Viola Lesi is first year PhD candidate via a research collaboration between the Fiji National University in Fiji and University of Otago in New Zealand. Her research will focus on the indigenous iTaukei foods in Fiji; the diversity, socio-cultural connections, narrative/stories, health properties and nutritional profiles towards the development of a database of indigenous foods in Fiji.
She has over twenty years of work experience mainly within the education and food science (analytical) field and within the last 5 years branching out to development work in Fiji and the Pacific.