Dr Gerard O'Regan (Kāi Tahu) has almost forty years' experience working in the heritage sector across Aotearoa, including as a tribal heritage manager for Kāi Tahu and a member of the Māori Heritage Council of the NZ Historic Places Trust.

Active in Te Rūnanga o Moeraki, he is an archaeologist specialising in Māori rock art and curator Māori at Tūhura Otago Museum.