TOROA TEAM



DR GUDRUN FROMMHERZ
Co-Director
A researcher of digital communication, Gudrun inquires into the technological and visual aspects of communication with a particular interest in the visuality of the future. She also investigates creative practice as a research paradigm.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR PETRA THEUNISSEN
Co-Director
Petra's work focuses on stakeholder relationships, both interpersonal and mediated, in contemporary communication practice.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR HELEN SISSONS
Co-Director
Helen researches the professional practices of journalists and public relations practitioners and the intersection of both. She is particularly interested in how power is negotiated between these professionals.



ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR PHILIPPA SMITH
Deputy Director
Philippa's expertise lies in the critical analysis of (new)-media texts, particularly those that relate to social issues such as prejudice and discrimination. She was a visiting scholar at the Oxford Internet Institute in 2018.
DR MATTHEW GUINIBERT
Steering Committee
Matt is a digital media practitioner and educational technologist with a passion for creative and transformative pedagogies both in and out of the classroom.
DANIELLE MULRENNAN
Steering Committee
Danni is a practice-based researcher of journalism studies. She has a background in television broadcast news and sports production. Her research focuses on user-generated video content and television news.



DR ANGELIQUE NAIRN
Steering Committee
Angelique works in multiple research areas including morality and identity, online racism, organisational communication, and the experiences of creative workers. She recently co-edited a book on gender and voice.
DR WAN NORBANI WAN NOORDIN
Steering Committee
Wan's research focuses on communication technologies, their development and impact on academia and practice. She is the Director of the Transnational Education department at iCEPS, UiTM in Malaysia.
DEEPTI BHARGAVA
Researcher
Deepti is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and her research interests include culture, diversity, PR pedagogy, digital communication and PR measurement, evaluation and reflection.



RACHEL DANIELS
Researcher
Rachel’s decade and a half of television production experience has influenced her research, which looks at the multitude of different platforms, specifically subscription video on demand and its impact on New Zealand broadcasting.
DAN FASTNEDGE
Researcher
Dan's research focuses on contemporary advertising, including how brands navigate controversial issues and shifting audience expectations.
MATT HALLIDAY
Researcher
Matt’s interest lies in how communication can help save the world. He is currently researching Aotearoa’s communication response to Covid-19, and the work done by non-government communicators that has kept New Zealand relatively Covid-free.



JUSTIN MATTHEWS
Researcher
Justin focuses on the areas of user inter- face and experience, future studies, gaming studies, and popular culture. He currently researches speculative user interface designs from science fiction and their relationship to contemporary technology experiences.
DR ATAKOHU MIDDLETON
Researcher
Atakohu is a journalist of Ngāti Māhanga and Pākehā whakapapa who researches Māori-language journalism.
ADITYA (AD) NARAYAN
Researcher
AD is a practice-based researcher interested in community-driven video production, and future directions in the development of extended reality technologies.



KHAIRIAH RAHMAN
Researcher
Khairiah’s research intersects media and self-representations of marginalised communities, issues impacting diversity and inclusion, crisis and communication paradigms in practice. Her current research is on tenets of Islamic Communication.
MARK RASQUINHA
Affiliate Researcher
Mark's PhD research focuses on elections, interest groups and political parties. He is interested in how power is negotiated between communication professionals in the practice of political public relations.
STEPHANIE SAGEO-TAPUNGU
Affiliate Researcher
Stephanie researches the relationships and interactions between journalists and public relations practitioners in Papua New Guinea. She is a scholar at the Divine World University Madang, Papua New Guinea.



SOPHIA SPIVAK
Affiliate Researcher
Sophia is a visual communicator and a digital experience designer working across public, private and tertiary education sectors. Sophia’s research interests lie in exploring digital technology in museography and exhibition communication.
KARL UDY
Affiliate Researcher
Karl researches in the areas of not-for-profit and digital communication, with a particular focus on new media and religion.
PATRICK USMAR
Researcher
Patrick's research focus is on media literacy in adults. He also researches audience attitudes and the language of brand communications.


ZAK WAIPARA
Researcher
Zak researches traditional pūrākau (mythology) to address modern issues. He is experienced in methodologies that relate to design and creative technologies, including practice-based, heuristic, and kaupapa Maori/indigenous research methods.
CINDY WANG
Graduate Researcher
Cindy is a student researcher in the field of social media, and visual and digital communication. She is currently doing her PhD on content creation strategies for vlogs by vloggers.