Show Notes
This episode we chat to environment and sustainability advisor, Sophia Olo-Whaanga. With a Postgraduate diploma in environmental science, she is the first grandchild from her mother’s side to graduate from university. Sophia is very passionate about giving back to the community by working with her marae (Makaurau Marae, Ihumātao) and by encouraging rangatahi (younger generations) into science. We talk about how to navigate university, being indigenous in the workplace and to just do it, if you’re thinking about getting into science. If you have any questions you can email Sophia at [email protected] or message her on instagram @kaitiaki.sophia
More from Samoan Scientist Podcast
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Originally recorded in June 2026 for 531pi's Island Time during Sāmoan Language Week.
The Problem Was Never Our Genetics What if the key to better health for Pacific peoples wasn't a new diet trend or medication, but the foods our ancestors had been eating for generations? In this episode, Samoan scientist Amy Maslen-Miller explores the traditional Samoan diet through both cultural knowledge and modern science. From talo, ufi, ulu, fa'i, niu, and seafood, to the umu cooking method and traditional food preservation practices, we uncover how ancestral food systems supported health long before the rise of chronic disease. Amy also examines how colonisation, migration, and changing food environments transformed Pacific diets, contributing to the growing burden of obesity and type 2 diabetes seen today. Drawing on emerging research in nutrition, metabolic health, and Pacific genetics, she discusses why the problem was never our genes, and how traditional foods may offer important insights for improving health outcomes for future generations. This episode explores culture, history, science, and the growing evidence that some of the most powerful health solutions may already exist within Pacific knowledge systems.