Dr Jessica Hutchings (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Huirapa, Gujarati) is a senior Kaupapa Māori research leader and author. She was the Director Māori, Tumu Whakarae of the Building Better Homes Towns and Cities National Science Challenge from 2018-2021 leading the Kāinga Tahi Kāinga Rua kaupapa Māori research program in the Challenge. She has a PhD in environmental studies and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Maori health research. Jessica is a well-known kaupapa Māori research leader trained in the fields of environmental and Indigenous studies with a current focus in Māori food systems. She has held senior management and leadership roles in the Māori science and research sectors and is a widely published author, including recent books, Te Mahi Māra Hua Parakore, A Māori Food Sovereignty Handbook (Te Tākupu, 2015) and Decolonisation in Aotearoa: Education, Research and Practice with Jenny Lee-Morgan (NZCER Press, 2016) both winners of the Kōrero Pono, Ngā Kupu Ora Aotearoa Book Awards. Dr Hutchings has been working at the crossroads of Indigenous knowledge, whānau and environmental wellbeing for the last two decades.