Cook Islands will benefit from the launch of the Pacific Academy of Sciences, which promotes the study of natural and social science, indigenous knowledge and technology.

According to Professor Jodie Hunter, a lecturer at Massey University’s Institute of Education, the launch of the Academy will bring increased attention to a variety of scientific issues impacting the Cook Islands and the wider Pacific region, such as climate change and the effects of nuclear weapons testing.

Professor Hunter, who has ancestral links to Aitutaki and Manihiki, is one of the 12 eminent Pacific Island scholars elected as Foundation Fellows to lead the Academy.

The Pacific Academy of Sciences (PAS) was launched in Samoa last month.

Professor Hunter said she was proud to represent the Cook Islands on the Pacific Academy of Sciences and to share the strengths of her heritage.

“The launch of PAS is a significant event given that until this launch, we have been one of the only geographical regions in the world that does not have a regional academy of sciences,” she said.

“This offers an opportunity to showcase the innovative and leading research undertaken by scholars within the Pacific region of the world.

“For the Cook Islands, this will bring benefits in the potential of a greater focus on the broad range of scientific issues which impact our region from climate change, to the ongoing effects of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific region, and recognition of Pacific indigenous knowledge systems as part of a solution for the challenges faced by the world.”

Merita Tuari’i of Te Puna Vai Marama Cook Islands Centre of Research was on the establishment committee of the Academy.

Tuari’i says the Academy will connect Pacific scholars and create pathways for early career Pacific scholars.

PAS will also connect regional scholars with researchers around the world on the issues that matter to the Pacific, as equal partners, rather than the same old story of Pacific peoples being the subjects of studies and researchers conducting studies from outside of the context of the Pacific.

It will also help resource science and research in the Pacific for the Pacific, she adds.

“We just don’t have many of those opportunities here, there are no large grants such as the Marsden Fund or HRC (Health research Council) grant,” Tuari’i said.

“The Academy is also an important mechanism to empower Pacific knowledge that is our traditional or indigenous knowledge to address the challenges our communities face. I think it will also be a forum for discussion and collaboration on Pacific ontologies and epistemologies.”

Tuari’i added that the most important issue people face now is the climate crisis such as coastal erosion and drought.

“Another is the legacy of colonisation and the impacts of globalisation, and the change in our diets, illnesses such as diabetes that disproportionately impact our communities.

“Seabed mining is also at the forefront of Pacific issues, I think the Pacific Academy of Sciences will be able to provide advice on the implications of the latest science on these issues and advise Pacific policymakers, and the public, about them.”

The Pacific Academy of Sciences has been established as a charitable trust, based in Apia, Samoa.

Its launch was facilitated by the National University of Samoa and the International Science Council Regional Focal Point for Asia and the Pacific led by the Australian Academy of Science with the support of the Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi and Sasakawa Peace Foundation.