Kairangahau/ Research Officer
Lorena de la Torre Parra
Dr Lorena de la Torre Parra is a mestiza woman, born in the Andes of Ecuador. She is a daughter and granddaughter of those mountains and valleys, a storyteller, a gardener, a writer.
Lorena’s research focuses on Indigenous notions of development and education, on how these influence sense of place, and how Indigenous knowledges can contribute towards decolonisation efforts in development, education and scholarship across Oceania. She spent many years living and working in Papua New Guinea in the education and community development sectors. Lorena has also worked in the NGO sector in Aotearoa, where she managed international development programmes in the Pacific region and South East Asia. Most recently, Lorena has been a lecturer in Development Studies at Massey University.
Lorena’s work advocates for the disruption of scholarship, education and development, in ways that honour, reflect and respectfully uphold the sacredness and standing of Indigenous methodologies, epistemologies, values and practices.