Kia ora, my name is Tanja Rother, I am a freelance researcher, historian and writer.

Shared Landscapes – Intercultural Research & Engagement Services was founded in 2016. I specialise in researching and communicating environmental history and narratives of place, in Aotearoa New Zealand and elsewhere.

I provide the following services:

• • Historical research, archival work, interviews
  • Writing reports, articles, biographies, etc.
  • Project and event management (heritage trails, history talks and workshops)

Our land- and seascapes are inevitably shared. Shared between nature and people, as well as between people. People from varying cultural backgrounds, indigenous and non-indigenous, have different ideas and narratives about human relationships to the natural environment. My research uncovers the challenges and benefits of these diverse connections to the natural environment in the past and present.

I received a PhD from Victoria University of Wellington in 2016 and was subsequently contracted by the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to develop a heritage trail at Ōhiwa Harbour, working closely with tāngata whenua. Since 2019 I have been commissioned by Te Arawhiti (Office for Māori Crown Relations) and the Waitangi Tribunal for several large research reports relating to historical Treaty claims and claims under the Marine and Coastal (Takutai Moana) Act in Northland, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne and Auckland.

I am a member of the Professional Historians’ Association of New Zealand/Aotearoa.

Shared Landscapes is based in the Eastern Bay of Plenty, Aotearoa New Zealand. I am available to travel for research.