Paris Taia is a horticulturalist and artist whose use of plants responds to stories of seed migration, cultural usage and an understanding of the environmental conditions needed for species to thrive. Her material garden practice is informed by horticultural investigations and Pacific Islands flora and building materials which act as entry points for exploration into familial histories.

Talei Luscia Mangioni is a Pacific Studies PhD candidate in the Department of Gender, Media and Cultural Studies, School of Culture, History & Language at the Australian National University. She is of Fijian/Italian descent and lives and works between unceded Gadigal Land of the Eora Nation and Ngunnawal, Ngunawal, Ngambri Lands. Her PhD research by creative works examines the creative and critical legacies of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific movement from the 1970s onwards.

Talei is a committed Pacific Studies teacher who has both convened, guest-lectured and tutored in many ANU Pacific Studies courses since 2018. She currently works as a research assistant for the ARC-funded ‘Reimagining the Humanities through Indigenous Creative Arts’ (2023-2025) led by Chief Investigators Assoc. Prof. Ali Gumillya Baker, Prof. Simone Ulalka Tur, Assoc. Prof. Natalie Harkin, Dr. Faye Rosas Blanch, Dr. Romaine Moreton, Dr. Lou Bennett and Prof. Katerina Teaiwa. She also works on the Decolonial Possibilities, CHL Flagship project with Prof. Katerina Teaiwa. Aside from this Talei is a member of Youngsolwara Pacific, a board member of ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons) Australia and the secretary of the Australian Association for Pacific Studies.