Maima Koro

Talofa, Malo ni! Maima is a Pacific Research Fellow for the Regional Perspectives Project, which is a research collaboration between the University of Adelaide with Pacific partners funded by the Defence, Science and Technology Group. She is also pursuing PhD studies, focusing on the intersection of security and justice in Pacific communities. She has a particular interest in whole of country processes, grounded theories and applied research approaches.

Her research interests include: international relations, security, geopolitics, development studies, ethics and capacity development.

Maima has over 20 years of international development experience in the Pacific at national and regional levels. She has worked in the law enforcement, education, health, and governance sectors. She has managed extensive stakeholder networks across Pacific governments, regional and multilateral organisations. Management experiences included the integration of large multi-disciplinary teams and development of multi-year plans for complex multi-stakeholder projects across the Pacific: Bougainville, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Fiji, Nauru, Niue, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. She has expertise of the Pacific landscape and specialises in the contextualisation of donor-funded initiatives to be of relevance to Pacific environments.

She was bestowed the Samoan high chief title of Maualaivao in 2008. Maima left the DFAT-funded ANU Australia Pacific Security College to join the University of Adelaide.