Pauline Harris is a New Zealand academic, currently Associate Professor at Te Pūtahi a Toi School of Māori Knowledge at Massey University.

[1] She is a central figure in the incorporation of Mātauranga Māori with scientific research in New Zealand, through her roles as Deputy Director (Māori) with the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology[2] and as Associate Vision Mātauranga Theme Leader with the Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge.

Harris has led many externally funded research projects, including A Matauranga Maori Scientific Investigation of Traditional Maori Calendars,[8] Nga Takahuringa o te ao – The effect of Climate Change on Traditional Maori Calendars looking at calendars in Mātauranga Māori[9][10][11][12][13] and High-magnetic-field Plasma Propulsion Systems Enabling Next Generation Small Satellite Missions with Nick Long developing satellite propulsion systems.

[14] As a consequence she is an acknowledged leader in the New Zealand research system at the interface of Mātauranga Māori, astrophysics, and environmental science.

Her longstanding work contributing to the revitalisation of traditional knowledge around Matariki, and the popularisation of this amongst the wider community, has been widely recognised.