Our Sponsors
This project is made possible by a Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi Marsden Grant, for the next three years. The research is carried out through Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa | Massey University.
Our Team
Dr Maria Borovnik
Principal Investigator
Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa | Massey University
Dr Maria Borovnik is a geographer and Senior Lecturer in Development Studies at Massey University, New Zealand, working in the areas of mobilities, migration and development studies with a special interest in mobile occupations. She coordinates the Mobilities Network for Aotearoa and the New Zealand Geographical Society’s Mobilities in Geography Research and Study Group and is on the Editorial Board of Transfers: Interdisciplinary Journal of Mobility Studies. Maria co-edited Weather: Spaces, Mobilities and Affects (with Kaya Barry and Tim Edensor, 2021) and is currently he leading researcher on this Royal Society of New Zealand Te Apārangi funded research project. Maria has longstanding research relationships with seafarers and their families, since 1999 in Kiribati and since 2008 in Tuvalu. She also had the opportunity to be on a containership for 28 days during 2009/10.
Dr Charlotte Bedford
Associate Investigator
Australian National University
Dr Charlotte Bedford is a Research Fellow in the Development Policy Centre at the Australian National University, working in the field of Pacific migration. Since 2007 Charlotte has been closely involved in research and evaluation work on New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme and, more recently, on Australia’s Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme. Charlotte continues to have a strong interest in the New Zealand and Australian programmes as well as working on broader economic and social dimensions of migration in the Pacific region.
Dr Johanna Thomas-Maude
Postdoctoral Fellow
Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa | Massey University
Johanna graduated with her PhD in Development Studies from Massey University in 2024, carrying out research that applied a capabilities approach to mobility justice to the experiences of overseas-trained medical doctors in Aotearoa New Zealand. Originally from Aotearoa, she has also lived in the U.K. and Peru, with a background in teaching and consulting. Her research interests include migration and mobilities, health, voluntourism, and (post)colonialism. She is the Postdoctoral Fellow on this project, with a case study focusing on international seafaring organisations. She is also a co-coordinator for the Mobilities Network for Aotearoa.
Dr Rose Namoori-Sinclair
Research Associate
Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa | Massey University
Rose is an Economist and Social Scientist who specialises in qualitative research and impact evaluation. She is passionate about improving the lives of marginalised women, children and other vulnerable populations. She has extensive experience in international development, policy analysis, research, evaluation and community development. Her areas of expertise are migration and labour mobility, the Pacific economy and development, and resilient development. Rose holds a PhD from the University of Wellington. In 2022, Rose was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to the Kiribati community.
Navigating Seafarer Mobilities 