My work engages Indigenous knowledge systems as foundational frameworks for understanding climate change, governance, media, and responsibility. As a Samoan scholar and cultural practitioner, my approach is grounded in Polynesian epistemologies that understand land, ocean, people, ancestry, and governance as relational and inseparable.
I work across journalism, research, policy, and teaching to ensure Indigenous knowledge is treated as epistemology rather than anecdote, and as authority rather than supplement.
Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Practice
- Longstanding work documenting Indigenous responses to climate change across Samoa and the wider Pacific.
- Reporting and research focused on how Indigenous ecological knowledge informs adaptation, resilience, food systems, and ocean governance.
- Examination of climate change as a cultural and intergenerational issue, not solely an environmental or technical one.
- Coverage and analysis of how climate impacts affect cultural practices, burial grounds, language, and intergenerational knowledge transmission.
Indigenous Knowledge in Journalism
- Development and teaching of Indigenous reporting practices that emphasize consent, context, cultural protocol, and accountability to community.
- Work challenging extractive journalism models that treat Indigenous knowledge as content rather than living systems.
- Training journalists on culturally grounded approaches to reporting climate change, environmental issues, and Indigenous communities.
- Editorial experience shaping coverage that centers Indigenous authority and lived experience in climate narratives.
Indigenous Knowledge, Research, and Governance
- Academic research examining sovereignty, climate law, and statehood from Pacific and Indigenous perspectives.
- Research on how international media and policy frameworks represent Pacific Island nations and Indigenous communities.
- Contribution to scholarship and policy discussions on Indigenous governance systems and environmental stewardship.
- Engagement with gender, culture, and Indigenous governance through research and teaching.
Indigenous Knowledge and Emerging Technology
- Current work examining how artificial intelligence systems interact with Indigenous knowledge, climate information, and media practices.
- Focus on Indigenous safeguards related to consent, data use, narrative control, and cultural authority in AI-mediated systems.
- Participation in the AI Innovation Academy with Portland State University and Google AI, with emphasis on journalism ethics and climate information systems affecting Indigenous communities.
Areas of Focus
My Indigenous knowledge work spans:
- Climate change and adaptation
- Ocean governance and environmental stewardship
- Indigenous media and journalism ethics
- Sovereignty and statehood
- Gender and cultural systems
- Indigenous data and knowledge governance in emerging technologies
This work reflects a commitment to ensuring Indigenous knowledge systems shape how climate change is reported, governed, and understood, rather than being marginalized within external frameworks.
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