I am honoured to be named a recipient of the Graduate Women’s New Zealand Fellowship. I would like to extend my gratitude to GWNZ for supporting my PhD journey.
I am a first-year PhD student at Monash University, Melbourne, studying climate finance and climate resilience within the Pacific Islands. Born and raised in New Zealand, I completed both my undergraduate degree in business and master's in International Development at Massey University. Once completed, I went on a 10-month posting to Samoa with Volunteer Service Abroad New Zealand to help contribute to Samoa's climate change action. Collectively, my education and experiences led me to pursue a PhD in the same discipline, moving to Melbourne to begin this journey.
I am deeply passionate about ensuring that the climate financing that Pacific Island States receive is effective and accessible, in turn, contributing to their climate resilience embedded within communities. Climate financing, often given as aid, provides resources to help with mitigation and adaptation efforts that support long-term climate resilience, as island nations are some of the first to be impacted by climate change. This is timely research, as Pacific Island States are calling for greater climate action from their bilateral partners and the wider international community.