Adele whyte

I researched how greenshell mussels process heavy metals from their environment, looking at both the genes involved and the proteins produced. I also assessed possible negative human health effects that could be caused from consumption of contaminated shellfish. I had the pleasure of working with whanau, marae and hapu based in the beautiful Bay of Islands. From this research I was able to estimate the approximate number of Maori women who founded the initial population of Maori in New Zealand, using the frequencies of unique markers found and a range of computer simulations.

Even though I was studying in a very "Western" framework of science, my upbringing and Maori influences in my life had a very real effect on what I studied, why I studied it and my teaching style. I wanted to do something that was relevant to Maori and that was practical in some sense. I wanted to give something back to the university and wider community, and I was a founding member of Te Ropu Awhina Putaiao in The kaupapa purpose of Awhina is "to produce Maori and Pacific scientists, technologists, engineers, architects and designers who will contribute to Maori and Pacific community development and leadership".

This new figure is more than double the previous estimate Murray-McIntosh et al. Our claim for a large Maori founding population fits well with Maori oral history and has additional support from Maori paleodemography studies based on fertility estimates Brewis et al. We also discuss briefly the ultimate origin of all Polynesians including Maori in a wider context. Whyte, Adele L. Advanced Search. Privacy Copyright. Human Biology. Article Title Human Evolution in Polynesia.

Authors Adele L. Abstract The number of eastern Polynesian females required to found the Maori population of Aotearoa New Zealand has been recalculated.