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Wellbeing in Motion: An Exploration into the Wellbeing of Sri Lankan Sinhalese Migrant Women in Aotearoa New Zealand
No full textImmigration is a significant life event that affects all migrating individuals; however, the impact is felt differently by different groups. Migrant women, in particular, face unique challenges shaped by gendered cultural and social expectations placed on them by both the countries of origin and host societies. Much of the previous research on migrant women in Aotearoa tends to portray them as passive or victimised. The present study aims to challenge this dominant representation by highlighting the experiences of migrant women who exercise greater agency and control over their migratory journeys.The study explores how Sri Lankan Sinhalese migrant women living in Aotearoa New Zealand experience and make sense of wellbeing within the context of migration and resettlement. Guided by life course theory and intersectional feminist theory, and situated within a critical realist paradigm, the research seeks to understand how wellbeing is shaped by intersecting factors such as gender, ethnicity, class, and migration status, as they operate within the dynamic interplay of social structures and individual agency. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with nine Sri Lankan Sinhalese women aged between 30 and 55. All participants initiated their migration as adults over a decade or more ago for purposes such as education, work, or family reunification.Five themes were developed through the reflexive thematic analysis of the interview data. Migration for more captured how the participants’ decision to migrate were driven by an aspiration for greater material prosperity and upward social mobility, which they had come to associate with wellbeing during their upbringing. A happy camper explored how the participants’ understandings of wellbeing evolved over time in Aotearoa, highlighting how they came to value the freedom and sense of peace it offers as essential components of wellbeing. Stronger through adversity, captured the many hardships and challenges experienced by the participants post-migration, and how they overcame these difficulties demonstrating growth, resilience, and agency. Feeling the distance captured the feelings of isolation described by the participants; produced by both geographic and the social distance encountered in everyday life. The final theme, bridging the distance, discussed how the participants exercised agency to overcome these feelings of distance through purposeful engagement with both the host society and the Sri Lankan community in Aotearoa. These findings contribute to a contextually situated and culturally nuanced understanding of migrant women’s wellbeing and offer insights that may inform policy, service provision, and future research focused on the wellbeing of similar migrant populations within Aotearoa New Zealand and alike contexts.</p
Plant interaction traits determine the biomass of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and bacteria in soil
No full textPlant–arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) mutualisms are crucial to ecosystem biodiversity and productivity. Yet, our understanding of the functional roles of plants as AMF generalists or specialists, and the consequences of these plant interaction traits for soil ecosystems are virtually unknown. We grew eight pasture plant species under two experimental conditions, sequencing their root AMF communities to assess interaction traits using a range of numeric and phylogenetic diversity metrics, thereby characterizing each plant species' interaction generalism with AMF. We used lipid analysis of rhizosphere soils and Bayesian modeling to explore how host interaction traits affected carbon allocation to AMF and bacteria. We found that plant interaction traits for AMF remained stable despite large variation in soil conditions and AMF pools. Host interaction generalism was linked to contrasting patterns in bacterial and AMF biomass: Phylogenetic diversity in plant interactions was positively associated with AMF biomass, while numeric diversity was negatively associated with bacterial biomass in rhizosphere soils. Explicit consideration of plant interaction niches may enhance understanding of how changes in biodiversity affect ecosystem carbon cycling
Plant Invasions in a Changing Climate: Reshaping Communities, Ecosystem Functions, and Services
No full textClimate change and biodiversity loss are among the most urgent challenges, with ecosystems rapidly responding to pressures such as rising temperatures and plant invasions. Plant community composition plays a key role in ecosystem carbon and energy flows, water balance, nutrient cycling, and pest control—directly affecting ecosystem services. We synthesize how climate change influences plant invasions across ecological scales. Climate change interacts with invasive species traits—such as high genetic and phenotypic plasticity, rapid reproduction, and generalist interactions—to facilitate invader transport, establishment, and spread, enabling them to outcompete native plants. Using field experiments, we illustrate the impacts at the community level, including effects on native plants, pollinators, seed dispersers, soil microbial communities, pests, and pathogens. Together, climate change and plant invasions destabilize ecological networks, reduce biodiversity, and trigger cascading effects on socio-ecological systems. Addressing these challenges requires inclusive, integrative approaches that prioritize emission reductions, biosecurity, conservation, and ecological restoration
The evolving client-firm relationship: Fiduciary Duties and Regulatory Rules - are the English courts and the UK financial conduct regulator on a collision course?
No full textThis thesis comprehensively explores the relationship between the fiduciary and common law duties and the development of the United Kingdom’s financial services regulatory regime. The historical development of the law in this area demonstrates the gradual advancement of common law through judge-made precedents and the establishment of rules or principles applicable to various legal relationships between parties. Concurrently, the evolution of the law through the regulatory framework of the Financial Services Act 1986 and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 has shown the emergence of administrative or regulatory law, driven by interventions from authorities—initially from the City and later from Parliament—aimed at formulating policy and enforcing binding public laws to regulate those relationships.There is, however, a noticeable disjuncture between the approach taken by the English courts in applying the law and the objectives and methods of the United Kingdom’s financial services conduct regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, in the formulation of its rules. Of particular concern is where an authorised and regulated firm owes conflicting duties to its clients or where there is a conflict between the firm’s own interests and those of its clients. Assuming that the standard rules of statutory interpretation are applicable, it can be inferred that Parliament does not intend to infringe private law rights unless such intent is clearly indicated in the statutory provisions. This thesis argues that this disconnect between the courts and the regulator is deeply embedded in the current legal system. It directly impacts the legal and regulatory duties and obligations on authorised firms as well as their relationship with their clients. It also affects the rights and redress available to investors. While the English courts have generally upheld the sanctity of contract law, they have been hesitant to acknowledge the public law aspects of the regulatory rules in what is now a fully statutory regulatory system. Similarly, the Financial Conduct Authority has not adequately acknowledged the weight of the common law within its regulatory framework and the rule-making processes.This thesis posits that the United Kingdom’s Parliament has become confused in its intent to foster consumer protection while promoting economic growth and innovation within the strictures of the existing legal framework and the limits of regulatory policy and enforcement. This confusion stems from a lack of consensus among Parliament, the courts, and the regulator on the most effective means of achieving these goals. As a result, legal uncertainty has emerged and recent case law, including mis-selling claims and disputes based on the lack of transparency, has shown these differences can be costly and disruptive to the financial services industry and the British economy as a whole.This disconnect has been addressed in the past. The Law Commission, as the statutory body responsible for reviewing English law, has considered the interrelationship between fiduciary duties and regulatory rules on several occasions. It has identified a number of substantive issues that contribute to this uncertainty. However, its recommendations to resolve the inconsistencies and discrepancies between common law and regulatory rules have either been rejected or not implemented, often due to political considerations and resistance from the industry.This thesis contends that significant legal issues persist between the approaches taken by the courts and the regulator. The unresolved inconsistencies between fiduciary principles, common law and the regulatory rules have contributed to an uncertain business environment. This thesis proposes that steps, including both primary and secondary legislation, could be taken to help bridge that gap. However, a more radical and comprehensive solution to address this disjunction would be re-evaluating the relationship between the common law and the regulatory rules as part of a broader strategy to create a more resilient and adaptive legal and regulatory environment through a consolidation act for financial services following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.</p
Māori-besque: A study in cross-cultural design and hyphenated identities in Aotearoa New Zealand
No full textThis practice-led research investigates how the concept of Māori-besque reflects the researcher’s hyphenated identity (Arab-Kiwi) and contributes to a new way of thinking about cross-cultural design in Aotearoa New Zealand. Māori-besque is inspired by the confluence of Māori, Islamic and Arabic artistic expressions, particularly their patterns and motifs. Rooted in a diasporic perspective, this research examines how creative and cultural hybridity manifests in design. An in-depth exploration of these art forms and their spiritual connotations informed three self-reflective and reflexive design experiments: The Matariki Lamp, the Manawa design, and the Intertwined exhibition. The research employs a combination of practice-led, cross-cultural, and autoethnographic methodologies. To further examine the research questions, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Māori and Muslim designers and artists, as well as a survey. The central inquiry asks: How does a hyphenated identity within the diaspora shape cross-cultural design in Aotearoa New Zealand? What is the in-between space between Māori and both Islamic and Arabic artistic expressions?This research is theoretically grounded in postcolonial thought, particularly Homi Bhabha’s concepts of “third space”, “in-betweenness”, and “hybridity” (1994). On the practical side, it draws on Donald Schön’s theory of reflective practice (1983) to bridge the gap between theory and practice in the field of design.Key findings present themes and guidelines for cross-cultural design, with a focus on co-design between Māori and Islamic, as well as Māori and Arabic cultures. These insights emphasise manaakitanga (respect), cultural appropriation, collaboration, and the ongoing tensions of colonialism and re-indigenisation.This research contributes to the broader discourse on cross-cultural design by offering new perspectives on hybridity, cultural identity, and ethical co-design practices within multicultural and diasporic societies. By bridging Indigenous and diasporic artistic traditions, this research provides a framework for designers and artists navigating cultural intersections in Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond.</p
Exploratory Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation of a Magnetic Nozzle in OpenFOAM
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A Statistical Approach to the Design Analysis of Multimode Propulsion Systems
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The Impact of Previous Exposure to the Youth Caution on New Zealand Young People's Legal Rights Understanding
No full textNew Zealand youth who are arrested or detained are read the Youth Version of the New Zealand Rights Caution (Youth Caution) to inform them of their legal rights. However, comprehension of these rights can be influenced by factors such as cognitive development, stress, and verbal intelligence. Ensuring comprehension is critical, as failure to grasp these rights can lead to uninformed legal decisions. Previous research suggests the Youth Caution’s language is too complex for young people who have never had their legal rights read to them directly, however, little is known about how well young people with direct experience understand these rights. This research assessed legal rights understanding in two groups of young people (aged 10-18): control (n = 29) with no previous exposure, and experimental (n = 16) with previous exposure. Participants were asked to recall, define, and apply key concepts in the Youth Caution using the New Zealand Rights Caution Competency Questionnaire (NZRC-CQ; Fortune et al., 2017). The current study aimed to examine whether young people understand the Youth Caution, whether previous exposure reveals differences in understanding, and the role of age, verbal IQ, and gender in understanding. Results revealed low comprehension across both groups with better understanding in samples with no previous exposure and those with higher verbal IQ scores. Findings suggest that repeated exposure alone does not enhance comprehension and that young people most likely to interact with the justice system may be at the greatest risk of misunderstanding their legal rights. These findings raise concerns about youth decision-making in legal settings and highlight the need for reforms to improve accessibility. Simplified language, verbal explanations, or legal assistance may be necessary to ensure young people can effectively understand and exercise their rights. This study contributes to broader discussions on youth justice and the importance of accessible legal communication worldwide.</p
Spatial Momentums
No full textA fixed and final architecture often follows the act of drawing, but what if architecture were to remain a drawing, with the vitality of an open sketch? Drawing brings performative gestures to life through records of its making—its traces. This research experiments with these traces, using their performative possibility to re-frame and alter conceptions of architecture, and in doing so, offers new perspectives on urban space. It is a contemporary critique on the relation between drawing and built space; it engages drawing’s capacity to be an ongoing, open process and directs it towards architecture, in an effort to discover sketch-like performative possibilities
Exposure of an intertidal fish to simulated heatwaves and suspended sediment – a multistressor approach
No full textExtreme climatic events, such as marine heatwaves (MHW) and increased suspended sediment concentration (SSC), are increasing in frequency and intensity, resulting in sudden changes to coastal environments, especially intertidal zones. Intertidal animals experience conditions that substantially fluctuate over temporal and spatial scales and therefore require the ability to physiologically tolerate these fluctuations. Since multiple stressors often co-occur and natural populations tend to respond to local environmental fluctuations, we aimed to investigate individual and combined effects of MHW and increased suspended sedimentation in Forsterygion lapillum from two neighbouring coastal areas with distinct water temperatures and wave current regimes by assessing fish oxygen consumption rate, mortality and weight loss. Results showed that in both F. lapillum populations, oxygen consumption rate and survival probability were unaffected by any treatment. However, fish from both populations lost weight during heatwave and multistressor treatments (i.e. heatwave and sedimentation), while fish from the sedimentation treatment alone did not lose weight. Although a direct effect on fish respiration was not found, our results indicate that F. lapillum performance is reduced when exposed to heatwaves individually and in combination with increased sediment suspension. Weight loss indicates that fish experiencing these stressors were unable to meet their metabolic demands
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