Aisling is a Pākehā researcher from a farm near Ōtautahi. She completed her PhD at the School of Biological Sciences (University of Canterbury) last year. For her PhD, she worked with Kāi Tahu whānui, local communities, and practitioners to examine relationships encoded in oral narrative and genomic markers for kēkēwai or freshwater kōura (crayfish). Aisling is currently a Research Fellow at the Centre for Sustainability (University of Otago) working on Te Pūnaha Matatini's Kindness in Science Project, and an incoming Ngā Pī Ka Rere Pou and Early Career Researcher for New Zealand's Biological Heritage National Science Challenge.