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 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.

Contact

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.

DAN FASTNEDGE

Researcher

Dan's research focuses on contemporary advertising, including how brands navigate controversial issues and shifting audience expectations.

DR MELISSA GOULD

Researcher

Melissa is a critical media studies researcher. Her research focuses on promotional and popular culture, with an interest in child and youth audiences, gender representations, and media literacy.

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.

Atakohu Middleton 2 PIC CREDIT SIMON SMITH_edited.jpg

DR ATAKOHU MIDDLETON

Researcher

Atakohu is a journalist of Ngāti Māhanga and Pākehā whakapapa who researches Māori-language journalism.

DR ANGELIQUE NAIRN

Researcher

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.

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.

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.

RACHEL DANIELS

Affiliate 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.

Contact

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.

Contact

STEPHANIE SAGEO-TAPUNGU †

Affiliate Researcher

Stephanie researched the relationships and interactions between journalists and public relations practitioners in Papua New Guinea. She was a scholar at the Divine World University Madang, Papua New Guinea. Her enthusiasm, generosity and kindness will forever guide us.

Contact

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.

Contact

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.

Contact

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.

Contact

ANTOINETTE GYAN

Graduate Researcher

Antoinette is a researcher in the field of women's leadership. She is passionate about women's empowerment and gender equality issues. Her advocacy covers voice and representation, social constructs, stereotypes and gender parity in public relations.

Contact

View research