Wehi has a master's degree from Lincoln University, where she studied brushtail possums.[4] She undertook her PhD at the University of Waikato's School of Māori and Pacific Development.[5] Her doctoral thesis was entitled Harakeke (Phormium tenax) ecology and historical management by Maori: The changing landscape in New Zealand.[6]
Career
After completing her PhD Wehi obtained positions at several research institutions including at Massey University (working with Mary Morgan-Richards) and the University of Otago. She was then employed at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research where she undertook research into wētā,[7][8][9] and advocated for the use of indigenous knowledge to inform research into biodiversity.[10] Wehi also led a team of researchers at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu investigating Māori exploration of Antarctic waters.[11][12] Their research suggested that Māori were possibly the first people to sight the continent of Antarctica.[13] As at July 2021, Wehi is an associate professor at the University of Otago.[14]
Awards
In 2014 Wehi was granted a Royal Society Te ApārangiRutherford Discovery Fellowship.[15] In 2019 Wehi was a recipient of the Outstanding Publication on New Zealand Ecology award, conferred by the New Zealand Ecological Society.[16] In 2020 the biological sciences department of the University of Canterbury awarded Wehi their Inspirational Alumna Award.[17] In 2021 Wehi was awarded the Hill Tinsley Medal with the New Zealand Association of Scientists recognising Wehi's "pioneering innovative research at the intersection of science and indigenous knowledge".[18]
^McAllum, Priscilla (1996). Social rank, hormones and reproductive behaviour of male brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) : implications for biocontrol (Masters thesis). Research@Lincoln, Lincoln University. hdl:10182/2237.
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