Rate My Professor Katharina Ruckstuhl

Katharina Ruckstuhl, of Ngāi Tahu and Rangitāne ki Wairau descent, serves as Associate Professor and Associate Dean Māori (Manutaki Tuarua – Māori) in the Dean's Office of the Otago Business School at the University of Otago. She earned her honours degree and PhD from the English Department at the University of Otago and holds postgraduate qualifications in Education from Massey University. Following a 16-year career in the teaching profession, she worked for five years as Education Manager and project consultant for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, engaging with communities, local and central government agencies to implement Māori-focused initiatives throughout the South Island education sector. Ruckstuhl joined the University in 2008 as Senior Research Analyst in Research and Enterprise and was appointed Associate Dean Māori in April 2017. She maintains governance roles with Ngāi Tahu, representing her local rūnaka, Kāti Huirapa ki Puketeraki.

Employing a kaupapa Māori framework, her research examines the translation of policy into practice for Māori, specializing in Māori small and medium enterprises, business innovation, language, and social licence in oil, gas, and mining industries, alongside broader foci on innovation and Māori business, resource extraction, energy transition, Māori policy, and Indigenous inclusion in science, technology, and data sovereignty. As Kaitohutohu of the Otago Business School's Te Maea: Māori and Indigenous Economy and Enterprise Network, she leads projects including her role as Vision Mātauranga deputy leader and co-leader of the Building New Zealand's Innovation portfolio in the Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge, and as Associate Director Māori for the Dodd-Walls Centre of Research Excellence. She serves as Councillor Community Member for Local Contexts and was a former Enrich Global Chair. Key publications include her editorship of the Routledge Handbook of Indigenous Development (2023), with chapters such as 'Indigenous futurities: Rethinking indigenous development' and 'Science, technology, and indigenous development'; 'Trust in Scholarly Communications and Infrastructure: Indigenous Data Sovereignty' (2022); and contributions to Māori and Mining (2013). She delivered the presentation 'Designing the pluriverse: Puaka Matariki' at the International Indigenous Research Conference (2022).