Rate My Professor Zac McIvor

Dr. Isaac (Zac) McIvor is a lecturer in the Archaeology Programme at the University of Otago's Division of Humanities, where he also serves as the Master of Archaeological Practice Programme Co-ordinator and Kaiāwhina Māori. He studied archaeology at the University of Auckland and earned his PhD in 2024 from the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies at the University of Waikato, with a thesis on pā tawhito (ancient fortified sites) in the Waikato region. This work formed part of a Marsden-funded project that incorporated wānanga with living descendants and computational methods to link oral traditions to archaeological data. Prior to joining Otago in 2022, McIvor served as a heritage and archaeological consultant and Regional Archaeologist at Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. In these roles, he managed excavations of early settler shipwrecks, nohoanga sites associated with early Oceanic voyagers, and 17th-century Waikato horticultural complexes, while collaborating with kaitiaki to relocate human remains and research wāhi tapu. His research interests encompass Pacific archaeology focusing on Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu (New Zealand); landscape archaeology and remote sensing; Indigenous and community-engaged archaeologies; the interface of archaeology and kōrero tuku iho (oral traditions); and applied archaeology and heritage management. Current projects explore the whakapapa (genealogy) of pā construction in Waikato through GIS and remote sensing analyses, archival research in Māori Land Court minute books and Te Reo Māori manuscripts, reflexive qualitative analysis of wānanga with descendant communities, and chronological network analysis interfacing radiocarbon dates with whakapapa.

McIvor received a University of Otago Research Grant (UORG) in 2025 for a partnership project in Aotea Harbour, Waikato. Notable publications include 'Genealogies and oral histories as chronological networks: Interfacing whakapapa (Māori genealogies) with Gregorian calendar year archaeological radiocarbon dates' (Archaeometry, 2025, with A. Hogg, T. Roa, et al.); 'Kia kōrerorero tonu ai: A review of the dialogue at the interface of Indigenous oral tradition and archaeology in Aotearoa New Zealand and Oceania' (Archaeology in Oceania, 2024, with T. Roa and W. Waitoki); and 'Developing a 3D virtual reconstruction of the Lawrence Chinese Camp, Central Otago: Method and impacts on descendant aspirations' (Proceedings of the 51st CAA Conference, 2024, with R. Walter and J. Ng). He teaches courses including ANTH 324 Archaeological Practice, ANTH 329 Landscape Archaeology, ANTH 330 New Zealand Archaeology, ANTH 430 Advanced New Zealand Archaeology, and ANTH 550 Archaeology and Heritage Practice. Through whakapapa connections, he engages in hapū-based heritage management kaupapa in Waikato, promoting power-sharing frameworks that prioritize descendant interests in research outputs.