Download - New Zealand Society of Soil Science

Lincoln Ventures Ltd (LVL)
Stefan Werisch from Dresden University of Technology, who previously did a 6 month internship
with us, has returned for another stint in the Hamilton office. This time he is undertaking infiltration
tests at our research site near Lake Taupo, in preparation of his MSc project, co-supervised by Eddy
Wöhling. Juliet Clague has recently registered for a PhD project on denitrification in groundwater,
supervised by Tim Clough at Lincoln University and Roland Stenger at LVL. Aaron Wall and
Brian Moorhead have been busy at our Spydia site, monitoring the movement of a bromide pulse
through the vadose zone profile. Meanwhile, Simon Woodward has made good progress on the
verification of the nitrogen component of the water and contaminant flow model FEMWATER-N,
which was developed by our former colleague Fuli Wang.
Massey University - Soil and Earth Sciences
Moira Hubbard left the Soil Science Department last month, having been secretary, social organiser,
fix-it woman and postgraduate mother, for 7 years. Her farewell, as the Soils people launched her
across campus to her new position, was attended by past members (Russ Tillman and Jim Pollok, for
instance) as well as the wider soils community. All enjoyed her parting speech, some of which is
reprinted here:
When I interviewed for this job, I was asked the question – ―You may have to deal with some
‗interesting‘, sometimes even ‗unusual‘, people in this job. Do you think you will be able to
cope?‖ I have to tell you, I assumed you were meaning people who would visit the
department…
My sense of unease was deepened when the first study guide I worked on was for Vince
Neall‟s Earth Science paper. It stated that students were encouraged, as early into the paper as
possible, to visit the MARTIAN MUSEUM. I thought that I had entered the twilight zone.
Clarification sought, it became apparent that the trip to Mars was off – they were to visit the
Maritime Museum in Wellington.
I can say that I have found soil scientists to be unique group of academics, and I quickly
learned that to avoid a lecture on the subject, I should refrain from using the word DIRT. I
admit defeat and will forever more refer to that precious resource as SOIL.
Professor Mike Hedley, head of the Soils and Earth Sciences Group, explained that losing Moira was
akin to going through a divorce – or at least what he imagined a divorce would be like: the sense of
loss and not knowing how to carry on. ―The academic staff in Soil and Earth Sciences at Massey are
currently more disorganised than normal. Moira Hubbard, our group secretary, organiser and keeper
of virtual memory, has chosen to further her career in another area of the University that specialises
in Academic staff training. We have a belief that the example set by the SES academic staff was what
drove Moira to the conclusion that she would be better off training academic staff than being at the
bottom of the cliff caused by their lack of administrative training.‖
One of Moira‘s farewell gifts was a tile mosaic made
by Anne West from pieces (mementos) supplied by
staff and students. It turned out to be a magnificent
creation and brought tears to Moira‘s eyes.
Moira‘s final words were that we need to remember
how precious real life is, how quickly it passes and
how, in the end, it is the people we share life with that
make it all worthwhile.
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