Māui is an interdisciplinary researcher who focuses on the application of mātauranga Māori to decision-making across a range of contemporary contexts from new technologies to health, the environment to innovation. He has co-authored a number of ethical guidelines including Te Ara Tika: Guidelines on Māori Research Ethics, a framework for researchers and ethics committee members; Te Mata Ira Guidelines on Genomic Research with Māori; and He Tangata Kei Tua Guidelines on Biobanking with Māori.
Māui’s current research projects include:
- Te Nohonga Kaitiaki – developing Guidelines for Genomic Research with Taonga Species
- Co-Innovation Interface – exploring Māori perspectives on gene editing
- Te Tuakiri o te Taonga – developing Biocultural Labels to recognise indigenous rights in genomic data
- He Papa Moana – developing a cross cultural ocean knowledge platform as part of the Moana project
- Māori IP & Responsible Innovation – understanding the intersection between intellectual property and Indigenous data sovereignty
Māui supports Māori to engage in the research sector as a co-convener of SING Aotearoa, the New Zealand chapter of the Summer Internship for Indigenous Genomics, and Te Ahu o Rehua, a Network for Cross Cultural Ocean Knowledge connecting expertise across the fields of climate change, marine science, ocean health, voyaging and non-instrument navigation. Māui also advocates for Māori rights and interests through Te Mana Raraunga: Māori Data Sovereignty Network and the Global Indigenous Data Alliance. He is a co-founder of ENRICH, a joint initiative between the University of Waikato and New York University, and a co-developer of the Biocultural Labels Initiative.