biology

Priscilla Wehi

Priscilla Wehi is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Priscilla Wehi rather than just read about it. In short: Priscilla M. Wehi (née McAllum) is a New Zealand ethnobiologist and conservation biologist.

Key takeaways

Priscilla Wehi belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Priscilla Wehi to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Priscilla Wehi from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Priscilla M. Wehi (née McAllum) is a New Zealand ethnobiologist and conservation biologist. As at July 2021 she was an associate professor at the University of Otago and on the first of that month officially undertook the role of director of Te Pūnaha Matatini, a centre of research excellence in complex systems and data analytics. During the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand Te Pūnaha Matatini scientists developed mathematical models of the spread of the virus across the country that influenced the New Zealand government's response to the outbreak. In 2021 Wehi was awarded the Hill Tinsley Medal.

Education Wehi has a master's degree from Lincoln University, where she studied brushtail possums. She undertook her PhD at the University of Waikato's School of Māori and Pacific Development. Her doctoral thesis was entitled Harakeke (Phormium tenax) ecology and historical management by Maori: The changing landscape in New Zealand.

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, and advocated for the use of indigenous knowledge to inform research into biodiversity. Wehi also led a team of researchers at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu investigating Māori exploration of Antarctic waters. Their research suggested that Māori were possibly the first people to sight the continent of Antarctica. As at July 2021, Wehi is an associate professor at the University of Otago.

Awards In 2014 Wehi was granted a Royal Society Te Apārangi Rutherford Discovery Fellowship. In 2019 Wehi was a recipient of the Outstanding Publication on New Zealand Ecology award, conferred by the New Zealand Ecological Society. In 2020 the biological sciences department of the University of Canterbury awarded Wehi their Inspirational Alumna Award. 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". In 2026 Wehi was elected a Fellow of the British Ecological Society.

Selected publications Priscilla M Wehi; William L Wehi (24 November 2009). "Traditional plant harvesting in contemporary fragmented and urban landscapes". Conservation Biology. 24 (2): 594–604. doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2009.01376.x. ISSN 0888-8892. PMID 19961510. Wikidata Q30954240. Priscilla M. Wehi; David Raubenheimer; Mary Morgan-Richards (17 December 2013). "Tolerance for nutrient imbalance in an intermittently feeding herbivorous cricket, the Wellington tree weta". PLOS One. 8 (12) e84641. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...884641W. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084641. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3866171. PMID 24358369. Wikidata Q35073358. Staffan Jacob; Priscilla Wehi; Jean Clobert; Delphine Legrand; Nicolas Schtickzelle; Michele Huet; Alexis Chaine (2 August 2016). "Cooperation-mediated plasticity in dispersal and colonization". Evolution. 70 (10): 2336–2345. doi:10.1111/evo.13028. ISSN 0014-3820. PMID 27480245. Wikidata Q36091951. Priscilla M Wehi; Hemi Whaanga; Steve A Trewick (1 July 2012). "Artefacts, biology and bias in museum collection research". Molecular Ecology. 21 (13): 3103–3109. doi:10.1111/j.1365-294x.2012.05589.x. ISSN 0962-1083. PMID 22916347. Wikidata Q34391852. Priscilla M. Wehi; Nigel J. Scott; Jacinta Beckwith; Rata Pryor Rodgers; Tasman Gillies; Vincent Van Uitregt; Krushil Watene (6 June 2021). "A short scan of Māori journeys to Antarctica". Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand: 1–12. doi:10.1080/03036758.2021.1917633. ISSN 0303-6758. Wikidata Q107185697. Priscilla M. Wehi; Murray P Cox; Tom Roa; Hēmi Whaanga (4 June 2018). "Human Perceptions of Megafaunal Extinction Events Revealed by Linguistic Analysis of Indigenous Oral Traditions". Human Ecology. 46 (4): 461–470. doi:10.1007/s10745-018-0004-0. ISSN 0300-7839. PMC 6133014. PMID 30237652. Wikidata Q91600025.

References

External links

Video featuring Dr Wehi and her research into flax Dr Wehi interviewed on RNZ Morning Report 9 June 2021

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Priscilla Wehi

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Priscilla Wehi claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Priscilla Wehi before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Priscilla Wehi ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Priscilla Wehi

In research: Priscilla Wehi appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Priscilla Wehi in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Priscilla Wehi is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century New Zealand biologists, 21st-century women biologists, Academic staff of the University of Otago, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Priscilla Wehi outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Priscilla Wehi in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Priscilla Wehi means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Priscilla Wehi out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Priscilla Wehi in simple terms?

Priscilla M. Wehi (née McAllum) is a New Zealand ethnobiologist and conservation biologist.

Why does Priscilla Wehi matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Priscilla Wehi?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Priscilla Wehi.