ecology and behaviour, in particular the sexually dimorphic New Zealand tree wētā genus Hemideina spp., and on introduced species such as kiore (Rattus exulans) and their challenges for ecosystem health.
As a globally active mentor with strong interests in research and work culture, Cilla is part of the Kindness in Science Collective, and Association for Women in the Sciences.
She has been a Homeward Bound Women in STEMM leadership facilitator for HB7-8 (and past alumna from HB2) promoting ethical women’s leadership for sustainability in an uncertain world. As a globally active mentor with strong interests in research and work culture, she is part of the Kindness in Science Collective, and Association for Women in the Sciences. In recent years she has contributed to mentoring early career researchers; development of new pathways for and expressions of scientific leadership; and work on equity issues.
Current and recent positions
2023-24 Visiting Scholar, McDonald Institute, University of Cambridge
2021 – Director, Te Pūnaha Matatini Centre of Research Excellence in Complex Systems
2021 – Associate Professor, Centre for Sustainability, University of Otago
2019 – 2021 Incoming Director of Te Pūnaha Matatini Centre of Research Excellence in Complex Systems
2019 – Joint Graduate School in Biodiversity and Biosecurity, University of Auckland
2018– Associate Editor People and Nature
2014 – 2021 Rutherford Discovery Fellow
2014– 2020 Conservation biologist at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, a crown (government) research institute in New Zealand
Selected Career Highlights and Awards
2024 Outstanding Publication on New Zealand Ecology Award, from the NZ Ecological Society, together with Erana Walker, Tim Jowett and Hēmi Whaanga
2023 Visiting Scholar, McDonald Institute, University of Cambridge
2021 Hill Tinsley Medal, for research excellence in the first 15 years post-PhD
2020 Inspirational Alumna Award, University of Canterbury Biological Sciences
2020 Majority World Travel Award, Society of Ethnobiology
2020 Nine Stars of Matariki Award, Government Women’s Network
2019 Outstanding Publication on New Zealand Ecology Award, from the NZealand Ecological Society, with Murray Cox, Tom Roa and Hēmi Whaanga
2018 BioHeritage Bioethics Panel. PFNZ 2050: Predator Free New Zealand: Social, Cultural, and Ethical challenges (Listen to the interview)
2015 The Sunday Star Times ‘First XV’ : a “crack squad of Kiwis who, we believe, are going to make the headlines this year. Some of them are athletes, some entrepreneurs, some politicians and scientists and artists. All of them choose to make this country their home. . .but the world is their playing field”.
2014-2020 Rutherford Discovery Fellowship, Royal Society of NZ
2009 FRST Te Tipu Putaiao Postdoctoral Fellowship
2005 Runner-up (Environmental Sciences) MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year Award
1999 Bright Futures PhD Scholarship
1993 University Prize, University of Canterbury
Education
2006 Ph. D. University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand.
1996 M.Sc. in Animal Ecology, Lincoln University.
1993 B.Sc. (Hons) First Class in Zoology, University of Canterbury.
1987 B.A. in English, University of Canterbury.