Dr Evangelia Papoutsaki writes: I joined Unitec's Department of Communication Studies in 2006 when I first came to New Zealand after several years working in developing countries as a communication and development specialist.

My international career has taken me to some fascinating places including Papua New Guinea where I was the head of the Communication Arts Dept at DWU in Madang (www.youtube.com/watch?v=_duRrIu4k3A&feature=related), to Kyrgyzstan where I  co-chaired the Journalism Department at the American University in Central Asia and to several other institutions in countries of the former Soviet Union (i.e. Mongolia, Georgia), specialising in higher education reforms, journalism and media curriculum development and training. As a result, I believe I understand well the complexities of international development, educational reforms and the role media, journalism and communication in countries experiencing political, economic and social transitions.

My research interests include international and intercultural communication issues, communication for social change and development within the South Pacific Islands context, ethnographic research, diasporas and diasporic media, journalism/communication curricula in developing countries and oral history research on immigrant groups. I am currently chief research investigator in the Komuniti Tok Piksa project which uses visual technologies for community dialogue and change in the context of HIV/AIDS in Papua New Guinea (http://www.yumipiksa.org/ktp). My research interest in Pacific Islands is evident in several publications, including three edited volumes on Papua New Guinea and Pacific Islands communication issues, my role as Research Associate at the Pacific Media Centre (www.pmc.aut.ac.nz/projects/south-pacific-islands-communication-forum, and on-going editorial engagement with journals in this field of studies.