Natasha-Tassell-Matamua-PhD

Natasha Tassell-Matamua, Ph.D.

Natasha Tassell-Matamua, PhD, is an independent researcher. Previously an associate professor in the School of Psychology at Massey University in Palmerston North, Aotearoa New Zealand, Dr Tassell-Matamua has more than two decades of research experience. Since 2009, she has focused specifically on near-death and other exceptional experiences of consciousness, pioneering the field of near-death studies in Aotearoa New Zealand. She established the Centre for Indigenous Psychologies at Massey University and was its founding Director until 2026.

She has lived in a variety of countries and cultures, including the Cook Islands, Singapore, Curacao, and Guernsey. These experiences provide a useful foundation for reflecting on cultural diversity and its influences. She is especially interested in advancing understandings of cultural diversity in the area of exceptional experiences of consciousness. She has published extensively and presents both nationally and internationally on exceptional experiences and Indigenous knowledges.

She is also an associate editor of EXPLORE: The Journal of Science and Healing, and an associate editor for the journal Psychology of Consciousness: Theory,
Research and Practice. She enjoys gardening, hiking and being out in the natural environment. She is of Indigenous Māori, Cook Islands Māori, and Pākehā (NZ
European) descent; an ancestry that colors her experience of the world in varied ways.

Awards and recognition:
2015 New Zealand Psychological Society’s GV Goddard Early Career Award – Excellence in Research and Scholarship
2015 Massey University Early Career Medal for Research Excellence
2015 Massey University College of Humanities and Social Sciences Early Career Research Excellence Award
2015 Fulbright-Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Travel Award in Indigenous Development
2011 Massey University Women’s Award
2010 Te Amorangi National Māori Academic Excellence Award

Grants and funding:
2024-2027 Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Grant [PI]

2023-25 Bial Foundation funding on 2x projects as PI and AI respectively

2020–22 Biological Heritage National Science Challenge, Ngā Rākau Taketake, Mobilizing for Action [PI]

2020 Health Research Council of New Zealand COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant [NI]

2019–21 Health Research Council of New Zealand Explorer Grant [PI]

2018–19 Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Scoping Grant [PI]

2015 Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga Conference Grant

2014 Massey University Emerging Researcher Grant

2011-16 Massey University Research Grant [PI]

Selected Refereed Journal Articles:

Kothe, K., Tassell-Matamua, N., Woollacott, M., Nahm, M., Roe, C., Greyson, B., Mutis, M., & Evrard, R. (2025). Impacts on caregivers of witnessing terminal lucidity in children. OMEGA: Journal of Death and Dying, 0(0), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228251391552

Greyson, B., Long, J., Holden, J. M., Jourdan, J-P., King, R. A., Mays, S., Mays, R., Rivas, T., Tassell-Matamua, N., van Lommel, P., Woollacott, M., & Tressoldi, P. (2025). The veridical Near-Death Experience Scale: construction and a first validation with human and artificial raters. Frontiers of Psychology, 16, 1661390. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1661390

Lindsay, N., Brough, N., Gibson, R., O’Sullivan, L., & Tassell-Matamua, N. (2025). “Outside the matrix.” Dreaming after near-death experiences: A qualitative analysis. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice. Advance online publication. https://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cns0000454

Tassell-Matamua, N. (2025). Reconciling Indigenous knowledges and Western scholarship. Is it possible? Explore, 22(1), 103286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2025.103286

Tassell-Matamua, N. (2025). Environmental woes and the role of Indigenous knowledges. Explore, 21(5), 103210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2025.103210

Tassell-Matamua, N. (2025). Indigenous knowledges. What they are and why they matter. Explore, 21(3), 103144. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2025.103144

Haami, D., Gibson, R., Lindsay, N., & Tassell-Matamua, N. (2025). Kei te moe te tinana, kei te oho te wairua–As the body sleeps, the spirit awakens: Exploring the spiritual experiences of contemporary Māori associated with sleep. Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online, 20(1), 116-136.

Tassell-Matamua, N. A., Savinainen, A., & Greyson, B. (2024). Life reviews in near-death experiences and in Theosophy. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 42(2), 85-102. https://doi.org/10.17514/JNDS-2024-42-2-p85-102

Lindsay, N., O’Sullivan, L., Gibson, R., Ladyman, C., & Tassell-Matamua, N. (2023). Near-death experiences and sleep disturbance: An exploratory study using wrist actigraphy. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 211(11), 856-861. https://doi.10.1097/NMD.0000000000001710

Roehrs, P., Fenwick, P., Greyson, B., Kellehear, A., Kothe, K., Nahm, M., Roe, C., Tassell-Matamua, N., & Woollacott, M. (2023). Terminal lucidity in a pediatric oncology clinic. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. Online ahead of print. https://doi.org/10.1097/NMD.0000000000001711

Tassell-Matamua, N., MacDonald-Nepe Apatu, K., Moriarty, T.R. & Tahuri, T. (2023). Indigenous Māori notions of consciousness, soul and spirit. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 30(5-6), 151-165. https://doi.org/10.53765/20512201.30.5.151

Woollacott, M., Shumway-Cook, A., & Tassell-Matamua, N. (2023). Worldviews and environmental ethics: Contributions of brain processing networks. EXPLORE, 19(5), 630-635. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2023.03.005

Apiti, A., Tassell-Matamua, N., & Moriarty, T. R. (2023). He taonga kē ngā kaumātua: Kaumātua perspectives of te taiao, ngahere and taonga species. Knowledge Cultures, 11(1), 19-33.

Erueti, B., Tassell-Matamua, N., Pomare, P., Masters-Awatere, B., Dell, K., Te Rangi, M., & Lindsay, N. (2023). ‘Pūrākau o te ngahere’: Indigenous Māori interpretations, expressions and connection to taonga species and biosecurity issues. Knowledge Cultures, 1, 34-54.

Pomare, P., Tassell-Matamua, N., Lindsay, N., Masters-Awatere, B., Dell, K., Erueti, B., & Te Rangi, M. (2023). Te mauri o te kauri me te ngahere: Indigenous knowledge, te taiao (the environment), and well-being. Knowledge Cultures, 1, 55-83.

Matamua, N., Moriarty, T.R., & Tassell-Matamua, N. (2023). Mai i te pū ki te wānanga. Interpreting synchronistic meaning through a wānanga
methodology. Knowledge Cultures, 1, 84-97

Tassell-Matamua, N., Boasa-Dean, T., & McEntee, M. (2023). Indigenous knowledge revitalization: Indigenous gardening and its wider implications for the
people of Tūhoe. Knowledge Cultures, 1, 98-114.

Apiti, A., Tassell-Matamua, N., Lindsay, N., Dell, K., Pomare, P., Erueti, B., Masters-Awatere, B., & Te Rangi, M. (2022). Indigenous Māori of Aotearoa (New Zealand): Environmental identity, rather than Māori identity per se, has greatest influence on environmental distress. Ecopsychology, ahead of print. http://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2022.0053

Dell, K., Komene, T. M., Tassell-Matamua, N., Pomare, P., & Masters-Awatere, B. (2022). TE ARA O TE MOA Patua te ngāngara e kai ana i ngā rākau taketake o Aotearoa. MAI Journal, 11(1), 34-39. https://doi.org/10.20507/MAIJournal.2022.11.1.3

Tassell-Matamua, N. (2022). Indigenous knowledge and the nature of consciousness. Paradigm Explorer, 139(2), 11-14.

Lindsay, N., Haami, D., Tassell-Matamua, N. A., Pomare, P., Valentine, H., Pahina, J., Ware, F., & Pidduck, P. (2022). The spiritual experiences of contemporary Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand: A qualitative analysis. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 24(1), 74-94. https://doi.org/10.1080/19349637.2020.1825152

Tassell-Matamua, N. A., Lindsay, N., & Winterbottom, J. (2022). Why near-death experiences (NDEs) matter to psychology: An exploration of psychologists’ knowledge of NDEs and implications for professional practice. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 40(3), 177-199.
https://doi.org/10.17514/JNDS-2022-40-3-p177-199

Lindsay, N., Tassell-Matamua, N. A., Haami, D., Ware, F., Valentine, V., & Pomare, P. (2021). Construction of a ‘Beliefs about Exceptional Experiences Scale’ (BEES): Implications of preliminary findings in Aotearoa New Zealand. Journal for the Study of Spirituality, 11(2), 145-58. https://doi.10.1080/20440243.2021.1978136

Lindsay, N., & Tassell-Matamua, N. A. (2020). Subjective sleep quality after a near-death experience. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 38(2), 65-86. https://doi.org/10.17514/JNDS-2020-38-2-p65-86.

Tassell-Matamua, N. A., Lindsay, N., Bennett, A., & Masters-Awatere, B. (2020). Māori cultural identity is linked to a greater regard for nature: Attitudes and (less so) behaviour. Ecopsychology, 13(1), 9-18. https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2020.0027

Tassell-Matamua, N. A., & Lindsay, N. (2020). Impartiality as an obligation in NDE research. Response to near-death experiences: To the edge of the universe. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 27(11-12), 237-243.

Selected Book Chapters

Tassell-Matamua, N. A., & Greyson, B. (in press). Near-death experiences. An overview and implications for mortality. Chapter in The Handbook of the Science of Existential Psychology.

Tassell-Matamua, N. A., & Kothe, K. (2025). Terminal lucidity. An introduction, some case examples in children, and questions they raise. In M. Nahm, M., Woollacott, & N.A. Tassell-Matamua (Eds.), On the banks of the river Styx. New perspectives on terminal lucidity and other near-death phenomena (pp. 6-18). AAPS.

Woollacott, M., & Tassell-Matamua, N. A. (2025). Terminal lucidity in children. A current study. Chapter in Edited Volume, Ces enfants qui dissent voir ou entendre des defunts. Recherches sur les perceptions extra-sensorielles at autres phenomenes lies a la conscience.

Tassell-Matamua, N. A. (2025). Power and privilege in the study of near-death experiences. In B. Flanagan & K. Clough (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of
research methods in spirituality and contemplative studies (pp. 271–281). Routledge.

Tassell-Matamua, N. A. (2022). Dying to be green. The implications of near-death experiences (NDEs) for the greening of death. In R. McManus (Ed.), Sustainable dead: Searching for the intolerable (pp. 155-169). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Tassell-Matamua, N. A. (2022). “I’m not ready yet”. In M. Woollacott & D. Lorimer (Eds.), Spiritual Awakenings: Scientists and academics describe their experiences. Volume III, Postmaterialist Sciences Series (pp. 197-199). AAPS Press.

Tassell-Matamua, N. A., & Holden, J. M. (2020). Near-death experiences: the mystical feeling of ‘crossing over’ and its impact on faith and spirituality. In K. Vail & C. Routledge (Eds.), The Science of Religion, Spirituality and Existentialism (pp. 51-66). Elsevier.

Tassell-Matamua, N. A. (2019). Dying for acceptance: Learning about near-death experiences to facilitate growth for those with life-limiting illnesses in Aotearoa New Zealand. In R. McManus, J. Cornwall, & S. Raudon (Eds), Death Down Under: An Anthology of Death in Australasia (pp. 204-211). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.