Post-doc researcher Nick Reo has received the Toihuarewa Visiting Indigenous Fellowship, designed is to attract international indigenous scholars to Victoria University to build indigenous research capacity and enhance engagement and collaboration with Victoria'ss M' ori research program. Reo will be traveling to New Zealand in the fall for about a month, and will be studying natural resource co-management agreements between Maori Iwi (tribes) and the Crown, interacting with Maori faculty on the campus, and visiting a tribal college and research station to share his experiences working with tribal colleges in the U.S.

"I'll also be sharing my knowledge of co-management involving tribes and first nations in North America and tribal natural resource issues in general," Reo said. "I see this as an opportunity to draw connections between the U.S., Canada and New Zealand and broaden my perspective about tribal resource management."

Reo also hopes to establish a long-term relationship with university colleagues and tribal community representatives in New Zealand to support future research collaborations and cross-cultural exchanges between Anishinaabe and Maori communities, and adds that perhaps some day those relationships could also lead to a study-abroad course in New Zealand.