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Item Silicon Welly : the rise of platform capitalism and the paradoxes of precarity in Wellington City : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University Manawatū, Aotearoa New Zealand(Massey University, 2024-09-20) Halley, JessicaThis thesis addresses a central question: why do digital workers in Wellington’s tech sector persist despite the inherent precarity of platform capitalism? Examining the career histories of members of the Enspiral Network, a community focused on social entrepreneurship, reveals the paradoxical nature of subjectivity in digital labour. The research employs ethnographic methods, including life histories and narrative analysis, to explore the intersection of software materiality, neoliberal political economy, and Silicon Valley-inspired discourses. It investigates how digital workers navigate the precariousness of platform capitalism through emotional investment in programming and strategic career adaptations. Findings highlight the distinctive influence of Wellington’s cultural, political, and economic landscape on digital labour. The city’s counter-cultural ethos and state-driven entrepreneurial initiatives foster unique collaborative practices and open-source contributions within the tech sector. These elements collectively shape a hybrid form of platform capitalism that challenges traditional capitalist models. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to the understanding of contemporary labour by emphasizing the role of place, subjectivity, and paradox in the production end of platform capitalism. It underscores the active agency of digital workers in constructing their careers and identities amidst precarious conditions, offering insights into the broader implications of digital labour in the twenty-first century.Item Infrastructure planning emergency levels of service for the Wellington region, Aotearoa New Zealand : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology (Emergency Management) at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024-06-07) Mowll, RichardPast work has demonstrated that the infrastructure in the Wellington region, Aotearoa New Zealand, is vulnerable to natural hazard events such as earthquake and tsunami. To enable common understandings of the levels of service (or targets) that critical infrastructure entities are planning on delivering in an emergency event, the concept of ‘planning emergency levels of service’ (PELOS) is developed and presented in this thesis. Such a concept is readily relatable to the water sector where, for example, the World Health Organisation’s ‘basic access’ to water standard is for ’20 litres of water, per person, per day, within 1km of the dwelling’. Despite such standards for water, there are few other examples in the sectors of energy, telecommunications and transport. A literature review investigated relevant sources of information on the concept from both academic and from infrastructure sector-specific texts and was used in developing a preliminary framework of PELOS, alongside discussions with emergency management experts in the Wellington region. The overall PELOS concept and preliminary framework was then presented in interviews and workshops with key stakeholders, and qualitative data collected from these interactions was used to create an ‘operationalised’ PELOS framework. This framework was adopted by the Wellington Lifelines Group, a grouping of the critical infrastructure entities in the region. Key themes of the PELOS concept are explored, namely: interdependencies, the need to consider the vulnerabilities of some community members, emergency planning considerations, stakeholders’ willingness to collaborate and the flexibility/adaptability of the delivery of infrastructure services following a major event. Further, a description of the process taken to develop the framework is provided to enable other regions to create their own frameworks. A mapping tool, visualising where PELOS can, and cannot, be achieved based on hazard impact modelling is presented. This allows the infrastructure entities, the impacted communities and the emergency management sector to have a common understanding of the targets of response following a major hazard event, and plan for them in future.Item Service user experiences and provider attitudes towards a caring contacts suicide prevention intervention : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2022) High, OliviaSuicide prevention is a global public health priority. Caring contacts (CC) is a suicide prevention intervention that has shown promise and increasing research interest. However, there has been a lack of clarity as to ideal intervention protocols, with service users having limited opportunities to meaningfully contribute to the design and development of the intervention. This study aimed to identify factors that could lead to improved implementation of CC delivered via text messaging in a New Zealand crisis mental health context. The primary study recruited 20 people who presented to the Wellington Emergency Department (ED) due to suicidal ideation or behaviour and agreed to receive 12 supportive one-way text messages over a period of 6 months. Of those recruited, 11 people completed follow-up interviews. Thematic analysis abstracted four themes related to participants’ experiences of receiving the messages: Caring Connection, Safety and Security, Reflections on Recovery, and Limitations. The secondary study explored service provider attitudes towards features of the intervention, suicide prevention and workplace culture towards research utilisation and implementation. Interviews with seven crisis mental health team members were conducted. Content analysis of interviews identified staff concerns about how service users may experience CC via text messaging, concerns about responsibility and possible flow-on effects. These concerns were underpinned by significant time constraints and resourcing pressures that also formed barriers to research engagement and service improvement efforts. This study has implications for understanding the mechanisms driving CC interventions and specific implementation considerations at the level of the innovation, provider, and organisation.Item Entanglement : an investigation into the effective union of contemporary art and science communication : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Hughes, Claire I.Virtual reality (VR) technology is increasingly providing opportunities for new contemporary art experiences. This creative practice research has been developed to provide one such contribution. It offers innovative employment of the immersive capabilities of VR to engage with and convey complex scientific theories, and to stimulate changes in mental processes to unlock these concepts. The research highlights empirical similarities between art and science to propose that creative aspects of art can be considered proximate to the creative qualities required to understand quantum theories. In order to reveal this, the body of research engaged specifically with quantum entanglement, because of its well documented existence¹ combined with the more challenging considerations of how ‘communication’ can occur at a quantum level. By providing metaphoric immersive experiences of quantum entanglement, a contribution of ‘scientific communication’ is made as defined by the evocation of awareness, enjoyment, and interest, questioning of opinions and providing new perspectives of understanding.² This research posits that there is a fertile, effective terrain to explore in the union of the fields of contemporary art and science communication. Considerations of constructivist theories of knowledge and the concept of paradigm shifts³ are used whereby new insights into knowledge processes can be experienced through VR art. Here, simulacra, cognitive dissonance and the technological sublime afford a framework to create experiences of conflicting realities. It is due to the immersive strengths of VR which are exploited and subverted through my designs that these experiences can be facilitated for the viewer. The culmination of this research is Entangled, a VR art installation which provides interplays between virtual and physical spaces while also offering entry-points to contemplate and understand quantum theories. Critical analysis of this project is supported by focus group and questionnaire responses. These findings prove how viewers perceived the project as an aesthetic art work and that by recognising scientific underpinnings, an effective engagement and participation in elements of scientific communication occurred at varying levels. The work provided new perspectives on the properties of quantum entanglement. This facilitated cognitive and experiential awareness providing opportunities for viewers to encounter conflicting knowledge systems. The challenge in this creative practice research was to create aesthetic experiences that contravene common sense reasoning and provide insights into the type of thought processes and experiential perception that is required to deepen and expand our understanding of our physical reality. In the present era of an evolution of super- technologies, now past its nascent stage, Entangled offers exposure to the types of interfaces that this thesis asserts will increasingly be encountered when comprehending our reality in the 21st century and beyond.⁴ ¹ References to the proven existence of quantum entanglement are provided in section 1.6. ² This definition of scientific communication is expanded in section 1.1. ³ Paradigm shifts are times when the familiar framework has to be profoundly changed. This is discussed in detail in section 1.3. ⁴ Quantum entanglement is only one possible area that will cause our experience of reality to change radically. For example biotechnologies, nanotechnologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and human/AI interfaces to name some.Item Smell of Cuba Street : mapping smells to understand a place : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Master in Design at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2019) Cui, TianyongSmell has a great influence on how we know places and how we feel and it helps us to have a complete understanding of the outside world. This project focuses on the visual mapping of smell, which provides a new perspective to view and review a place. Taking the iconic Cuba Street in Wellington as the object of investigation, this research explores how audiences can obtain an experience of a place through its smell. The maps are designed as visual representations of smells, which inspires people to know a specific place from the perspective of smell.Item An exploration of the stressors and coping responses of Year 9 students in the Wellington region of New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Psychology at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2018) Larkin, NanetteThe aim of the study was to explore the stressors and coping responses of Year 9 students in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Thirty participants (aged 13-14 years) were recruited from two secondary schools (which were geographically and socioeconomically diverse). Five focus groups were conducted, with 5–7 students in each group, and open-ended questions were used to facilitate discussion. Data was analysed using thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), and it was found that the stressors most relevant to the students were associated with school, peers, family, technology, and school/leisure conflict and extracurricular activities, and that the main coping responses used by the students were problem-solving, support-seeking, distraction, avoidance, and emotion-regulation. Patterns of difference according to gender, school decile and/or culture were found for some stressors and coping responses reported by the students.Item Tsunami preparedness communication : understanding the business audience : a research report completed in partial fulfilment of the Master of Communication degree at Massey University, Wellington(Massey University, 2018) Sheridan, AdriennePrevious research conducted by GNS Science pre and post the 2016 Kaikōura Quake identified that the New Zealand public does not sufficiently understand the risks posed by tsunami hazards, and in particular there is limited awareness about the different responses required for local, regional, and distant-source tsunami events. This research was undertaken to delve deeper and generate new insights into the reasons behind that finding, specifically for one key audience: business leaders. This audience was primarily chosen because businesses play a key interdependent role in disaster response and community recovery. An audience-centred communication approach was chosen over the traditional mass communication approach most often applied in emergency management practice to date. A qualitative approach was selected because of its ability to provide complementary data to existing quantitative studies. Data were collected from twelve business-focussed community leaders, and business owners/senior managers in coastal Tauranga (Pāpāmoa) and Wellington (Rongotai), through a series of semi-structured interview conversations and email questionnaires. The data gathering instruments were designed to better understand the participants’: (1) tsunami knowledge and awareness; (2) tsunami risk perception; (3) existing tsunami preparedness; and (4) behavioural intent for future tsunami preparedness initiatives. Field observations and engagement with emergency management professionals provided greater depth of understanding and enhanced the contextual aspects of the research. The overall findings and themes emerging from this research suggest that: ● As indicated in the wider survey, there is a lack of tsunami awareness and preparedness among the business audience More specifically in the audience-centred context: ● There is confusion surrounding the roles and responsibilities of official emergency management organisations ● There is a need for improved organisational Health & Safety understanding and compliance concerning natural hazards in the business community ● Different stakeholders, even within the business audience, have different tsunami preparedness wants and needs The research also identified that: ● Some business leaders are willing to act as conduits for tsunami preparedness in their organisations and communities; viewing it as part of their identity and responsibility as a business leader. Specific suggestions for improved tsunami preparedness communication include: ● Ongoing stakeholder engagement and tsunami education with proactive ‘opinion leaders’ in the business community ● Adopting further targeted audience-centred approaches to improve the spread of preparedness messages through society ● A revision of existing official tsunami preparedness material and tsunami mapping to better meet the needs of end users, such as with customised co-developed material for business community needs in different regions ● Enhancing preparedness communication through the researcher’s ‘Five C’s Model’Item The impact of contextual factors on the predicted bulk water pipe repair times in Wellington City : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Emergency Management at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand(Massey University, 2017) Sherson, Andrew KeithLifelines, like the water supply, are essential for the survival of people, communities, and businesses. In the event of a significant natural disaster, like an earthquake, it can be expected that these regional lifelines will be severely damaged. Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, contains many lifelines that are highly vulnerable to failure. The water supply is especially susceptible, as it crosses the Wellington Fault multiple times and carries water through landslide prone corridors. Because of the risk, and potential impact on people, several predictive models have been created to calculate the likely downtimes so individuals and organisations can prepare for the loss. Many of these predictive models are comprehensive in what they calculate. However, they require improvement as they do not include local and contextual factors or the influence of other lifelines. For example, they do not include the impact of staff logistics, assume access to required equipment is a given, and ignore interdependencies between lifelines, such as the loss of access to repair sites because of damage to the transportation network. This research aims to improve these current models by investigating the magnitude of these site-specific and interdependency factors. Following a sequential mixed methods approach and using a pragmatic viewpoint, experts directly involved in the repair and maintenance of lifelines were selected for interviews. In total 20 professionals were contacted using a snowball and convenience sampling technique. Out of these 20, five were available for in-depth semi-structured phone interviews. From these interviews, anything stated to affect the repair times was highlighted, the most prominent of which were incorporated into current predictive models and their influence on repair times calculated. In total 12 different issues were discussed, 4 of which were examined further. These factors were: staff logistical problems; the slope of the land affecting damage inspection processes; the impact of uncommon pipe diameters on the repair process; and access problems. Once identified, these factors were incorporated into current predictive models, and the impact on repair times calculated. By including these contextual influences, it was found that they increased repair times by between 3 and 13 days depending on the water source and 31 and 111 days when incorporating the influence of landslides. Thus, proving contextual influences have a significant impact on repair times. Overall this study 1) revealed the importance of including contextual factors into predictive calculations and 2) created more accurate downtime predictions for the water supply in Wellington City, allowing for people, organisations, and planners to better prepare for the potential risk.Item Lead exposure in an urban population of free-ranging kaka (Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Veterinary Science in Wildlife Health at Massey University, Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2017) Sriram, AditiAnthropogenic lead use has resulted in widespread environmental lead contamination known to affect wildlife populations worldwide. Lead is a highly toxic, non-essential heavy metal recognised as a cause of morbidity and mortality in birds. Ecotoxicological investigations in wild birds have thus far prioritised waterfowl and raptor species and primarily addressed contamination in natural ecosystems. Urban areas are increasingly associated with high levels of heavy metal contamination, however the risk of lead exposure in urban wildlife is less well known. This study aimed to identify the significance of lead exposure in a well-established urban population of kaka (Nestor meridionalis septentrionalis). Blood lead concentrations were assessed in adult and nestling birds to quantify exposure prevalence and magnitude. The impact of lead exposure on physiological and neurological function was assessed using behavioural and physiological parameters. Finally, lead stable isotope analysis was employed to identify the primary sources of lead in the urban environment. Lead exposure is prevalent in this kaka population, with 43.2% of adults and 36.7% of nestlings with detectable blood lead concentrations. Blood lead concentrations in nestlings ranged from <3.3 to 42.9ug/dL, with no detectable neurological or physiological deficits. The pattern of exposure in chicks is suggestive of parental feeding of lead, however detection of lead in some eggshells suggests that maternal transfer is another route of exposure in this species. Blood lead concentrations in adult birds ranged between 3.4 to 50.7ug/dL. Although no acute clinical signs of toxicity were observed, lead exposure was associated with reduced body condition in adults. Behavioural changes were present in one individual with the highest recorded blood lead concentration. Lead isotope ratios in kaka blood samples overlap with isotope values of roof-collected rainwater, suggesting this to be an important source of exposure in this population. The prevalence of lead exposure observed in this study suggests that lead is a threat to kaka interacting with urban areas. Wildlife intoxications largely result from anthropogenic lead sources and this study identifies a previously undescribed urban source of lead in wildlife. The well-described subclinical and persistent effects of lead highlight the need for abatement strategies to reduce lead exposure and its effects in this population.Item Building stories -- the art of the project manager in exhibition development : an analysis of Death and Diversity at Wellington Museum : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Museum Studies, at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand(Massey University, 2016) Fafeita, Brent RaymondThis thesis examines the role of both project management and the project manager in museum exhibition development at one museum. Specifically it investigates the necessity of such practice and the various inherent factors that lead to exhibition development success. It argues that project management is not only vital to this success but that such success is dependent on the unique skill and ability of the project manager. Ultimately this thesis advocates for a special breed of project manager suited to the museum environment. Owing to limited museum-based research in this field, it is unclear how effective project management is in developing museum exhibitions and subsequently, understanding the effectiveness of the project manager’s contributions to this process. This research provides a much-needed qualitative study that not only examines the role, but also provides insight into the mindset of one such professional. In addition to introducing museum project management, an in-depth case study focusing on the Wellington Museum (former Museum of Wellington City & Sea) investigates the intricacies associated with this practice. In particular it centres on the Death and Diversity exhibition staged in 2011, where the Museum initiated an inaugural project manager role and then retained it for a large-scale capital development planned for completion in 2020. Utilising qualitative research methods this thesis builds three sections: a context chapter, one case study, and an ethnographic study. Open-ended, in-depth interviewing of both the Museum’s project manager and the director give valuable insight into the practice and perceptions about the role. An observational study examines project manager behaviour and interaction during project meetings. The analysis highlights the complexities of contemporary exhibition development. In an increasingly evolving and resource-limited world of equally increasing scrutiny, this advocates for a profession tailor-made for such complexity in the unique museum environment.