Dr Pounamu Jade Aikman (Ngāti Apakura, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Wairere, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Uenukukōpako, Ngāti Tarāwhai) is a Māori scholar working at the intersections of Indigenous sovereignties, epistemologies and criminal justice. He completed his PhD at The Australian National University in 2019, was a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University in 2022, and was the 2025 Emerging Māori Writer in Residence at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington. He has led projects with New Zealand Police on systemic bias and inequities; multiple research and evaluation projects for the New Zealand government, across health, education, Māori language revitalisation, and youth welfare; and worked with and alongside iwi/tribal nations on varied research projects. He has two upcoming 2026 monographs: Terra in our Mist: A Tūhoe Narrative of Indigenous Sovereignty and Settler State Violence (ANU Press), and Whose Knowledge Counts? From Warp Drive to Waka Huia (Bridget Williams Books).