Waikato student takes Pacific climate change agenda to USA

6 July 2012
Waikato student takes Pacific climate change agenda to California

University of Waikato Masters student, Lora Vaioleti, is heading to California this year, thanks to a US$15,000 Fulbright Scholarship, to continue her research of perceptions of climate change in the Pacific region.

Lora, from Hamilton, was one of eight students this year to be granted a Fulbright New Zealand General Graduate Award for promising New Zealand graduate students to undertake postgraduate study or research at US institutions.

She is currently studying towards a Masters of Management and Sustainability at Waikato. Her current research involves using dialogue and futures thinking to help increase resilience to climate change in the Pacific; a region that is particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Lora’s interest in the Pacific region stems from her Tongan ancestry. “My father is Tongan, and I still have a lot of family there, so the issue of climate change is real for me.”

She says climate change has far wider reaching implications for the islands “Beyond the obvious concerns, such as salt-water intrusion to fresh water sources and loss of arable land, climate change is having a more indirect effect on employment and productivity.”

Insights from one particular participant in Lora’s study indicated weather pattern change is adversely affecting the growth of crops meaning Tonga is more reliant on imported foods. “Which are often more processed and could lead to an increase in other problems like obesity. Not to mention the obvious economic impact for local crop growers.”

In most cases, those Lora interviewed say Pacific People are currently focussed on just meeting day-to-day needs of food or education, than worrying about the future. “Climate change is a scary concept. The reality of the threats needs to be faced, but I want to highlight the potential within Pacific People to think innovatively and strategically to start planning for the future; in the Pacific the future cannot be separated from climate change”.

She says her current thesis is paving the way for further research into ways of increasing resilience. “I want to reimagine climate change adaptation. Ultimately the Pacific needs to build self-reliance towards climate change, as on-going reliance on western aid is not necessarily realistic. The Pacific needs to consider who they will link with in the near future through business or otherwise and what this relationship will look like in order to survive”.

Lora’s scholarship from Fulbright means she can now continue her Masters at the University of California, Irvine – a partner university to Waikato – starting this September. “I’m really looking forward to continuing my studies and research state-side. The Fulbright scholarship represents an amazing opportunity and I intend to make the most of.”
-ENDS-

About Fullbright
Fulbright New Zealand offers a range of awards to New Zealand and American graduate students to study or research in each other’s countries.

The Fulbright programme of international educational exchange was an initiative of American Senator J. William Fulbright from Arkansas, who in the aftermath of World War II believed that mutual understanding between different countries and cultures was crucial to ensure a peaceful future for the world.

New Zealand was the fifth country to sign up to the Fulbright programme by bilateral treaty with the United States of America, in 1948. Since then Fulbright New Zealand has sent more than 1,500 New Zealand graduate students, academics, artists and professionals to the US and welcomed more than 1,200 Americans on exchanges here. Fulbright New Zealand is jointly funded by the US and New Zealand governments with additional funding from award sponsors, private philanthropists and alumni donors.

The Fulbright programme has been described as one of the largest and most significant movements of scholars across the face of the earth and now operates in over 155 countries, funding around 8,000 exchanges per year for participants to study, research, teach or present their work in another country.
www.fullbright.org.nz

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