DESCRIPTION

What type of society would we need to have that would enable us to contemplate a society without prisons? A dismissal of those who are incarcerated as troubled and irredeemable people does not allow us to fully understand the real issues behind imprisonment and to effectively respond in ways that support greater collective security. The global over-representation of Indigenous peoples in prisons speaks to lives of restriction and constraint both inside and outside of the wire.

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of incarceration in the developed world and in New Zealand, mass incarceration is Māori incarceration. This talk will draw strongly on the experience and expertise of incarcerated people and will begin a discussion on what strategies we need to support decarceration strategies.

SPEAKER’S BIO

Tracey McIntosh (Tūhoe) is a Professor of Indigenous Studies and Co-Head of Te Wānanga o Waipapa (School of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies) at the University of Auckland. She is the former Co-Director of Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga, New Zealand’s Māori Centre of Research Excellence. Her recent research focuses on incarceration (particularly of Māori and Indigenous peoples) and issues pertaining to poverty, inequality and social justice.

In 2018-2019 she was a member of both the Welfare Expert Advisory Group and Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora – Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group. She is currently a member of the Criminal Cases Review Commission’s establishment advisory group. She is also Chief Science Advisor for the Ministry of Social Development. She is the Co-Editor of AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples.

DESCRIPTION

Bioluminescence (which literally means ‘living light’) allows glow worms to lure food, fireflies to find a mate, and nocturnal squid to camouflage themselves from predators. The light is a by-product of a simple chemical reaction, and only living creatures can glow. But can it be harnessed for new medicines?

Siouxsie will talk about how bioluminescence is used to better understand the infectious microbes that make us sick. Discover the groundbreaking work her lab is performing by using glowing bacteria to understand superbugs and find new antibiotics to combat them.

SPEAKER’S BIO

Dr Siouxsie Wiles MNZM is an award-winning scientist and communicator who has made a career of manipulating microbes. Siouxsie studied medical microbiology at the University of Edinburgh, UK and then did a PhD in microbiology at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Oxford. She is now based at the University of Auckland’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. During COVID-19 Siouxsie joined forces with Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris to make the science of the pandemic clear and understandable. Their graphics have been translated into many different languages and shared all around the world.

DESCRIPTION

Imagine enjoying a delectable dinner that your 3D printer has whipped up, while you sit in the lounge of your 3D printed home. Or, imagine customising your dream shoes online and having them manufactured by a 3D printer at a store near you, cutting out the need for international shipping.

Such convenience is just around the corner but how will our lives change with these technologies? Olaf says if we don’t adapt now, New Zealand won’t be ready for the technology of tomorrow. If we don’t learn to lead the way in this industry, we will lose a competitive advantage over the rest of the world. This talk will delve into why 3D printing is a remarkable tool for innovators, the current and future uses of 3D printing and will also feature a few of Olaf’s own 3D printed creations. If you haven’t seen a 3D printed guitar before, you’re in for a treat.

SPEAKER’S BIO

Dr Olaf Diegel is a professor of additive manufacturing at the University of Auckland.

He is an educator and a practitioner of product development with an excellent track record of developing innovative solutions to engineering problems. Over the last 20 years, Olaf has become a passionate follower of 3D printing. He believes it is a godsend to innovation as it allows designers and inventors to instantly test ideas to see if they work. It also removes the traditional manufacturing constraints that become a barrier to creativity and allows us to get real products to market without the high costs that become a barrier to innovation. He also makes cool 3D printed guitars!

DESCRIPTION

If you’re now working from home, do you feel like you’ve hit the jackpot, or is it a punishing marathon that never seems to end? Dr Darl Kolb has been asking people to describe their working from home experiences using metaphors. Darl will take you on a journey that highlights how people are coming to grips with the new normal. “Working without seeing my boss is like getting out of prison,” says one person, while another says: “The technology I have to work with at home makes me feel like the poorest kid in the class.”

Join Darl as he explores how people see and describe the new world of working from home and what might we learn from this grand social experiment.

SPEAKER’S BIO

Dr Darl Kolb is a pioneering theorist on socio-technical connectivity and the first Professor of Connectivity in the world. Darl received his PhD in organisational behaviour from Cornell University and has been a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge. His main research interest is in the area of managing personal and organisational connectivity for performance and wellbeing.

Prior to becoming an academic, Darl worked as an Outward Bound Instructor throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Alaska. He now works at the Graduate School of Management within the University of Auckland Business School.

DESCRIPTION

Primary school children and scientists often ponder the same questions about space. Was there more than one Big Bang? What happens when you fall into a black hole? Will the universe expand forever?

In this talk Dr Richard Easther will outline the ways that Einstein changed our ideas about space and time and how this leads to deep ideas about the expanding universe and black holes. Now tested with observations and experiments, Richard will share answers we are finding to some of those questions - and highlight the questions we’re still trying to crack.

SPEAKER’S BIO

Dr Richard Easther is a professor and Head of Department of Physics at the University of Auckland. Born in New Zealand, Richard worked in Japan and the United States for 16 years after finishing his PhD at the University of Canterbury. He was a professor of Physics and Astronomy at Yale University, returning to New Zealand at the end of 2011. Richard’s research is at the interface of particle physics and astronomy, focusing on the nature of dark matter, and the origin and evolution of the universe.

DESCRIPTION

Many of the world’s social and environmental problems have defied decades of traditional attempts to eliminate them. Fortunately, there is renewed hope from a new movement of investors who are looking to align their investment capital with their heart for positive change. These ‘impact investors’ invest for social or environmental impact alongside financial returns. Can impact investors lead the way towards an economy that is inclusive and sustainable?

Dr Deb Shepherd and Dr Jamie Newth will explain how we can move beyond the hype to real action and tangible impact as investors (large and small).

SPEAKER’S BIO

Dr Deb Shepherd is a part-time Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland Business School. Her research and teaching focuses on social entrepreneurship and innovation, the entrepreneurial mindset, and SMEs and family businesses. Deb is involved in the student-led entrepreneurial initiative Velocity.  Outside of the university she is a founding facilitator of the ICEHOUSE owner manager programme, a director of Soul Capital, Biocell and Resero and holds a Small Business Advisory role with government.

Jamie is currently a lecturer at the University of Auckland Business School, founder of impact investment firm Soul Capital, and a member of the National Advisory Board for Impact Investment. His research focuses on social innovation and entrepreneurship and impact investing and his teaching on experiential learning for start-up entrepreneurship.