Research Interests

Natalie’s current research interests lie in the areas of refugee law, international human rights, Pacific legal studies and the scholarship of teaching and learning. In relation to refugee law, current projects include New Zealand's complementary protection jurisprudence since the enactment of the Immigration Act 2009, and New Zealand's under-developed system for responding to claims for protection from stateless people. In the human rights context, a major focus has been the impact of the UN's Universal Periodic Review mechanism, in both New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. In 2014, along with a group of enthusiastic students, Natalie coordinated a submission for New Zealand's second Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council on the human rights impacts of the Canterbury earthquakes. Natalie is also a member of the Socio-Legal Studies Group in the Law School, which is currently engaged in a longitudinal study of the 2014 intake of New Zealand law students.