I am an interdisciplinary social scientist working on psychedelics the past ten years, in the US, UK and now in Aotearoa NZ. This work spans both research and community engagement. I’ve been drawn to how people make sense of their psychedelic experiences, and the relationship between psychedelic experiences, spiritual crises, and extreme states that get pathologized (as psychosis or mania, for example). I’m also interested in whose knowledge counts as evidence, and when, how, and why.

I’m British Indian, and moved to Tāmaki Makaurau with my Pākehā partner and two kids aged 5 and 2 in early 2023. I’m currently a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Auckland. Since 2019 I have also been informally affiliated with Whāriki, a Kaupapa Māori research centre at Massey University.

(Recently passed, October 2024)

Tēnā koutou kātoa he uri ahau o Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whakahemo, Ngāti Hē. E ono aku tamariki ātaahua. Ko te mahi tohungia ana e au, kei roto i te taiao me te Rongoā Māori ahau hoki. Ko taku ngākau nui kei roto i te hauora me te oranga o tātou tangata me te reo mō tō tātou taiao. Ka tūmanako ahau ki te hononga ki te hapori mō te āmua o te rongoā whkawhānau hinengaro i Aotearoa me pēhea me pēhea hoki tānā āhua mō te Tangata Whenua. Nō reira Tēnā koutou tēnā koutou tēnā koutou kātoa.

Warm greetings to everyone. I am of Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whakahemo, Ngāti Hē descent. I have 6 beautiful children. My passion is in the health and wellbeing of our people as well as a voice for our Taiao. I look forward to connecting with the communities about the future of psychdelic medicine in Aotearoa and what it could and should look like for Tangata Whenua. Again, greetings to everyone.

Tuia ki te rangi, tuhia ki te whenua, tuhia ki te moana, ka rongo te pō, ka rongo te ao, tīhei mauri ora.

Ko Tainui te waka, ko Pīrongia te maunga, ko Kāwhia te moana, ko Te Awaroa te awa, ko Ngāti Maniapoto te iwi, ko Jor’el McQueen ahau.

My two beautiful daughters are my world. I have a background in whānau ora navigation, iwi governance, holistic healing circles, hip hop, creative dance, and mental health advocacy. I’m a passionate advocate for the value of indigenous knowledge, ancient stories, rituals, ceremony, and rongoā (natural healing practices). I’ve been on my own journey of self-discovery and have supported many others in theirs as well. I deeply believe in the transformative potential of psychedelic medicine for healing, self-awareness, and personal growth. The possibility of making this medicine accessible to more people excites me. I love connecting with others and can’t wait to connect with you all.

Belinda Borell, PhD. of Ngati Ranginui, Ngai Te Rangi, and Whakatōhea, is a Kaupapa Māori expert based at Whāriki Research Centre, Massey University. Belinda focuses on structural and systemic approaches to the study of privilege and inequity.

Laura Ashton is a Pākehā who has called Tāmaki Makaurau home for most of her life, after emigrating from Bristol (England) as a child. She has worked in lived/living experience (LEX) roles for most of the last two decades, and has experience as a LEX manager, project manager, researcher, and evaluator.

Phyllis Tangitu of Ngati Pikiao, Ngati Ranginui, Ngati Awa, and Ngati Haua Iwi, has worked in the Hauora for 35 years.  Phyllis trained as a School Teacher in the early 80’s and through the support and encouragement of her Iwi began working in Health.  Phyllis is largely based in Rotorua, in the Health System – and recently moved to Emerge Aotearoa in 2022. Phyllis is Group Director, Māori and Equity, supporting her organisation to consider the change, enablers and tools that are required to improve the health outcomes of Māori.

Dr. Tom Paterson grew up in Te Waipounamu, but currently lives and works in Tāmaki Makaurau. He has worked all over the country, from Tairāwhiti to Rotorua to Ōtepoti.  He is a senior psychiatric registrar, focused on improving the quality of life for those individuals and their whānau who are experiencing mental suffering and addiction. He has undertaken the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Science training in MDMA therapy, which he sees as a new-old tool in the toolbox to aid adaptive and flexible change - for individuals, whanau and communities.

Tim McCreanor PhD. is a senior Pākehā social scientist with te Rōpu Whāriki, with a particular interest in discourse and affect as these impact on relationships between Māori and Pākehā. His works on qualitative research, racism, decolonisation and hauora Māori, along with action research, community/postgraduate supervision and writing for publication.

Emilia Sanabria, PhD. is a French-Colombian anthropologist of science, healthcare and the body based in Paris, who has examined the fraught relationship between biomedicine and indigenous and traditional knowledges through a range of ethnographic projects, most recently, the biomedicalisation of plant medicines. Between 2018 and 2024 Emilia was PI of the European Research Council-funded project “Healing Encounters: reinventing an indigenous medicine in the clinic and beyond” which examined the frictions, equivocations and opportunities opened by the global expansion of ayahuasca ritual practices. Emilia is a Grof Transpersonal Training Certified Holotropic Breathwork Facilitator, and has also undertaken the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Science training in MDMA therapy for PTSD.