He is the first Māori person to win a Prime Minister's Science Prize, is a fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, and is the chief advisor to the New Zealand Government on the public holiday Matariki.

[2] His 2006 PhD at Massey University was titled Te Reo Pāho: Māori radio and language revitalisation.

"[6] Mātāmua has since written widely on Matariki,[7][8][9][10][11] identifying the nine stars that Māori perceived in the cluster, in contrast to the seven associated with the Pleiades in European tradition.

[12] His research has revealed that some of the Māori astronomical lore recorded by ethnographer Elsdon Best is slated or incorrectly translated.

[17] On 30 June 2020 Mātāmua was awarded the 2019 Prime Minister's Science Communication Prize for his work writing and speaking about Māori astronomy and Matariki.

[19] In March 2021, Mātāmua was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, in recognition that his work "has revolutionised understandings of Māori astronomy, and in particular Matariki".