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Dr. 'Apo' Aporosa is maternally related to the village of Naduri in Macuata, Fiji.  He has a doctorate in Development Studies* from Massey University (New Zealand) and over 20 years experience as a development practitioner in Fiji and New Zealand.

Current Status

Aporosa was awarded the 2016 New Zealand Health Research Council (HRC) Pasifika Post-doctoral Fellowship and the 2019 HRC ​Sir Thomas Davis Te Patu Kite Rangi Ariki (research) Fellow in which he investigated driver safety following kava use at traditional consumption volumes. (Kava and driving research and resources available under the 'Research\Kava and Driving' tab).

 

He is currently a research fellow and Pacific Academic Lead at Te Huataki Waiora School of Health at The University of Waikato. Aporosa is also involved in several development projects in Fiji with Research for Development.

 

"Dr Aporosa must now be considered the world’s leading researcher on the social use of kava (Piper methysticum) ... His deep knowledge of kava’s properties and usage - along with its health effects, history of cultivation, symbolic significance, economic importance, and changing patterns of consumption - give Dr Aporosa unique expertise. Evidence of the impact of his research has been reflected by the New Zealand Health Research Council’s awarding him the Pasifika Postdoctoral Award for his research on kava drinking and driving in New Zealand. 

(Associate Professor Matt Tomlinson, Australia National University, Sept. 2021)

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* Development Studies is an inter-disciplinary field involving demographics, environmental issues, culture, social transformation, politics, economics, 

  policy analysis and formulation, health, anthropology, etc.

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