Dr. Ihi Heke is a Post Doctoral Researcher to Awanuiarangi specifically in health, physical education and environmental science. Currently involved in a number of national and international projects, Dr Heke recently completed a research project with Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore) where he was funded by the Global Obesity Prevention Centre to conduct a study using traditional indigenous health approaches alongside Systems Dynamics. Dr Heke is also an honorary research fellow to the University of Auckland in Biostatistics and previously held roles in Physical Education at the University of Otago. Dr Heke has a number of other roles including elite athlete performance consultant to New Zealand Sport, a qualified swim coach and specialist motorsport performance advisor. Dr Heke recently completed writing the Atua Matua Indigenous Health Framework. Locally, the Atua Matua approach has been used by the Ministry of Education to review the health curriculum, by the Ministry of Health - Healthy Families New Zealand, Auckland Regional Council, Toi Tangata National Minority Health Provider, Te Papa Takaro o Te Arawa Tribal Sport Provider, Te Kura Kaupapa o Kaikohe Māori immersion school and Te Aitanga a Hauiti Hauora Maori health organisation. Dr Heke is a strong supporter of mountain and river connections that can be converted into traditional physical activity and training opportunities suggesting that gains in health can be incidental outcomes that begin with whakapapa (lineage) connections to places. In this capacity Dr Heke has developed a number of ‘Virtual Tours’ that use Google Earth as the platform for delivering indigenous knowledge at a regional level with increased gains in health, physical activity and environmental science.
