Panels & Presenters: Day 2

Associate Professor Litea Meo-Sewabu is a Fijian academic and researcher specializing in social policy, social work, public health, and Indigenous health and wellbeing. She holds a PhD in Social Policy from Massey University in Aotearoa and a Masters in Public Health from Tulane University in New Orleans, USA.  Her doctoral research explored the health and wellbeing constructs of iTaukei women where she developed the Tanoa Health Belief Framework and the Tali Magimagi Indigenous research methodology. These frameworks emphasize culturally embedded agency and gender plus ethical practice or cultural discernment within Indigenous Fijian communities. Currently based at Western Sydney University, Dr. Meo-Sewabu leads research on the impacts of Pacific labour mobility on children left behind across eight Pacific countries. Dr. Meo-Sewabu is committed to the inclusion of Pacific voices in global social policy that is grounded in indigenous Pacific knowledge and focuses on social justice for Pacific communities.

Dr Apo Aporosa currently holds the post of Duruvesi – Bula ni Pasivika (Senior Lecturer in Pacific Health) at Te Wānanga Waiora Division of Health, at the University of Waikato.

He is a 2022 Fulbright Scholar recipient and also held two Pacific post-doctoral awards funded by the New Zealand Health Research Council. His work is underpinned by the Pacific Post-development Methodological Framework, which combines the Fijian vanua research framework with post-development theory, to guide the ethical and equitable use of Western-developed, -standardised and -normed psychometric measures among Pacific people. This has informed clinical trials assessing kava safety in traditionally informed kava-use spaces. Apo teaches Pacific cultural and health themes, supervises research students, and is the adviser to the Ministry of Health and Food Standards Board on the safe use of kava in Aotearoa NZ. He also leads a multi-country research team investigating the potential of traditionally influenced kava use spaces to reduce Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptomology among post-combat soldiers and first responders. 

Mr. Sipiriano Nemani is currently the Director for Culture, Heritage & Arts at the Department of Culture, Heritage & Arts under the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs. He is a career civil servant with background in cultural management, policy and heritage development. Sipiriano is a certified international facilitator for the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and is currently a member of the CRIHAP China (UNESCO Category 2 Centre) Advisory Committee. He was formally a Governing Board Member for UNESCO Category 2, ICHCAP Korea. Nemani is a graduate in Anthropology, History and International Relations from the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, QLD, Australia. 

He has worked in Fiji’s culture sector ever since he joined Fiji’s civil service in 2002 and has risen through the ranks to Director level. He has participated, presented, facilitated and chaired numerous national, regional and international meetings, workshops, conferences and capacity building sessions. He has contributed immensely to Fijian and Pacific scholarly endeavours having authored a Toolkit focusing on Mapping of Endangered Pacific Intangible Cultural Heritage, and developed few course materials for University of the South Pacific Professional Certificate in Heritage Management. The pinnacle of Sipiriano’s career was the listing of Fiji’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013 i.e. the Historical Port Town of Levuka and he was instrumental in the finalisation, and successful submission of Fiji’s first ever world heritage nomination; a consolidated effort by dedicated Fijian and international heritage experts which took 20 years to finalize. 

Mr. Nemani hails from the province of Bua, located on Fiji’s second largest island (Vanua Levu) and is the 3rd youngest of 7 siblings. His hobbies include photography, travelling (sightseeing), landscaping and interior designs.

Feʻiloakitau Kaho Tevi is a visionary Pacific leader whose commitment to regional advocacy, environmental sustainability, and cultural integrity shapes his extensive work. Drawing from his rich Tongan and Fijian heritage, Fe’iloakitau has served in leadership positions for international and regional ecumenical institutions. His strategic political expertise has also guided Pacific leaders on issues of regional and national importance.

He serves as the Co-Vicar General of the Anglican Diocese of Polynesia, contributing actively to numerous church boards and trusts and is the current Climate Commissioner of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia.

Fe'iloakitau is the current chairperson of the Tonga National Kava Komiti of Tonga.  He currently chairs the Technical Working Group on Geographical Indicators for the Pacific Islands Forum Kava Working Group.

As a co-founder of the groundbreaking No Pelesitiki Campaign – Tonga, Fe’iloakitau champions the vision of a plastic-free Tonga by eliminating single-use plastics and working with individuals and communities to significantly raise environment awareness and community action at national level.

Educated at the University of Paris, where he specialized in international relations, diplomacy, and strategic development, Fe’iloakitau is a polyglot and blends scholarly insight with a deep passion for sustainability and Pacific Self-determination.

A widowed father of five, Fe’iloakitau continues to inspire resilience, unity, and hope throughout the Pacific region.

Assoc. Prof. Frances Koya Vaka‘uta is Team Leader, Culture for Development at the Pacific Community (SPC), overseeing culture-related initiatives across 22 Pacific Island countries and territories, including the Pacific Regional Culture Strategy 2022–2032 and the Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture (FestPAC). With three decades of experience in education, research, and policy, she has advanced work in teacher education, Pacific epistemologies, and arts and culture. Frances spent 23 years at the University of the South Pacific, where she held senior roles such as Associate Dean Research & Internationalisation and Director of the Oceania Centre for Arts and Culture, and supported the development of more than 20 courses across print, face-to-face, and online delivery modes. She has contributed to over 35 policy frameworks at institutional, national, and regional levels, served on UNESCO’s Global Expert Group on Cultural Statistics, and advises on Traditional Knowledge for the Office of the Pacific Oceans Commissioner (PIFS). Frances is passionate about self-determination and social justice and is deeply committed to strengthening Pacific capacity for contextually relevant, culturally inclusive development.

Anau Mesui-Henry is a Tongan entrepreneur who was raised in Mangere, Aotearoa/New Zealand. Her entrepreneurial journey was inspired by her parents, particularly her father, who was deeply involved in the kava trade after migrating to Aotearoa in 1982. ʻAnau is a cultural consultant and the co-founder of Four Shells Kava Lounge, a cultural space dedicated to honoring kava. She is also the creator of KavaX, a platform for community storytelling.

Currently a PhD student at Waikato University, her research focuses on health and culturally informed PTSD therapies. She holds a Master of Business Information Systems with First Class Honours from the Auckland University of Technology (AUT).

Apolonia Tamata, Ph.D., is the Senior Lecturer in Fijian Studies at USP. She holds a Masters in Linguistics from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa and a Ph.D. in Linguistics at the University of the South Pacific. She was the Senior Language and Culture Specialist at the iTaukei Trust Fund Board prior to rejoining USP. Apolonia is also a playwright and an artist having staged theatre and exhibitions in various locations. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholar in Residence during 2022-2023 at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s Hawai’i and Indigenous Performance programme, and a Climate Action Artist Residency in Warnemunde, Germany, in 20024-2025.

Dr. Apolonia Tamata is a playwright, researcher, a linguist and a language studies senior lecturer. As the coordinator for the Fijian Studies Programme, Dr. Tamata has made significant contributions to the preservation and promotion of Fijian culture, language and indigenous knowledge. Her research and publications focus on literacy, phonology, and language change, providing valuable insights into the dynamics of language evolution and education. With a passion for storytelling, Dr. Tamata’s plays are celebrated for their cultural significance, humor and linguistic richness. Her dedication to education and cultural heritage has inspired many students and scholars, making her a respected figure in the academic and cultural communities. She has written and produced four plays of which three are taught as literature texts in Fiji’s high schools. Dr. Tamata has three exhibitions to her name on Fijian dictionaries (iTaukei Trust Fund), The story of the kamunaga (The Fiji Museum), Na ibe vivigi, with Cultural Vistas at the Fiji Arts Council in Suva, Samoa, Philippines and Berlin.

Dr. Sione ʻUlise Funaki is rooted in the islands of Hawaiʻi, Tonga, and the Philippines. He and his wife, Sina, and their children call the Koʻolauloa district on the island of Oʻahu their home. His cultural education from his immediate and cultural relatives has allowed an intimate knowledge about kava as an ancestor but also as the catalyst for sociospatial relationships. He received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University in Provo and his MA and PhD degrees from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His dissertation research centered on the kava practices of the Tongan and Kanaka Maoli communities of Koʻolauloa and how kava connects these communities to the fonua and ‘āina/honua. He also explores how kava acts as a puʻuhonua/hūfanga for modern kava practitioners. His current research focuses on Indigenous and diasporic kava practices and kava as resistance. He is currently an adjunct faculty at Brigham Young University - Hawaiʻi, where he instructs courses in Hawaiian History, Pacific Studies, and Anthropology.

Chantelle “Tellie” Eseta Matagi is the Co-Executive Director of Tagata Moana Hui Foundation, where she leads culturally grounded programs advancing health equity, cultural preservation, and capacity-building for Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities. With a background in Pacific Islands Studies and public health advocacy, she has created and directed NHPI-centered outreach initiatives, trained diverse teams, and built partnerships across local, state, and national levels. Tellie previously served as Director of Hale Ka Pūnana at Papa Ola Lōkahi and as a Lead Investigator with the Hawaiʻi Department of Health, where she supervised a 32-member contact tracing team and designed and led 300+ vaccination clinics statewide. A published researcher and invited presenter, she is committed to Indigenous values, inclusive engagement, and culturally safe spaces that uplift Pacific Islander voices.

Vicente Diaz is a Pohnpeian/Filipino from Guam and an interdisciplinary scholar (anti-disciplinary when needed) who has held tenured positions in departments of History, Anthropology, American Indian Studies, Ethnic Studies, and American Studies at institutions ranging from small regional universities in Micronesia (University of Guam) to Big Ten R1s (University of Michigan Ann Arbor, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, and, prior to joining UCLA, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities). He is also an Associate Director for Engagement at UCLA’s American Indian Studies Center. His is primarily situated in the emergent field of Critical and Comparative Indigenous Studies in North America and the Pacific Ocean region. He researches, publishes, and teaches courses in topics such as Indigenous Canoe Culture Revitalization, Sports and Indigeneity, Traditional Outrigger Canoe Voyaging in Micronesia; Colonialism and Indigenous Christianity in Micronesia; Pacific History, Film and Video.

Anita Hofschneider is a senior staff writer at Grist Magazine and is based in Honolulu. She is Chamorro from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and spent a decade reporting on local news in Hawaiʻi before joining Gristʻs Indigenous affairs desk. Her work has won dozens of awards, most recently from the Indigenous Journalism Association. 

Davianna McGregor is Professor Emerita and a founding member of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawai’i, Mānoa. She is a historian of Hawai’i and the Pacific and her PhD in Hawaiian and Pacific History was completed at the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa in 1989. Her ongoing research endeavors document the persistence of traditional Hawaiian cultural customs, beliefs, and practices in rural Hawaiian communities, including the island of Moloka’i; the districts of Puna and Ka’u on Hawai’i; Ke’anae-Wailuanui on Maui and Waiahole-Waikane on O’ahu. This work is featured in her 2007 UH Press book, Kua’aina: Living Hawaiian Culture which won the Kenneth W. Balridge Prize for best book in any field of history written by a resident of Hawai’i from 2005-2007. 

Susi Feltch-Malohifoʻou is the co-founder alongside of her husband Simi and Cencira Te’o, CEO and Director of Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources (PIK2AR). Born in Tonga and raised in Utah was featured in Forbes 50 over 50 project and recognized by the FBI for her work to protect survivors of violence and trafficking. Her organization hosts the Annual National Pacific Violence Prevention Conference which marks its 13th year in 2026. She is a strong ally and advocate globally of survivors.

Albert Refiti is the leader in critical studies research on spatial design and architectural environments in the Pacific, with a focus on material culture and ethnography on the subject. He advanced the discipline by creating a method of spatial exposition to examine the notion of vā (space) and wā (time) as central mechanisms to understand Pacific societies and their buildings, artefacts and social system. Dr Refiti practised architecture in Auckland (1990, 1994-2002) and London (1991-1993) before beginning his academic career at Auckland University of Technology in 2002. He founded Vā Moana Research Cluster with Tina Engels-Schwarzpaul in 2012, a successful platform setting the agenda for international research that engages Indigenous Pacific and Western thought to study Pacific notions of space. Based at Auckland University of Technology’s School of Art and Design, Vā Moana has created a far-reaching network of international scholars whose research transforms ways of thinking about contemporary and customary Pacific understandings of the world, by examining Indigenous Moana modes of producing space, objects, rituals and performance; develop new to promote discussion and publications from Pacific perspectives; focus on how Pacific concepts affect the production of space and the use of the built environment, re-exploring and extending customary knowledge alongside academic discourse.

Dr Vili Nosa is from the Island of Niue, the villages of Avatele and Hakupu. Professor Vili Nosa is currently a Professor in Pacific Health, School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences at the Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland. He is also an adjunct professor in Public Health at the School of Public Health, Faculty of Health, Medicine, and Behavioural Science at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. His scholarly interests are in Pacific health issues in New Zealand and the Pacific region. His specialists’ areas of research are in Pasifika health, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and substance abuse. Vili has worked and presented his research projects, in Melbourne, Sydney, Darwin, and Brisbane Australia; Samoa, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea, Niue; and Hawai’i.

Yvonne Underhill-Sem is a Pacific feminist development geographer of Cook Island, Niuean and Pakeha descent. She  joined the staff in Pacific Studies, Te Wānanga o Waipapa (Maori Studies and Pacific Studies), Faculty of Arts in 2021 after 19 years in Development Studies. Her current research projects focus on climate mobility in the Pacific; research methodologies from the Pacific; maternities, menstruation and embodiment in the Pacific; Pacific labour mobility. Her research is informed by critical Pacific epistemologies but she has also served on various research assessment panels spanning the full range of science research (including the Prime Ministers Chief Science prize from 2020-2024).

Dr. Line-Noue Memea Kruse hails from the villages of Sapapali’i, Vaisala, Vaimoso, Vaitoloa, Pesega, Tuana’i, and Manunu in Sāmoa. She is an Assistant Professor of Pacific History and Affiliate Faculty in Pacific Islands Studies at University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Her research areas are Indigenous theory, critical theory applied to Indigenous land tenure and law, relational communal ontologies in gender, ecological knowledges, law, Indigenous gender studies, Moana migration and transnationalism, global citizenship and empire, territorial federalism, equity and comparative international law, Indigenous land use, climate adaptation resilience, o le alofi sā. She is the author of The Pacific Insular Case of American Sāmoa: Land Rights and Law in Unincorporated US Territories (2018), first Sāmoan territorial planner in the American Sāmoan Government, former member of Heads of Planning and Statistics in the Pacific Community, and Secretariat to the Two Sāmoas. She is a mother of four children, board member of Heritage Samoa and Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities.

Lisa Uperesa is an interdisciplinary scholar of Samoan, Norwegian, and German descent. She works with Pacific communities to understand movement and mobility, and how they shape lives, identities, families, cultures, and futures. Her book Gridiron Capital: How American Football Became a Samoan Game (Duke University Press, 2022) focused on the rise of American football in Samoan communities and the navigation of sport mobility as both labor and tautua (service). Lisa is Associate Professor and Morgan and Helen Chu Chair in Asian American Studies at UCLA. Before moving to Los Angeles, she served as Head of Pacific Studies and co-Head of School Te Wānanga o Waipapa | School of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies at Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland. She is a co-PI on a Marsden project funded by the NZ Royal Society on the evolution of Pacific research methodologies; other projects include sport, cultural expression, and digital platforms, and decolonial and culturally sustaining pedagogies.

Kenneth Gofigan Kuper is Associate Professor of Political Science and Micronesian Studies at the University of Guam’s Micronesian Area Research Center, where he runs their international relations research agenda. He is also the co-founder of the Pacific Center for Island Security based in Guam, which provides island and islander perspectives to geopolitical maneuvering in the Pacific Islands, particularly Micronesia and sits on the Government of Guam’s Commission on Decolonization.

Tarcisius Kabutaulaka is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM). He is the founder, co-host, and co-producer of the Center for Pacific Islands Studies’ Oceania Currents podcast. He joined UHM in 2009. Prior to that he was a research fellow at the East-West Center, and he previously taught at the University of the South Pacific (USP) in Fiji. Kabutaulaka holds a PhD in political science from the Australian National University and MA and BA degrees from USP. Apart from being a scholar, he is an avid gardener with a vegetable garden at the back of the Mānoa Valley. He also hosts the Friday afternoon StoneWall Nakamal kava/‘awa gatherings at UHM. Kabutaulaka is from Solomon Islands.

Bio information forthcoming.

Line-Noue Memea Kruse hails from the villages of Sapapali’i, Vaisala, Vaimoso, Vaitoloa, Pesega, Tuana’i, and Manunu in Sāmoa. She is an Assistant Professor of Pacific History and Affilifate Faculty in Pacific Islands Studies at University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo. Her research areas are Indigenous theory, critical theory applied to Indigenous land tenure and law, relational communal ontologies in gender, ecological knowledges, law, Indigenous gender studies, Moana migration and transnationalism, global citizenship and empire, territorial federalism, equity and comparative international law, Indigenous land use, climate adaptation resilience, o le alofi sā. She is the author of The Pacific Insular Case of American Sāmoa: Land Rights and Law in Unincorporated US Territories (2018), first Sāmoan territorial planner in the American Sāmoan Government, former member of Heads of Planning and Statistics in the Pacific Community, and Secretariat to the Two Sāmoas. She is a mother of four children, board member of Heritage Samoa and Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities.

Kyle Kajihiro, a yonsei (fourth-generation Japanese) in Hawaiʻi, is an assistant professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. His research interests include critiques of U.S. militarism and imperialism in Hawaiʻi and the Pacific and activism emerging from the history of World War II incarceration of Japanese migrants and Japanese Americans. He is involved with the movement to protect and restore Mākua Valley on Oʻahu from military live fire training. 

Gillian Dueñas is a Taotao Tåno artist and scholar who was born and raised in the lands of the Suquamish people (Bremerton, WA). She earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Social Work from the University of Washington, Seattle, and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Pacific Islands Studies at UH Manoa. Her work weaves together visual art and critical scholarship to advocate for decolonization and demilitarization of Indigenous lands in Oceania as well as honor her ancestral legacy of creativity and storytelling.

Dr Marco de Jong is a Pacific historian and lecturer at the AUT Law School. He was raised in Tāmaki Makaurau with ties to Papa Puleia in Sāmoa where he holds the chiefly title Faumuinā. His work details the history of regional politics and environmental governance in the Pacific Islands with a particular focus on Indigenous knowledge, nature conservation, anti-nuclearism, and climate change. Prior to joining AUT, Marco completed a doctorate at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and worked in civil society organisations advocating for an independent, nuclear free, and Pacific-led foreign policy for Aotearoa.

Dr Katerina Teaiwa is an interdisciplinary scholar, artist, and award-winning teacher of Banaban, I-Kiribati, and African American heritage from Fiji. She is Professor of Pacific studies in the School of Culture, History and Language at the Australian National University’s College of Asia and the Pacific, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She is Vice President of the Australian Association for Pacific Studies and Editor of The Contemporary Pacific: an interdisciplinary journal.

Jason Edward Lewis is a digital media theorist, poet, and software designer. He founded Obx Laboratory for Experimental Media, where he conducts research/creation projects exploring computation as a creative and cultural material. Lewis is deeply committed to developing intriguing new forms of expression by working on conceptual, critical, creative and technical levels simultaneously. He is the University Research Chair in Computational Media and the Indigenous Future Imaginary as well Professor of Computation Arts at Concordia University. Lewis was born and raised in northern California, and currently lives in Montreal.