Ms Ramari Oliphant Stewart, of Whataroa, MNZM for services to Māori culture, wildlife conservation and research
Ms Ramari Oliphant Stewart is a whale expert, with expertise in the traditional knowledge systems of mātauranga Māori. She has led the recovery of whale bone and other resources for scientific study and Māori customary use purposes, as well as training workers in tikanga-based methods of whale recovery. She undertook the first long-term study of common dolphins at Whakatane and researched the New Zealand southern right whales’ wintering in the sub-Antarctic at Campbell Island. She contributed to the Te Papa Tongarewa ‘Whales Tohorā’ Exhibition. She led the response to protect and study Hector’s dolphins that ventured into the Okarito Lagoon. Ms Stewart teaches traditional Māori recovery methods to local iwi.