January 22, 2020
Hook hooked for Maori science taskforce
One of the country’s most distinguished Māori scientists has been tapped to lead a new national taskforce for science and technology to be established by the New Zealand Māori Council.
Biochemist Dr Gary Hook chairs the Waikato Tainui Endowed College and is a former head of Te Wānanga o Awanuiarangi.
Most of his career was in the United States, running a research laboratory for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Council executive director Matthew Tukaki says the new taskforce will help develop Māori positions on issues like DNA and genome sequencing, water, the exploitation of native species, 5G and health science.
It will also develop programmes to support Māori in the science and technology sectors and encourage entrepreneurship and scholarship.
Its first hui will be in Rotorua in May.
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