Dr Chrystal O'Connor
Lincoln University | Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
As a postdoctoral researcher with the Riddet Institute, Dr Chrystal O'Connor (Ngāti Hauā, Ngāti Pāoa) is based at Lincoln University in partnership with the Kaika Institute of Climate Resilience. Her work explores taonga (treasured) organisms and indigenous microbes as sources of sustainable future foods. She will be working with indigenous microbes through non-GMO precision fermentation, drawing on mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) alongside nutritional biochemistry to enhance the functional value of taonga-derived compounds.
Building on her doctoral research into native insects and rākau rongoā (medicinal plants), her interests include future foods, indigenous fermentation, and Indigenous-led approaches to access, benefit-sharing and data governance that keep communities at the centre of research involving taonga species.
Building on her doctoral research into native insects and rākau rongoā (medicinal plants), her interests include future foods, indigenous fermentation, and Indigenous-led approaches to access, benefit-sharing and data governance that keep communities at the centre of research involving taonga species.
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