Download - Communications and Development Department ...

Vice-Chancellor’s welcomeWelcome to the summer 2006 issue ofCanterbury.In this year’s winter issue I commentedthat the publication had come to beextremely well-regarded by alumni, friendsand supporters of the University in arelatively short space of time.In this issue, I can report that regardfor the publication has broadened evenfurther with it being named Australasianalumni publication of the year by theAssociation of Development and AlumniProfessionals in Education (ADAPE).I congratulate the writers, photographersand designers who work on the magazineon this wonderful achievement.The win came as Editor Jeanette Colmanand Co-Editor Chanel Hughes and theirteam were preparing for this sixth issue ofCanterbury. Jeanette said at the time thewin had endorsed the team’s confidence inthe magazine. This is certainly reflected inthe quality publication I have the pleasureof introducing to you.Naturally, any publication is as strongas the material it has to work with. Theinteresting profiles and features whichhave become the hallmark of Canterburyreflect a university not content to rest onits proud history.We are an institution that strives tomove forward and meet the demandsof the modern world. Inevitably, thisinvolves change.On 1 January 2007 the University willexperience significant change when itmerges with the Christchurch Collegeof Education.The merger process has been challengingfor the University and the College ofEducation. I know the College Principal,Dr Graham Stoop, shares my appreciationand respect for staff who have continuedto demonstrate their commitmentand professionalism during this timeof change.Even before the merger, the Universityand the College are working together ina manner which endorses our belief thatconsolidating our resources makesgood sense.Both institutions are partners in aconsortium which recently won a $20million Government contract to helpboost the quality of teaching in thetertiary sector.The consortium, led by Massey University,will establish Ako Aotearoa: the NationalCentre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence,which will provide support and advicefor teachers, tertiary institutions andgovernment agencies.There is no doubt teaching excellence isessential if an institution wants to attractquality students. The calibre of teachingat Canterbury University was endorsedrecently when one of our staff was namedone of the country’s top tertiary teachersfor 2006. Civil engineering senior lecturerDr Roger Nokes, who is profiled in thisissue, was one of 10 teachers honouredfor sustained excellence in their teachingfield at the fifth annual Tertiary TeachingExcellence Awards.Sustaining excellence is the motivationbehind so many of our endeavours atCanterbury. This is reflected in ourability to attract strong backing fornew initiatives.The Government, for example, has followedup its $9.7 million dollar support for the NZICT Innovation Institute with a $2 millioninvestment in a new Geospatial ResearchCentre to be established on campus.The centre will be a partnership betweenCanterbury, the University of Nottingham(UK) and Canterbury DevelopmentCorporation, and will be housed within theNZ ICT Innovation Institute.We recently welcomed five researchers fromthe University of Nottingham’s Institute ofEngineering Surveying and Space Geodesywho have relocated to Christchurch to workat the new centre.Attracting people of the calibre of theseinternationally renowned researchersto Canterbury is no easy task and is oftendependent on the support the Universityreceives from the private sector andindividuals.To that end I would like to introduce theUniversity of Canterbury FoundationFund, which provides a new means for oursupporters to make financial gifts to theUniversity. You can find details of this newfund and a detachable response form insidethe magazine.Whether or not you are in a position tomake a contribution, please know that yourongoing interest and support is valuedhighly by the University.May I wish you happy reading and bestwishes for the holiday season.Professor Roy SharpVice-ChancellorSummer 2006

News2007 will herald new look UniversityOn the first day of 2007, the ChristchurchCollege of Education (CCE) will merge withthe University of Canterbury.The merger was announced in Augustby the Minister for Tertiary Education DrMichael Cullen.The announcement came after 16 monthsof hard work by staff at both institutions.UC Vice-Chancellor Professor Roy Sharpand CCE Principal Dr Graham Stoop sayteacher education will benefit significantlyfrom the formation of the new UC Collegeof Education.“We are heartened that the Minister sharesour enthusiasm. As we said at the outset,the close proximity of UC and CCE wasone of several good reasons to considermerging,” says Sharp.“The subsequent successful integrationof some major services at both campuseshas endorsed our belief that we should bemore than just neighbours.”Stoop has been named the new College’sPro-Vice-Chancellor and will head a staffof 230.Stoop has been Principal and CEO ofCCE since October 2004. Educated inChristchurch, he graduated with an MAwith first class honours in history, and aPhD from Canterbury University. He alsostudied at CCE before beginning his careerteaching at Wellington East Girls’ Collegeand Wellington College.Professor Roy Sharp and Dr Graham Stoop.After a period teaching in Edinburgh,Stoop returned to New Zealand where hetaught at Hillmorton High School beforebeing appointed principal at BurnsideHigh School.“After preparing the College for merger,I am pleased to have the opportunity tolead it into the new structure,” he says.Sharp says Stoop is the best person forthe role.“The Christchurch College of Educationwill become part of the University as agoing concern. The current principal isbest placed to lead the College in its newposition within the University,” Sharp says.He says the merger will make teachereducation consistent with otherprofessional areas such as accountancy,engineering, law, medicine and veterinaryscience.“By integrating the strengths of theCollege and the University we will createa comprehensive centre for teachereducation, academic studies in education,research and professional education, aswell as leadership and innovation.”Accolade for UC alumni magazineCanterbury has been judged the bestalumni publication in Australasia.The award was announced recently atthe Association of Development andAlumni Professionals in Education(ADAPE) Conference.University of Canterbury Alumni RelationsManager and Co-editor Chanel Hughes(left) collected the award at a gala lunchin Auckland.“Our key alumni publication has come along way since its early origins as a twocolournewsletter. We’ve worked really hardto benchmark our alumni communicationsagainst international standards, and thisendorsement from our peers is highlygratifying,” says Hughes.Editor Jeanette Colman says since themagazine was launched in 2004 it hasgone from strength to strength. More than35,000 alumni and friends of the Universitynow receive the biannual publication.“Canterbury is regarded as the showcasepublication of the University. The awardreinforces the positive feedback receivedfrom our alumni readers around the world.“Full credit must go to the team — editorialstaff, photographers, designers andprinters — who work incredibly hard tomake Canterbury a publication we can allbe proud of.”Canterbury Magazine

ARTS FIND A GREATA two-week celebration of the arts atthe University of Canterbury providedstudents and staff with scope to showoff their creative and artistic skills to awider Christchurch audience in August.The celebration, called Platform, wasthe University’s first arts festival andfeatured more than 40 events in a diverseprogramme of artistic endeavours thatattracted appreciative audiences toeach performance.The festival, which ran from 10 to 26August, catered for all tastes, from opera,music recitals and lectures, to avant-gardetheatre and art exhibitions, giving bothstaff and students in the College of Artsa chance to showcase the depth of theirskills and talents.Among the highlights was The God Boy, anoperatic interpretation of the seminal NewZealand novel by Ian Cross.Staged for only the second time inNew Zealand, the opera attracted largeaudiences to its three performances inthe Ngaio Marsh Theatre and receivedglowing reviews.Composed by University of Canterburyalumnus Anthony Ritchie with a librettoby Jeremy Commons, the two-act operafollows the traumatic childhood of JimmySullivan who struggles to cope with hisparents’ disintegrating marriage.Conducted by Associate Professor MartinSetchel (Music) and under the directorshipof lecturer Elric Hooper, the opera depictsJimmy’s story in the form of a dreamthrough the narration of an adult Jimmy,enhanced by the use of simple staging andthe subdued tones of the costumes.The majority of the cast were studentsfrom the School of Music’s performancevoice programme tutored by Professor inVoice Dame Malvina Major. Among themwere Andrew Grenon, who played adultJimmy, and Rachelle Pike and Sarah-AnnWalker, who were named PriceWaterhouseCoopers Dame Malvina Major EmergingArtists in July. It also featured a children’schorus of pupils from Westburn School,Ilam, one of whom, Isaac Pawson, playedJimmy Sullivan as a child.A more avant-garde theatre experience,the Free Theatre production of Fantasia,confronted audiences with Westernfantasies of Arabia in an environmentalmulti-media performance.Devised and directed by Peter Falkenberg(Theatre and Film Studies), Fantasia tookmuch of its inspiration from films such asLawrence of Arabia and The Sheik, and talesfrom The Arabian Nights.Fantasia dazzled audiences with energeticwhirling dervishes, belly dancers, Arabianhorses and Oriental bazaars interplayedwith scenes from film.The God Boy Fantasia Sotto Un Cielo AvorioCanterbury Magazine

By Stacey DoornenbalArt lovers were spoiled for choice withthree exhibitions staged during the festival— Red Bus Diary featuring the candidphotographs of Christchurch taken byphotographer Tim Veling for his Master ofFine Arts project; an exhibition of nudesfrom the University’s art collection; and asuite of photo intaglio prints by fine artslecturer Cathryn Shine.Shine, a photographer and printmaker,exhibited her latest body of work inthe University’s SOFA Gallery in theChristchurch Arts Centre as Sotto UnCielo Avorio — Under an Ivory Sky. It featureda set of intimate images that captured theromantic, ineffable beauty of the ordinaryplaces in Italy: domestic landscapes,doorways, rambling gardens and fadingarchaeological sites.But while Shine’s images were quietlyunpopulated, the same could not besaid for Southern Exposure: The Nudeat Canterbury.About 30 artworks from the University’sart collection featuring nudes and figurestudies were brought out of the archivesfor Platform. Illustrating the history offigure studies at Canterbury University,the artworks reflected not only the varietyof ways nudes were portrayed — full nudes,anatomical studies, with drapery and asstudies from antiques — but also therelaxation, over time, of social pruderyassociated with the naked human body.The exhibition featured work by formerstaff and graduates, including WilliamSutton, Audrey Black, Leo Bensemann,Juliet Peter, Robert Procter, Ivy Fife andPetrus van der Velden.Platform also offered an extensive musicprogramme with one of the highlightsbeing a stunning performance of AntonioVivaldi’s The Four Seasons by Russianbornguest violinist Roman Nodel andthe Chamber Orchestra from the Schoolof Music’s Pettman Junior Academy ofMusic. Performing to a full house, Nodeland the orchestra received a warmreception from the audience at theconclusion of the concert.Other music offerings included a galaperformance by Dame Malvina withvoice student Jamie Ling and pianistArtas Balakauskas; a recital of ItalianBaroque music by the University ensembleIl Raccolto; a concert celebrating the 25 thanniversary of The Bunker, the University’selectro-acoustic studio; and a shortconcert celebrating the Elizabethan agethrough music and poetry.The College of Arts hopes to hold acelebration of the arts at CanterburyUniversity every two years.Roman Nodel Southern Exposure Red Bus DiarySummer 2006

In search ofBeatrice Hill TinsleyBy Christine Cole CatleyChristine Cole Catley recently launched the biography of remarkable Canterbury graduate andastronomer Beatrice Hill Tinsley. Catley first heard of the young Beatrice while researching the NewPlymouth Girls’ High School history, Springboard for Women (1985). But that was only the beginning…I was astounded when I came to research the historyof New Plymouth Girls’ High School (NPGHS) anddiscovered something of the brief and brilliant life ofBeatrice Hill Tinsley (1941-81). Few New Zealanders hadever heard of her, yet she has been called the outstandingwoman scientist of the 20 th century and her work is widelycommemorated in the United States.Both as a cosmologist and an inspired and inspiringteacher, Beatrice can have had few equals. Her 1966 PhDthesis on the evolution of the stars and gas in galaxies isacknowledged as one of the most outstanding scientificpapers of the century. She is credited with opening up awhole new branch of science with her work on the originsof galaxies, and the origins of the universe itself. Herpersonal life is also of absorbing interest.In Beatrice, genetics and environment interacted inmemorable fashion. My lifelong friend, psychoanalystEvelyn (Polly) Lind, herself a Canterbury graduate(MA(Hons), English, 1943) said this about my earlyresearch: “Apart from anything else in Beatrice’s life, itseems that enough has come to light about her forebears,on both sides, and about her upbringing, to make her aclassic study.”When researching I first thought my task would beeased because we both went to the same school and sameuniversity. I, as Christine Bull, enrolled at NPGHS in1936, and Canterbury in 1941, in each case 17 years beforeBeatrice did. I did find that student life had not greatlychanged in that interval. My background is in the arts, notthe sciences, with an MA(Hons) (1944). Study was not tothe forefront as I edited Canta, was on the students’ execfor two years, a member of the basketball team and thechoir, argued in what was then the Dialectic Society, actedin Ngaio Marsh’s first play with Canterbury students andhelped build Steeds Hut at Arthur’s Pass.In comparison, Beatrice’s student years could scarcelyhave been more distinguished. She was still only 16 whenshe left school with a Junior University Scholarship andthen, like her linguist sister Rowena Hill two years beforeher, enrolled at the University of Canterbury. She gained anMSc with first class honours in 1963, winning every prizeopen to her. She did not write for student publications orplay sport, although delighting in weekend excursions toSteeds Hut, but she was an outstanding violinist (a memberof the National Youth Orchestra) and particularly enjoyedthe meetings and discussions of the Socratic Society, orSoc Soc.The pages in the biography dealing with her student daysare starred with names of fellow Soc Soc members whobecame widely known in later life: Guff France, Rae Julian,Don Locke, Robert Ludbrook, Harvey McQueen, AnnBallin and Brian Lilburn among them. Their discussionsopened many doors for her and, as she herself said, helpedher grow up.It was in looking back at these growing-up years that Ifound the keys to reveal the real Beatrice.The Beatrice who shone on campus was still very young,and not just in years. Like her English parents before her,she had been brought up by a nanny with whom she hadthe closest of bonds. The Hills arrived in New Zealandwhen Beatrice was five, and when, three years later, thisnanny was sent back to England, Beatrice fell into a blackhole of grief (her own words). She coped with this byfilling her life to the utmost with purposeful activity; anastronomer colleague was to say later that she “got themarrow out of time”.It seems that she unconsciously feared losing the love ofher parents, people with the highest of principles and thebest of intentions, and so developed a strategy of placatingand protecting them. She did not lie, but over the yearsher many hundreds of dutiful letters home omitted almosteverything which might disturb or alienate them. Muchmore than most of us have done in our own youthful lettershome, she selected only those things that would reassureand please her parents. Music, the natural scene, thesurface activities of everyday life. These plus her great joy inscientific discoveries are the mainstay of her letters home.At the Socratic Society Beatrice met Brian Tinsley,10 Canterbury Magazine

four years older and soon to be a scientist respected for hiswork with spectrometers. Beatrice, longing for what shecalled “that communion of hearts and minds”, found inhim someone, at last, with whom she could talk science.Although she was always the youngest in any of her classes,she was the first of her contemporaries to marry, andaccompanied Brian to his position at the Southwest Centrein Dallas, later to become the University of Texas in Dallas.A partial but certainly only partial account of whathappened then is found among her letters home selectedby her father, Edward Hill, and published with hisnarrative framework in 1986 in the US under the title MyDaughter Beatrice.It took me many years and many interviews with closefriends and colleagues, together with the study of Beatrice’sletters to them and to her sister Rowena in particular, beforea different and deeply frustrated Beatrice was revealed. Shewas still kind and generous, passionate in her search forscientific truth, and, like her father, wanting “to be a goodperson and contribute to mankind”. But even after herphenomenal PhD, that pioneering study of the evolutionof galaxies which she completed in about two years whilecommuting weekly some 400 miles to and from Austin, shewas far from fulfilled.Back in Dallas she found herself still locked in a hostileand barren environment with no prospect of scientific workat her level and with, as Milton wrote of himself, “...that onetalent which is death to hide/Lodged in me useless...”.In a sad parting of the ways she left her husband (andtheir two adopted children, at his insistence) and held asix-month position with Sandra Faber at Lick Observatoryat the University of California in Santa Cruz, before takingup an associate professorship in astronomy at Yale. AtLick, as at her two previous short-term positions at Caltechand the University of Maryland, she constantly amazedher colleagues by her all-round abilities, particularly herextraordinary flair for synthesising.James Gunn, later of Princeton, said of Beatrice thatshe would have been outstandingly successful in anyspecialisation she settled on, but that it would have beena real tragedy if she had specialised. “Breadth, not depth,was her forte. She could spot connections that nobody elsecould see, seeing that this tied up with that, and so on.” Toall of this she added her own ideas, transfixing her peers andlater her students by new insights and new horizons thatconstantly changed as more was discovered.Beatrice found in Yale the welcoming atmosphere she hadlong dreamed of. Here her production of scientific papers,some in collaboration with Richard Larson, increased toan extraordinary extent. Her projects continued to expandthe study of galactic evolution and its relationship withcosmology, everything to explain its past, present and future.As Larson said, “Most scientists are interested only insmall, defined areas; Beatrice put it all together.”Since her death from cancer in 1981 when she was only 40and a professor of astronomy at Yale, her ideas, her methodsand her discoveries have continued to fertilise the thinkingof the next generation of astronomers.Bright Star, Beatrice Hill Tinsley, Astronomer, by ChristineCole Catley, was published by Cape Catley in September 2006.Beatrice was an inspired and inspiring teacher.Beatrice on her graduation from UC in 1963.Note on author:Christine Cole Catley is a writer, publisher andlecturer who also conducts writers’ workshops. All beingwell, she says, she rather wants to continue doing all thosethings until she is 92, when she hopes to travel.To assist writers and to commemorate theirnamesakes, she established the Sargeson Trust and theMichael King Writers’ Trust. Now she hopes individualsor institutions will take the lead in setting up memorialsto Beatrice Hill Tinsley.Photos courtesy of Christine Cole Catley.Summer 2006 11

MRI scans flag neurodevelopmental issuesin premature babies By Heidi NewportThe use of magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) to monitor the brain development ofbabies born prematurely will improve theearly identification of children at risk ofserious neurodevelopmental problems.These findings, published recently in theprestigious New England Journal of Medicine,are the work of University of Canterburyresearcher Associate Professor LianneWoodward, Dr Nicola Austin of ChristchurchWomen’s Hospital, and colleagues inAustralia and the United States.The study involved tracking thedevelopment from birth to age two years of167 babies born very premature (30 weeks orless) at Christchurch Women’s Hospital andthe Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne.Detailed information was collected abouteach infant’s neonatal course, with allinfants undergoing an MRI scan at a timeequivalent to 40 weeks gestation — theage at which most infants would typicallybe born.At age two years, 96 per cent of the infantswere assessed by a team of developmentaland medical specialists for a range ofserious neurodevelopmental problems,including cerebral palsy, severe cognitivedelay, severe psychomotor delay, and visionand hearing impairment.The study compared the clinical usefulnessof abnormal findings on an MRI scan,particularly in the white matter or cablingnetworks of the brain, with other measurescurrently used. These include gestationalage at birth, ultrasound abnormalitiesand measures of infant health during theirhospital stay.The results of the study showed that MRIwas superior to all other measures inpredicting outcome.Lead author Woodward says the findingsfrom this large Australasian sample confirmthe high rates of neurodevelopmentalimpairment found in other follow-upstudies of children born very pretermrelative to term-born children.By the age of two years, 17 per cent ofinfants showed severe cognitive delay,10 per cent showed severe psychomotordelay, 10 per cent had cerebral palsy and11 per cent had clinically significant visualor hearing impairments.“Having a premature baby can be anextremely stressful and worrying time forAssociate Professor Lianne Woodward with the MRI scanner at Christchurch’s Southern Cross Hospital.parents, with questions about their child’sfuture often being at the forefront of theirminds,” she says.“Therefore it is important that we providethem with some guidance about whatthey might expect as well as being able to,as accurately as possible, identify thosechildren who are at greatest risk of laterproblems to help ensure they get the helpand support that may be needed.”Austin, Clinical Director of the NeonatalUnit at Christchurch Women’s Hospital,says predicting the future after prematurebirth is difficult based on clinicalparameters alone.“What this follow-up study tells us is thatif a baby’s MRI scan is normal we can beconfident in reassuring parents that theirchild’s outcome will be good.“However, if a baby’s MRI scan showsclear signs of abnormality then we can,with a high degree of confidence, say thatthis child ought to be at least monitoredfollowing hospital discharge or be referredto early intervention.”Woodward says more than half of thechildren with moderate to severe whitematter abnormalities on their neonatalMRI scan show some form of severeneurodevelopmental limitation by twoyears of age.She says it is important to note that anumber of these children are also doingquite well.“This reiterates what we already know interms of children’s development beinginfluenced by a wide range of factors ofwhich early brain development, whileclearly important, is but one.“Other factors such as the quality ofparenting, early attachment relationships,the home environment, and the availabilityof educational support when needed, willalso be important.”Woodward says two years of age is alsovery early to be making strong statementsabout a child’s development so continuedmonitoring of the study children’sdevelopment is a high priority.“This is also important given that weknow from previous studies that manyof the problems faced by very prematurechildren, including learning andbehavioural difficulties, only become moreobvious when children are confronted bythe performance and behavioural demandsof the education system.“While these results are promising interms of the early detection of highriskpremature children, this is only onepiece of an important puzzle. Now thatwe can identify these children, we needto develop research-based strategies tohelp them and their families both duringearly childhood and the school years. Wealso need to better understand why thesebrain injuries occur and how they can beprevented within the neonatal unit.”12 Canterbury Magazine

Fishing spiders By Stacey DoornenbalThe red crab spider retainsa memory of the ant andplans how it’s going tocatch its prey.Dr Simon PollardMisumenops nepenthicola, the fishing spider.A tiny spider that fishes for its foodinside a carnivorous tropical planthas caused a stir among CanterburyUniversity’s spider experts.The small predator, with the long scientificname of Misumenops nepenthicola, isa 6mm–long red crab spider that livesinside the pitcher plants of Borneo. Theplants, which have evolved into efficientnectar-secreting insect traps, feed onthe decomposing bodies of insects thathave drowned in pools of fluid held in theplant’s jug-shaped leaves. But rather thanfalling victim to the plants’ sweet trap,Misumenops nepenthicola has developeda complex hunting strategy that takesadvantage of the plant’s deadly attractions— it goes fishing.This cunning predatory behaviour wasdiscovered by Dr Simon Pollard, AdjunctAssociate Professor in the School ofBiological Sciences, while he was in Borneoin March this year advising the BBC onthe filming of a segment about the crabspider for the jungle episode of the PlanetEarth series. The segment, which wasdue to screen in the United Kingdom inNovember, is based on an earlier study ofthe spider by Pollard in which he found thespider had extraordinary aquatic skills.“I was in Sarawak with Professor RobertJackson (Biological Sciences) in late 2000to look at jumping spiders. I’d been therebefore but had never looked inside thepitcher plants themselves. I had a lookand kept seeing these flashes of red andrealised I was looking at a small spiderjumping into the fluid,” he says.“I’d never seen anything like it before.”Pollard, who is also Curator of InvertebrateZoology at Canterbury Museum, returnedto Borneo in February 2003 to find outhow the spiders were managing to breatheunderwater, basing himself at the NationalUniversity of Singapore. He found thatMisumenops nepenthicola has a smallcurved pit on its stomach where it trapsan air bubble as it dives into the pitcherplant’s slimy fluid. The bubble is held inplace near the spider’s breathing holesby hundreds of small hairs which pushthe bubble against the opposite sidesof the pit. This allows the spider to stayunder water for up to 40 minutes whilehiding from predators, and is also handywhen the little hunter decides to ambushunsuspecting prey.With the help of the BBC’s special lensesand equipment, an excited Pollard wasable, for the first time in March this year,to watch the little spider in action. He saysit had long been thought that Misumenopsnepenthicola caught and ate insects asthey landed on the rim of the jug. But itnow seems that all the predatory actionactually takes place inside the jug and inthe pitcher plant’s fluid.“Mosquito larvae live in the fluid in pitcherplants and they have to come to thesurface to breathe. These spiders pick uptheir vibrations and go after them. Theyrush down and grab them out of the water,or dangle their legs in the liquid and scoopthem up, or go into the water to grabthem,” says Pollard.“But what’s most interesting is that atthe bottom of the pitcher are dead bugs— an insect graveyard — and the spidernormally goes under the bugs to hide frompredators, but when it’s fishing it tossesthose carcasses up. It has a spider tantrumand throws its legs around flushing out thelarvae before grabbing them.”The spider also steals food from itshost, letting the pitcher plant deal withdifficult prey.“One of the most common things aboutpitcher plants is that the victims are mainlyants, often green weaver ants. But they’requite aggressive and far too dangerous fora crab spider to take on. So what the spiderdoes is get the plant trap to kill ants for it,”he says.The spider picks up vibrations from afalling ant as it hits the surface of thepitcher fluid and will watch as the antstruggles to get out. Waiting for about 10minutes after the ant has sunk, the spiderdives in and hauls the body out, clasped inits spiked legs and using web safety linesattached to the sides of the pitcher forextra support.“It’s fascinating to watch because it showsthe spider is retaining a memory of the antand planning how it’s going to catch itsprey. It is like the ant is out of sight but notout of mind.”A more detailed study of the crab spider ison the cards, with Pollard keen to find outwhat makes the spiders’ “dust speck of abrain” tick.“This is just the beginning of what could bea fascinating project.”Summer 2006 13

40786342375673411234256790421467803324078780161993456256790421467803324407863423754237501256773473470093864703423754237567347009386470 61773450891655677347356765498045089165567734735676823324042676786784343753482332407866780332407878016173473567625679042146754237567349028233240786342375673411234786342371123425679042116199345655679347356564565By John MacDonaldProblem solving is Professor Tim David’sdescription of what the University ofCanterbury’s new supercomputer does.The description is somewhat understated,considering the kinds of problems heis talking about can be of astronomicalproportions.It is something postdoctoral fellow DrChristine Botzler (Physics and Astronomy)knows only too well.She is the first UC researcher to usewhat is described by those close to thesupercomputer project as “the big blackbox”. It is supporting her search for planetsorbiting distant stars in the Milky Way.Botzler’s work is part of the MicrolensingObservations in Astrophysics (MOA)project, a consortium of four New Zealanduniversities and Nagoya University in Japan.David (Mechanical Engineering), who chairsthe advisory panel which helps assessapplications to use the system, says it is anexcellent example of how the 128 processorPower 5 IBM machine will be an essentialtool for many UC researchers.“This computer is a central facility and canbe used by anyone who has an appropriateproblem that they wish to solve.“This can range from looking at largedemographic data sets, investigating theacoustics of large sculptures, throughsearching for genetic patterns in largedatabases, to solving the millions ofpartial differential equations required toinvestigate blood flow in the human body.”So what about the search for planets?What can a computer facility capable of amillion million mathematical operationsper second, with a storage capacity of 11.5Terabyte, enough to store 3500 full-lengthfeature films, offer?Naturally, the process begins with atelescope. In this case, the $7 million MOAtelescope at the University’s Mt JohnObservatory, near Tekapo.Each clear night, the telescope is used tomonitor tens of millions of stars to findthe few that are shining a little brighterthan normal.These stars can be brighter because ofgravitational microlensing, a phenomenonwhere a dim nearby star is lined up with amore distant star, amplifying the distantstar’s brightness.If a planet is orbiting the nearby star, theplanet’s gravitational field perturbs thisamplification pattern.To understand the observations collectedby the telescope, a computer model of thenearby star and its planet is constructed totry and re-create what has been recorded.Tens of billions of theoretical light raysare passed through the model and manymillions of star trajectories are calculateduntil the theoretical amplification lightcurve matches the observations.Botzler says the supercomputer is essentialfor her to be at the forefront in her areaof research.“A very large number of models haveto be calculated and compared withthe observations. For this to be doneon a single processor, it would take anenormous amount of actual computationtime.“Since all of these models are independentof each other, it is possible to computethem in parallel on multiple processors,which reduces the actual computationtime dramatically.”Botzler says the large number ofprocessors allows her to competeinternationally and she believes it is verylikely she would not be able to conduct herresearch at Canterbury if it were not for thesupercomputer facility.“Without a sufficient number ofprocessors and a good job-managementsystem, this work is almost impossibleto tackle.”Closer to Earth but not quite on terrafirma, Professor Andy Sturman, Dr PeymanZawar-Reza, Mikhail Titov and MikeGreen (Geography) are using the14 Canterbury Magazine

supercomputer to run an advancedmeteorological wind modelling system.Environmental Prediction Systems (EPS),which has been developed at UC’s Centrefor Atmospheric Research, interprets globalweather data to run sophisticated threedimensionalmodels of the atmosphere athigh resolution in complex terrain.The data is derived from a broad range ofmeasurement systems such as surfacestations, satellite and balloon soundings,ocean buoys, ships and aircraft.The models, which require significantcomputing power, are capable ofproducing accurate predictions of windspeed and direction to identify sitessuitable for wind farms.The system significantly reduces the costand time delays associated with assessingthe wind resource by minimising theneed for on-site monitoring. It has manyapplications, from prospecting for the bestwind farm sites, to short-term operationalforecasting of wind farm output.The EPS is being commercialised throughan agreement between Canterprise,the University’s commercial arm, andconsulting engineering companyConnell Wagner.The atmospheric models can also be used topredict air pollution dispersion in support ofa major project, Protecting New Zealand’sClean Air, funded by the Foundation forResearch, Science and Technology.Sturman says the supercomputer is playinga significant role in his work.“Internationally, high-powered computingis the fundamental requirement for anyserious modelling of the three-dimensionalproperties of the atmosphere, whether it isfor short or longer term applications.“The high performance computersystem here at Canterbury providesgreatly improved processing speed andsignificantly enhances the quantity andquality of our research output.”BULLET TRAIN FOR IDEASBy Jeanette ColmanThe University of Canterbury is part ofa new super high-speed network thatdelivers data 10,000 times faster than ahousehold broadband connection.In August, the University’s HumanInterface Technology Lab (HIT Lab NZ)became the South Island’s first “point ofpresence” for KAREN — the Kiwi AdvancedResearch and Education Network.Donald Clark, who heads Researchand Education Advanced Network ofNew Zealand, the organisation thatestablished KAREN, describes the networkas a “bullet train for ideas”.“It will carry incredible amounts ofinformation at 10 gigabits a secondbetween researchers within New Zealand,and to the outside world.”Carrying data 20,000 times faster thandial-up internet, KAREN can deliver10Gbytes of data to a researcher’scomputer in just 13 minutes. The same10Gbytes would take 22 hours to transfervia the commercial internet.It is a far cry from UC’s first internetconnection 20 years ago.In 1985, the Computer Centre, as it wasthen known, got a connection from itsPrime 750 computer to PACNET, the PostOffice network.The following year Robert Biddle, aPhD student in the Computer ScienceDepartment, used the PACNET connectionto connect to the University of Waterlooin Canada where he had earlier been astudent. This connection allowed thetransfer of email between Canterbury’sComputer Science Department andWaterloo’s Maths Department andbeyond.“At 10 kilobits a second, PACNET wasabout a million times slower thanKAREN,” says senior programmer TonyDale (Computer Science and SoftwareEngineering).“Because the PACNET connection only ranovernight, we received email and newsjust once a day,” Dale recalls.“There was no World Wide Web back then,but we could email download requests toa server, that would then email us backthe requested file.”Thanks to KAREN, Canterbury researchersnow have the world closer than everbefore.HIT Lab NZ Director Mark Billinghurstsays KAREN makes it possible forresearchers to live locally but do researchon a global scale.“A high-speed network means anycomputer in New Zealand can be at mydesktop and any person in the world canbe at my desk.”Clark estimates that the Government’s$43 million investment in KAREN couldreturn as much as a half a billion dollarsin research value.KAREN will enable New Zealandgeologists and geophysicists to accesssensor data from fault lines in the UnitedStates; permit 3D modellers to collaborateon international mapping projects; andallow students in New Zealand lecturetheatres to participate in interactivevideo lectures with experts anywhere inthe world.Summer 2006 15

16 Canterbury MagazineA Century ofExcellenceBy Jeanette Colman

Chalk and talkBy Maria De CortWhat makes a great tertiary teacher?Civil engineering senior lecturer Dr RogerNokes says he doesn’t have the “eureka”answer, but believes his success boilsdown to three key ingredients — priority,passion and organisation.Nokes was one of New Zealand’s top 10tertiary teachers honoured for sustainedexcellence in their teaching field at thefifth annual Tertiary Teaching ExcellenceAwards, presented at Parliament in June.The awards, which are administered bythe New Zealand Qualifications Authority,recognise exceptional teachers who showoutstanding commitment to their subject.Nokes says he was honoured to receivethe award, which included $20,000 inprize money.“I don’t think those of us who receivedawards feel that we are special. We arepassionate about our students andteaching, and just try to do the bestjob we can.“When you are committed to a particularactivity it is very rewarding to have yourefforts recognised, and I am a committedtertiary teacher.”Nokes believes the Tertiary TeachingExcellence Awards convey a significantmessage to academics that excellence intertiary teaching is highly valued by centralgovernment and are a step in the rightdirection towards redressing a balancebetween research and teaching which hesees as “out of kilter”.He believes that universities in NewZealand are becoming too research-biasedand are guilty of putting teaching insecond place.“Whenever I get the opportunity I tend totry to raise the flag [on this issue],” saysthe former UC Teaching and LearningCommittee member. “It’s not intendedto downgrade research as an importantactivity, but it’s an attempt to try toredress the balance, which I think getslost. All tertiary institutions can do a lotbetter in terms of their teaching missionin my view.”At a personal level, Nokes says his successreflected his dedication to his students.“To me the most important part of my jobas an academic is helping young and notso-youngminds develop their potential.My students, whether postgraduate orundergraduate, are my first priority.“Therefore, I dedicate myself to providingthem with the best learning environment Ican, as, ultimately, their development isin their hands, not mine.”Priority is one of the three key conceptsthat Nokes says underpin his teaching. Thesecond is passion.“That’s passion for your subject and beingpassionate about teaching it. I actuallylove the stuff that I do in terms of doing it,but I love just as much trying to get otherpeople to be interested in it. If I can getmy students even a bit passionate aboutmathematics or fluid mechanics, which ismy area of research, then that gives me abig buzz.”Nokes stresses conveying passion isvitally important in order to engagestudents and encourage them to learn,especially in a large full lecture theatrewhere it can be too easy for students tonod off or be distracted.Part of keeping the students engagedcomes down to the third factor in Nokes’teaching formula — organisation. Hesays he puts a lot of time into planninghis courses and assignments and tries toprovide his students with a “road map”.“Students want to know: ‘Where am Igoing? What am I going to do here? Whydo I need to know this stuff and how’s itall going to fit together?’ I use the idea ofa road map and at the beginning of everylecture and at the end of every lecture I’mhooking back into that road map.”He also steers clear of all the latest gizmosand teaching aids, preferring the more oldfashionedtools of the trade.“My lectures are ‘chalk and talk’ mainly. Iuse powerpoint but only when it’s the besttool for a particular job.Dr Roger Nokes“I think pace is an important part oflectures. Over the years what I’ve actuallydone is remove material to try and give memore time to get the key ideas across andkeep the students engaged as opposed tooverwhelming them with material.“Something that is becoming clearer andclearer to me as I go on is that a goodlecture is not a lecture where you getthrough 20 pages of the text book. A goodlecture is where the students come outsaying, ‘Hey, I actually learned somethingfrom that’.”Nokes is on sabbatical leave in Perth untilthe end of the year, based in the Schoolof Environmental System Engineeringat the University of Western Australia.It is his first sabbatical leave in 18 yearsof academic life and he is relishing theopportunities it brings, both to devotetime to research and to refresh himselfpersonally and professionally.18 Canterbury Magazine

Robotic research is no monkey businessBy Stacey DoornenbalRobots that can mimic human facialexpressions are a step closer to realitythanks to cutting-edge research by aCanterbury University computerscience student.Computer science and softwareengineering honours student MarcusSchoo, under the supervision of Dr RichardGreen, has this year been investigatingways of using motion capture technologyto animate a robot with more human-likefacial expressions and head movement.Motion capture technology has been usedto create computer-generated charactersin movies, such as the giant gorilla inKing Kong and Gollum in the Lord of theRings trilogy.The project has been carried out with thesupport of Hong Kong robotics companyWow Wee, which supplied Schoo withan animatronic chimpanzee head forhim to work with. Schoo has named theanimatronic head Britney. The companyhas been following Schoo’s progressthrough the University’s Human InterfaceTechnology Laboratory and plans to usethe results of his research to animate itsnext generation of robotic heads.Schoo’s goal has been to develop aprogram that will accurately map or tracka person’s facial movements andmannerisms using motion capturetechnology and then transfer the mappedinformation to the system driving arobot’s muscles, or actuators. In otherwords, the software turns recorded videofootage of a person into robot commandswhich are then loaded into the robot.“Once we’ve recorded a given movementand fed it into the software, the computershould then be able to process it quicklyand speed out the resulting animationprogram in a couple of minutes,”says Schoo.Although only a small step in the movetowards developing robots with humanaspects, the results of Schoo’s researchare significant in that they will allow arobot to be programmed with basic facialmovement and expression. The researchalso provides a solid foundation forfuture development.“It’s not a perfect system by any meansbut we have proof of concept,” says Schoo.“All the core movements are there andWow Wee can adjust the program asneeded, but the main thing is that itcan also be further developed for nextgeneration robots and taken to thenext level.”Computer science honours student Marcus Schoo (left) and Dr Richard Green are working on making Britney theanimatronic chimp behave more realistically.Green says this is a significant step for arobotics company such as Wow Wee, notonly in terms of how it animates the nextgeneration of animatronic heads, but alsoin terms of the amount of time it will taketo animate their robots.“To effectively mirror human expressionswith robot faces of varying complexity is avery exciting achievement by Marcus,”says Green.“Especially in light of all the technicalchallenges he has had to overcome in sucha short timeframe.”One of the major issues facing Schoo wasdetermining whether motion capturetechnology could accurately track humanfacial expressions and mannerisms, andwhether the small number of “facialmuscles” in a robot could successfullyconvey the subtleties of human expression.“The other challenge was that in the future,robots with more facial muscles will comeout, so Marcus has had to come up with arobust algorithm [program] that can maphuman facial movements onto any otherset of robotic muscles,” says Green.“To overcome these obstacles, Marcus hastracked human facial movements by usinginnovative computer vision algorithms andthen developing a mathematical model tomap higher complexity human expressionsonto lower complexity robot expressions.”Schoo began working on Britney’sdevelopment in February and his workis part of a larger research project at theUniversity looking at mirror neuronstylehuman empathetic interactions, anaspect of artificial intelligence researchGreen is particularly interested in. Itinvolves enabling a robot to recognise andunderstand human activities and skills,and to react to them.Green says that humans, when theyinteract, subconsciously adopt the facialmannerisms of the person they areinteracting with.“That’s the mirror neuron aspect,”says Green.“To have a robot more realistically do thiswhile it’s interacting with a human will,theoretically, make people more at easeand react more naturally to a robot.”Summer 2006 19

COMMERCIALISINGSUCCESSBy John MacDonaldWhen Dr Keith Alexander raised the ideaof buying a trampoline for his children, hiswife was against it, saying they were toodangerous.Instead of arguing the point, themechanical engineering senior lecturerset out to design one that would win hiswife over.Alexander says it is ironic that in his pursuitof a trampoline that would meet his wife’ssafety requirements, his family probablyhad more trampolines in their backyardthan would have been the case if they hadbought one in the first place.Nevertheless, he eventually came upwith a model which eliminated the springsand frame from the level of the mat andreplaced the traditional trampoline springswith composite fibreglass rods that flexwith the jump, providing a smooth,even bounce.It was the first completely new trampolinedesign developed in over half a centuryand to date, 30,000 units have been soldworldwide.Alexander credits the scale of his success toCanterprise, the University of Canterbury’scommercial arm.“One of the things I’ve learned is that thereare no lone heroes. There’s a whole team, awhole process. If Canterprise hadn’t beenthere, it wouldn’t have happened.”It is the kind of success Canterprise ChiefExecutive Officer, Dr John Chang, sees asthe company’s reason for being. He is quickto name some of its other successful spinoutcompanies.From its modest offices on the UC campus,Canterprise has helped deliver WhisperTech(which manufactures combined heat andpower generation units), Syft Technologies(which is marketing technology capable ofdetecting volatile substances) and NanoCluster Devices (which is refining novelmethods of manipulating atom clustersand forming them into electrically–conducting wire).“These companies combined have helpedgenerate more than 200 high-end jobs inthe Canterbury region. That is substantial,and all these companies certainly haveexport potential so it is not just Canterburybenefiting — potentially it’s the wholecountry that can benefit from thecommercialisation work we do,”Chang says.These achievements were publiclyrecognised last year when Canterpriseenjoyed top honours in the Champion20 Canterbury Magazine

Canterbury Awards which celebrate theexcellence and enterprise of business inthe region.Canterprise won the Service SmallEnterprise category prize and The PressSupreme Award for Small Enterprise.Chang says the wins provided a significantboost for the company.“It certainly did a lot of good in the sensethat we were thrown into the limelightand it made people notice that therewas this organisation at the Universitycommercialising intellectual property (IP)and spinning companies out.“It has certainly served us well in termsof what we wanted to achieve inhighlighting our business, our role withinthe University and in industry, so it was atremendous thing.”The achievements of Canterprise areamplified by the fact thatcommercialisation is not an easy road.Chang cites a study in the United Stateswhich found that from $100 billion dollarsof research funding 100,000 inventiondisclosures are created.“Out of those 100,000 inventiondisclosures, only 250 were classified as asuccess so that is a strike rate of 0.25 percent,” Chang says.“The odds of commercialising a ventureout of research are stacked against us, butwith good people we certainly can achievea whole lot of things.”Essentially, it is Canterprise that givesintellectual property developed atCanterbury University a leg-up to enterthe marketplace.It develops links with industry andinvestors and is instrumental inestablishing companies as vehicles tocommercialise valuable University IP.Alexander describes the relationshipbetween academics and Canterprise as alink between “the knowledge economy andthe dollar economy”.“There is a whole lot of legal stuff to dowith IP which, for a mere academic, takesa lot of coping. So it is an advantage tohave somebody there actually lookingafter that.“And then when it comes to a deal, weare not good at negotiating deals. A lot ofacademics are academics because they arefearful of this commercial world.“It is nice to have a translator fromthe other culture to come and be a gobetweenand do the negotiation andwrite the agreements.”Canterprise CEO Dr John Chang with the ChampionCanterbury trophy.While Chang appreciates this kind ofendorsement, he says the quality of IP isextremely important. It is essential thattime and money are not wasted trying tocommercialise an idea that has limitedmarket potential.He says in other countries, such asAustralia, there is a history of institutionstrying to commercialise “just abouteverything”.“I think we need to be very careful as towhat we should be picking up. Setting up acompany is the easy bit because you onlyneed $200 to set up a company. But if itdoesn’t have enough business credibilityor opportunity then the business will notsucceed. If you play the numbers game ofan incredibly large number of companiesyou will be among the failed ventures andthat is not the path that we want to take.”The latest IP Canterprise is helpingrelease on the world stage is technologydeveloped by Associate Professor LouReinisch (Physics and Astronomy) which iscapable of detecting anthrax spores andother bacterial spores within minutes.The lightweight, hand-held device is beingtaken to the international marketplacein partnership with venture capital firmsEndeavour i-Cap and Ngäi Tahu Equities.Tests of the unit, which will be the size of alarge coffee mug once development workis complete, have found it to be 99 per centaccurate and capable of producing a resultwithin minutes.The product is going to be marketed byVeritide Limited, a new Christchurchstart-up company developing biologicalidentification and detection equipment.Veritide Chairman and UC alumnus,Neville Jordan, who is also the presidentBeth Alexander jumps on the trampoline designed by herfather, Dr Keith Alexander.of Endeavour Capital, says current sporedetection technology is complicated andtime-consuming, resulting in lengthydetection times and reduced reliability.“The fact that this technology is handheld,portable, easy to use, fast-workingand very reliable makes us very excitedabout its potential.”He says the optical technology in theVeritide device detects the physicalcharacteristics of spores, providingrapid on-site information for criticaldecision-making.“Let’s say in the case of a white powderincident, where there is concern that apowder that has fallen out of an envelopecould be anthrax, then this technologycould be placed over the powder and woulddetermine within minutes whether it isanthrax or something harmless.”Jordan envisages the technology willattract interest from emergency andsecurity services, and the military.Interest is also expected from the foodprocessing industry.Chang says the Veritide detector is agood example of the potential that canbe realised when universities and venturecapitalists work together.“This highlights that when good universityresearch and smart money combine, greatinvestment opportunities are created.”So what about Mrs Alexander — thewoman whose concern about trampolinesafety led indirectly to the kind ofinvestment opportunity Chang talksabout. Has she been won over by herhusband’s design?“It has won her over,” Alexander says.“In fact, she’s an ardent supporter ofour trampoline.”Summer 2006 21

Understanding the choices people makeBy Jeanette ColmanHow does society decide who should payfor public goods? Take, for example, astreet lamp in a cul-de-sac. The additionalsecurity and convenience is there for allthose living in the neighbourhood but howdo you get people to voluntarily contributeto its cost?Voluntary contributions may be gatheredfrom those people who are motivatedby appeals to their civic consciencewhile others may be shamed into it byinformal social pressures that withdrawstatus and respect from people identifiedand stigmatized as being free riders.Monetary sanctions are another optionbut are typically costly to implementthereby reducing their efficiency whenimplemented alone.Grappling with these issues is Universityof Canterbury senior economics lecturerDr Steven Tucker. As an experimentaleconomist Tucker uses controlled,scientifically-designed experiments totest economic theories under laboratoryconditions and assess the effect ofincentives on people’s decision-making.He runs “games” both in the lab and in thefield to test behaviour patterns to betterunderstand why people make the choicesthey do and to test the efficiency of variousmechanisms against one another given thedecisions made by individuals.“I’m fascinated with the choices peoplemake. Why is it that in the middle ofnowhere with no cars for miles aroundpeople will still stop at a red light? Mostpeople won’t litter downtown becauseof sanctions yet if they were on top of amountain all by themselves they probablywouldn’t litter either.“Social norms exist even when theopportunity for punishment is notavailable. Yet some people are not affectedthis way and can deliberately avoidsanctions others try to impose.”Tucker’s research has led him to beingnamed the inaugural recipient of theCollege of Business and Economics’ EarlyCareer Emerging Researcher Award.Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Business andEconomics) Professor Nigel Healey saysTucker stood out among a strong fieldof nominations on the basis of a highlyproductive past four years.Since arriving at the University in 2002,Tucker has published six papers ininternational peer-reviewed journals,including one paper in the AmericanEconomic Review, one of the top rankedeconomic journals in the world.Dr Steven Tucker has been named the inaugural recipient of the College of Business and Economics’ Early Career EmergingResearcher Award.His paper, “Monetary and non-monetarypunishment in the voluntary contributionsmechanism”, has already been cited 20times in Web of Science journals and overallhis papers have been cited more than 100times in the Google Scholar listings.Healey sees Tucker as one of the University’srising stars. “Clearly he is one of our excitingyoung researchers. The work he is doing isinnovative and world-class.”Tucker says it is a great honour to berecognised by his peers.“It is an honour that people whom I respectand who are research active themselvesacknowledge that I am doing good work.”Tucker came to UC after completing a BAin economics at the University of Coloradoand an MS and PhD in economics at PurdueUniversity.“I was fortunate to work with ProfessorCharles Noussair at Purdue. It was amazingto see first-hand the effect of incentiveson behaviour so I caught the fire forexperimental economics.”His paper in the American Economic Reviewshows that voluntary contributions towardsthe provision of public goods can besignificantly increased when individualshave the opportunity to impose nonmonetarysanctions on non-contributors.Tucker says UC has an excellent researchenvironment which is the envy of many ofhis peers in the US.“The research environment at Canterburyis outstanding. The amount of support youget in terms of mentoring, the resourcesthat are made available to get yourresearch agenda on the way and the timeallowed to carry out research is top-notch.”Tucker believes experimental economicshas a bright future at Canterbury.“One of my goals is to move this Collegeforward and possibly be known as anexperimental hub of Australasia. We arewell under way with the excellent coregroup of experimentalists that we havebeen fortunate enough to assemble hereat Canterbury. I am very excited to seewhat we can all accomplish together overthe next few years.”22 Canterbury Magazine

Monitoringmerino movementsBy Maria De CortIllustration: Ben TurnerShrek, New Zealand’s shaggy celebritysheep, may have evaded shearers for sixyears but future generations of highcountrymerino might not be so lucky.Researchers from the University ofCanterbury’s School of Forestry are usingGlobal Positioning System (GPS) collars as atool for tracking merino habitat use.Associate Professor David Norton is theprincipal researcher on a project, primarilyfunded by the Ministry of Agriculture andForestry (MAF) Sustainable Farming Fund,looking at the role of whole-propertymanagement plans and covenants as abasis for ensuring long-term sustainablemanagement for a range of values, botheconomic and non-economic.Research is being carried out on two highcountryproperties – Glenmore Station,near Lake Tekapo and Otematata Station– which are representative of a range ofhigh-country ecosystems.“We want to see how best we can managethese landscapes for both biodiversityconservation and economic production,”says Norton.As one specific component of the widerproject, Norton and Dr Hamish Cochraneare investigating the ways in which merinosheep utilise high-country landscapes.To do this they are fitting sheep with GPStracking collars. The lightweight, durablecollars record the sheep’s position towithin 20m every 20 minutes. The sheepposition data can then be compared todetailed inventories of the vegetationpattern for the area.Cochrane, who has worked with theGPS technology in a previous study onwild deer, says that the GPS technologycomplements traditional approaches suchas visual observation, diet studies andvegetation composition assessments.“Someone might go out with a pair ofbinoculars over a series of weeks andcollect say 700 different data pointsacross a range of animals. With thesecollars we are looking at 9000 to 10,000accurate data points per animal and wesimply retrieve the collars and downloadthe data at the end of the study period.”An initial study was carried out lastsummer on Otematata Station. GPS collarswere fitted to four merino wethers, partof a flock of 4500 sheep grazing a 5322hablock with a diverse range of habitats.While it was a small sample, Norton saysthe study has yielded some valuableinsights to date in relation to grazingpatterns and how topographical featuresfacilitate or impede stock movement.He and Cochrane are still analysing thedata collected but initial results revealthat while individual sheep may roamover large areas, they tend to spend mostof their time in small areas of high use.They found the average daily range of asheep to be between 48-52ha and whilesheep use a range of night camps theytend to favour a few.Certain landscape features such as spursfacilitate movement while streams andrivers create barriers to stock movement.They also found that fences are not alwaysthe barrier they are designed to be, aswas shown by one renegade sheep whichslipped through a fence with a number ofother sheep and spent the summer on anadjacent property.Cochrane says the data will be of greatvalue to farmers.“If on a 5000ha block, we’re discoveringthat perhaps 2000ha has been quarter tohalf-stocked because the sheep were drivenacross a stream which divides the block,well that’s an immediate thing you can turnaround and say ‘well I won’t put half thestock across the river’.“The other option is more active. If we canidentify through our GPS work useful partsof a block, particularly for the lambingstage, then we can start altering stockbehaviour by locating sites where we canuse management inputs such as salt licks orposition new fencing.”A second three-month study is now underway on Glenmore Station in Tekapo, thistime on merino ewes. The study will explorethe role native shrubland plays, particularlyas shelter, in aiding lambing success onhigh-country farms.Funding has also been secured from theCollege of Engineering for 10 new GPScollars, worth about $4500 each, which willenable the researchers to embark on severalpotential new projects such as redeployingcollars on the same wethers at Otematatathis coming season to see if habitat usediffers, and assessing how managementinterventions such as salt licks might affectthe way sheep utilise a block.It is hoped a forestry course on sustainableprimary production systems built on theresearch will be offered in 2008.The first two studies have also beenfunded and supported by the Universityof Canterbury College of Engineering, theHigh Country Section Federated Farmers,High Country Accord, Merino Inc,Foundation for Research, Science andTechnology (FRST) through the ARGOSproject, and the station owners.Summer 2006 23

University of CanterburyFoundation FundDear Alumni and FriendsWe are delighted to announce that the University of Canterburyis establishing the University of Canterbury Foundation Fund tohelp support the educational programmes of the University.Like other universities in New Zealand and beyond, we areincreasingly relying on the generosity of alumni and friends tohelp improve our facilities and enhance the educational offeringof this great institution.The University of Canterbury Foundation is committed tostrengthening and expanding philanthropic support for theUniversity and to encouraging the involvement of alumni in thisvital work. It is proud of its past record in this regard and is nowextending its outreach to all alumni who wish to “give a littleback” to their Alma Mater, thereby maintaining the world-classeducation offered at the University.We strongly encourage you to consider the options in theenclosed brochure and to direct your donation accordingly.We have both contributed personally to this Fund and we inviteyou to join us.Best wishesColin AverillChairmanUniversity of CanterburyFoundationProfessor Roy SharpVice-ChancellorUniversity of CanterburyA tradition of excellence24 Canterbury Magazine

The gift that goes on givingBy Chanel HughesSir Angus Tait is a firm believer in research and development.What Sir Angus Tait has learnt from morethan 30 years at the forefront of theradio communications industry is thatinvestment in education is a pragmaticbusiness decision.For the University of Canterbury, a longtermassociation with the chairman ofmultinational radio communicationscompany Tait Electronics Ltd has meantan invaluable source of support, bothfinancially and in the immeasurablebenefits of industry knowledge, advocacyand collaboration.The 20-year connection has borne richrewards, with Tait Electronics and theUniversity of Canterbury now forming thehub of the region’s electronics industry, asignificant high-tech cluster contributingmore than $500 million to New Zealand’sexport sales annually.Sir Angus’ first significant support ofthe University began with the 1992/1993Scholarship Endowment Campaign. Henot only chaired the fund but contributedthe largest gift of $1 million over 10years to establish the Tait Chair in radiocommunications in the then School ofEngineering.A firm believer in investment in researchand development, Sir Angus’ generouscontribution was recognition of theEngineering School’s part in his firm’ssuccess.“The reality is that we are a technologybasedcompany and our technology baseis the product of engineering designactivity,” Sir Angus says.“To build up the business, we needed theassistance of the University, their goodwill,and their product, so it seemed sensible tous to close the loop and provide supportrather than just stand back and wait forwhatever came out.”Of the 750 staff at Tait’s Christchurchheadquarters, 200 are professionalengineers, the majority of themCanterbury graduates, with between fiveand ten new Canterbury recruits joiningeach year.Since the Endowment Campaign SirAngus has provided significant support innumerous ways, lending his exceptionalexperience and industry knowledge tothe University’s cause. In 1999, when theUniversity’s commercial arm Canterprisebecame a standalone non-profit company,Sir Angus was one of four board membersappointed, holding the position untilearlier this year. He served two terms onthe University Council as a ministerialappointment and has been a member ofthe University of Canterbury Foundation’sPatrons’ Group since its inception.Most beneficial has been the closecollaboration between Tait Electronicsand the College of Engineering, which hasincluded joint research projects, holidaywork experience for current students,lecture time from Tait’s senior designengineers and employment for Universitystaff on sabbatical.Most recently, Tait Electronics has madeyet another significant donation for thelaunch of the University’s ICT InnovationInstitute (UCi3), a national institute inthe Government’s Centres of Excellenceprogramme, which will house multidisciplinaryICT-based research partnershipsbetween the University and industry. Taithas pledged $1 million for the establishmentof a Wireless Research Centre (WRC) underthe UCi3 umbrella, with the intentionof attracting the cream of internationalexpertise in this area.“We believe this will be a very soundproposal for all parties involved,” Sir Angussays, “and a powerful force in ensuring thefuture of the ICT industry and indeed itssurvival in the years ahead.”Funding for the WRC comes from the TaitFoundation, the charitable trust that nowowns 80 per cent of Tait Electronics, afterSir Angus gifted his majority shareholding.Now 87, Sir Angus says money in his ownback pocket has never been his primeobjective but rather the establishment ofan enduring technology-based companycreating career opportunities and exportearnings for New Zealand. To that endhe set up the Tait Foundation, based onthe model of the trust that runs Germanelectronics company Bosch, with educationas the prime beneficiary.“My decision was that since the basicobjective was the continuation of TaitElectronics and its success as a technologybasedcompany, its net survival was goingto be dependent upon the quality and theavailability of technologically-competentpeople. That would come out of theeducation system.“It will be beyond my time and otherpeople will make the decisions, but it willbe written into the ‘instruction manual’,shall we say, and the University will, Ihave no doubt, be a major beneficiary ofthis process.”Vice-Chancellor Professor Roy Sharp saysthe University has “benefited tremendouslyfrom Sir Angus’ wisdom and knowledge”.“Tait’s latest support of the ICT InnovationInstitute and Wireless Research Centreis another example of his ongoingcommitment to the excellent graduatesand innovative research we produce atthe University.”Summer 2006 25

New Zealand on FilmThe American Film Institute has described the New Zealand film industry’s growth as “one of thewonders of the world”. New Zealand Film Commission CEO Ruth Harley is pleased with progress.By Chanel HughesNew Zealand film has undergone anastonishing revolution in the pastsix years. Not only has it enjoyedan unprecedented success on theinternational scene, with more Oscarsthan we can shake a stick at, but asteady stream of quality local movies isproducing a never before seen box-officecontinuity that has audiences clamouringfor more.In the past 12 months alone theproduction of New Zealand films has beenexceptional. Following hot on the heelsof Peter Jackson’s and Andrew Adamson’sDecember 2005 blockbusters King Kongand The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, theWitch and the Wardrobe were The World’sFastest Indian, River Queen, No.2 and Sione’sWedding — high-quality New Zealand filmstelling New Zealand stories.The World’s Fastest Indian grossed $7million in box office sales, holding itsnumber one position for six weeks,which was previously unheard of for adomestic film.Glowing with pride at this renaissance ofNew Zealand cinema is Canterbury alumnaDr Ruth Harley, Chief Executive of theNew Zealand Film Commission (NZFC),whose nine-year tenure has prepared arich ground for the industry’s continuingnourishment.Since she joined the organisation in 1997,Harley has dramatically reshaped the FilmCommission’s vision and significantlyincreased the number of films in which thecommission invests.“When I started there were quite a fewthings I thought the Film Commissioncould do better. The organisation was veryrun-down financially and had received verylittle government funding for a long time.“Another thing I thought we needed tochange was the relationship betweenfilmmakers and distributors and thefocus on marketing, which had been poor.With my television background, I wasvery used to the idea that a project wasdeveloped for an audience. It’s importantto ask, who is this film for and how do wemarket to them?”Harley implemented a much strongerbusiness affairs capability in theorganisation and set about consciouslyestablishing a closer relationship with NewZealand’s overseas filmmakers.Most significantly, Harley and her teamimplemented the Film Fund, which PrimeMinister Helen Clark agreed to in 2000,resulting in an instant $22 million cashinjection. Whale Rider, Perfect Strangers,River Queen, The World’s Fastest Indian andPerfect Creature have been the primarybeneficiaries of this, showing high returnon investment in terms of raising theprofile of New Zealand film. Whale Riderwas the most successful independent filmof 2003, and Harley says both it and TheWorld’s Fastest Indian will be two of themost successful domestic films of all time.Peter Jackson’s phenomenal success withthe Lord of the Rings trilogy, which earned13 Academy Award nominations andfour BAFTA awards, lifted the entire NewZealand film scene beyond the industry’swildest dreams. Harley has successfullymanoeuvred the NZFC into a position to beable to maximise the flow-on benefits fromthis, of which one of the most valuable isprobably the new sense of optimism amongNew Zealand filmmakers.“The scale of ambition has grownenormously, and that’s very largely to dowith Peter’s success. People now feel freeto stay in New Zealand and imagine makingfilms on any scale they like. Previouslythey would have been absolutely certainthat they needed to go to Hollywood orLondon.”Established in 1978 by an act of the NewZealand Parliament, the NZFC has thestatutory responsibility “to encourageand participate and assist in the making,promotion, distribution and exhibitionof films” made in New Zealand by NewZealanders on New Zealand subjects.It does this in four ways: by providing loansand equity financing to filmmakers; byactively assisting with the sales andmarketing of New Zealand films through itssales agency, NZ Film; by facilitatingtraining and professional development26 Canterbury Magazine

within the industry; and by supportingfestival and awards programmes, torecognise excellence and rewardachievement. All these initiativesencourage growth.Harley says the professional developmentinitiatives fall into two broad categories.“One relates to our slate of projects, andwe usually generate those initiativesourselves and run them in a very handsonway. The second category is for moregeneral industry development, for lessexperienced filmmakers. We usually dothose in association with the likes of theNew Zealand Writers Guild, Script to Screen,the Screen Directors Guild or SPADA [ScreenProduction and Development Association],and they are more broad-based initiatives.”Part of this involves forging closerrelationships with New Zealand filmmakerswho are offshore. “We work very hard onthose relationships to encourage theirinvolvement in a professional developmentor mentoring capacity, and to encouragethem to make their films here.”The funding takes a two-prongedapproach that both fosters first-timedirectors and supports experiencedfilmmakers, and is treated as investmentrather than grant funding.The NZFC puts in significant work over abroad range of film projects. “We currentlyhave an active slate of 70 projects,excluding offshore features and slates runby independent producers,” Harley says.Only a slim 10 per cent of those, however,will make it to feature film.“And just over 10 per cent of those willbe successful,” she says. “That’s a slightunderstatement at the moment, as we’reexperiencing higher growth than that, butit’s a tough game.”It’s a long-term investment though, asdemonstrated by Jackson, who Harleysays has probably been the mostsupported filmmaker in the history ofthe Film Commission.Of the 236 feature films made in NewZealand since 1939, the NZFC has investedin 118 of them, of which 46 have beenduring Harley’s tenure.The busy phase continues with Out ofthe Blue (the retelling of the Aramoanamassacre) and the comedy horror BlackSheep enjoying world premieres at theToronto International Film Festival inSeptember. The Ferryman, The Tattooistand Eagle vs Shark are also due for releasewithin the next 12 months.Each of these films tells a uniquelyAntipodean tale, a feature that has nowbecome a market strength in the industryrather than a disadvantage.New Zealand Film Commission Chief Executive Dr Ruth Harley is proud of the renaissance of New Zelaand cinema.“New Zealand content is a strong criterionfor [NZFC support], both because of theresult it produces, of telling our stories onscreen, but also because of the marketingedge it gives us. They are unique in a veryovercrowded market.”Harley has been “telling our stories”almost since her career began. She sether course in the arts world from a youngage, studying English literature at theUniversity of Canterbury before travellingfirst to the UK and then to Egypt for ayear, where she taught English as a secondlanguage in Cairo. This was followed bya brief stint in an English comprehensiveschool in London.Returning to New Zealand, Harleycontinued her studies with an MA inEnglish literature and film at AucklandUniversity, and a PhD on politics and publicthemes in New Zealand literature between1930 and 1950. She worked as a temporaryassistant junior lecturer at Auckland, alsoteaching film in the university’s continuingeducation programme, before joining theQueen Elizabeth II Arts Council in 1979.Harley spent six years with the ArtsCouncil, first as an advisory officerthen as chief advisory officer, beforemoving to TVNZ as its first programmecommissioning editor, in which role shebrought to air such classic Kiwi staples asthe Topp Twins’ first television special.When New Zealand On Air was created in1989, Harley was recruited as its first chiefexecutive, with responsibility for setting upthe procedures and processes for fundingNew Zealand-made television productions.She held this role for six years before beingrecruited by Saatchi & Saatchi in Wellingtonas the firm’s national media director, whereshe remained until joining the NZFC.The year before she took up the role withthe NZFC, Harley was made an Officer of theOrder of the British Empire in recognitionof her exceptional commitment tobroadcasting and the arts in New Zealand.She was made a Companion of the NewZealand Order of Merit for services to filmin 2006.Harley is succinct in summarising herattraction to the arts, though it clearlydefines a lifetime passion. “I like thetruths that are told in the realm of theimagination.”She will concede, though modestly, that theburgeoning success of New Zealand film inrecent years has contributed to a growingsense of national identity.“I think the success of our film industryat the highest levels has led to a sense ofpride, a sense of achievement and a sense ofambition, in the same way as New Zealand’ssuccess with the America’s Cup did. In thatrespect, I think it absolutely contributes toa growing sense of confident identity.”Summer 2006 27

CoralClimesBy Chanel HughesIn the dim dark recesses of the world’s oceans and caves,science is unravelling the secrets of climate change thatmay help us to better understand the phenomenon of globalwarming. Dan Sinclair’s research into coral and speleothemsis providing some interesting clues.Dan Sinclair’s guide triggers acamera flash to reveal the watersculptedbeauty of the MillenniumCave, Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu.Delicate and ethereal, fragile and mysterious,the corals of tropical and deep ocean watersand the cave accretions or dripstonesidentified as speleothems share a chemicalcomposition that can reveal up to hundredsof thousands of years of climate history. DrDaniel Sinclair (BSc(Hons) 1993), currently aresearch fellow at the Institute for Geophysicsat the University of Texas, is developing newmethods of utilising these proxy recordersin the study of paleoclimatology andpaleoceanography.A proxy record is a series of measurementsof an object that can be used to deduceclimatic history above and beyond directobservation, Sinclair explains. Typically proxyrecords are extracted from continuouslygrowing biological or geochemical systemsthat are somehow sensitive to the ambientenvironment. Tree rings are a familiar example,where ring-width can indicate shifts intemperature and rainfall.Corals and speleothems function similarly.As corals grow, they annually deposit bandedlayers, one-to-two centimetres thick, of themineral aragonite, a type of calcium carbonate(CaCO 3 ) forming the hard skeleton on whichthe organism grows.“As with tree rings, information about theenvironment in which the coral grows can beextracted from growth parameters,” Sinclairsays. “The width of a growth band, thedensity of the skeleton, the rate of skeletonprecipitation, all provide information.”The chemical composition of the skeletonitself provides the strongest clues to climatereconstruction. For example, the amount ofstrontium taken up by aragonite is inverselyproportional to the water temperature in whichthe coral grows.“Likewise, the amount of 18 O, a naturallyoccurring isotope of oxygen, increases inaragonite as water temperatures increase.”“The isotopes of oxygen are also affected byfresh water and can be used to reconstructthe salinity of the surface ocean, providinginformation about rainfall and the amount offresh water running off nearby landmasses.”Tropical corals, typically of the genus Porites,such as those of the Great Barrier Reef, growin the shallow surface ocean, a dynamicenvironment significantly affected by oceancurrents and weather patterns. The deep seacorals that grow in many parts of the world’soceans are ideal for studying the deep oceancurrents that impact upon the distribution ofheat around the globe.In comparison with other types ofenvironmental “archive”, the rapid speed ofcoral growth is what makes it such a usefulproxy recorder. “Corals provide a unique28 Canterbury Magazine

Dan Sinclair (far left) and a colleague from the University of Texas in Austin (third from left) with localguides, displaying speleothem samples from a cave on Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu.Dan Sinclair is painted with symbols to appease local spirits before being escortedinto the Millennium Cave near Luganville on Espiritu Santo Island, Vanuatu.Photos courtesy of Dan Sinclair.time ‘window’ that makes it possibleto reconstruct climate on sub-annualtimescales, sometimes even down tofortnightly resolution,” Sinclair says.This is highly significant when a living coralmight be up to 500 years old (“there arerare reports of huge old coral heads thatmay even be more than 1500 years old”).Even more extraordinary, dead coral thathas not yet undergone fossilisation can betens to hundreds-of-thousands of years oldand still reveal the same information.“The chemistry of dead coral skeletons canchange, and finding a well-preserved one isa significant challenge, so a lot of carefulscreening goes on before we decide if wecan trust it to provide accurate results.“But it’s exciting to think we canpotentially determine the wintertimeminimum temperature in the year100,000 BC.”Speleothems are banded CaCO 3 rocks thatform when limestone dissolves in slightlyacidic water and then re-precipitates fromthe dripwater in caves. More familiarlyknown as stalactites and stalagmites,they can take many forms. As with coral,the chemical inclusions in the CaCO 3provide information about the physicalenvironment, such as temperature, rainfall,the degree of biological activity in thesoil, changes to the overlying vegetationand soil type, and the rate at which waterpercolates through the soil and limestone.“Unlike coral they grow much moreslowly, micrometres per year rather thancentimetres, which means they provideinformation on a much longer timescale,thousands to hundreds-of-thousands ofyears,” Sinclair says.Sinclair has collected coral samples fromvarious locations along the Great BarrierReef, from the Whitsundays to Cairns. Hisdeep sea coral research, based in Montreal,involved sample collection from an oceangoingresearch cruise in the SouthernLabrador Sea and off the Scotian Shelf,east of Newfoundland.His most recent research on thestalagmites of coastal tropical caves hastaken him to the Soloman Islands andVanuatu, where he and his colleagues atthe Geophysics Institute aim to determinewhether the long timescale informationof these speleothems can be combinedwith the short, high-resolution windowsprovided by tropical corals to present acomplete picture of the tropical climate ofthese areas.“It’s very rare that one environmentalrecord gives us all the answers. Eachrecord represents one time-range andone location, and it is only by slowlyaccumulating and combining all of theenvironmental proxies that we can beginto see the ‘big picture’ of global climate,how it changes over time, and what factorsare important for controlling it.“We are working in an area that manypeople think is fairly critical for drivingthe earth’s climate though. The WesternPacific Warm Pool is the region of verywarm tropical water that is localised on thewestern Pacific Ocean, around Papua NewGuinea. This warm water generates a lot ofmoisture through evaporation and drivessome of the climate convection systems.The El Nino phenomenon, for example,likely has its origin in the western Pacific.“We hope the speleothems and corals fromthis region will give us an idea of how thisclimate system has responded to some ofthe major climate perturbations since theend of the last ice age. There are severalkey points in the last 10,000 years whereit looks like the earth very nearly wentback into an ice age.”Throughout his research in this field,which began with a PhD thesis inenvironmental geochemistry at theAustralian National University (ANU)(1999), Sinclair has been developing thescience of proxy records: understandingthe geochemical systems and determiningwhether measurements of differentparameters return climate information.His thesis, which collected the RobertHill Memorial Prize for “Outstanding andInnovative Research in Earth Sciences”,showed that barium (Ba) in corals couldbe used to quantitatively reconstructsediment discharge, and that there aregeochemical patterns in coral skeletonsthat prove that temperature records havea biological origin rather than derivingfrom purely inorganic crystal processes. Healso developed an analytical methodologyfor laser-ablation inductively-coupledmass spectrometry, the key tool he usesfor testing the elemental and isotopiccomposition of his samples.Sinclair’s supervisor, Professor MalcolmMcCulloch at ANU, went on to use thismethod to prove that sediment loadsin Queensland rivers had increased as aresult of European agricultural practises inAustralia during the preceding 200 years.Sinclair says the potential for tropicalcorals to record climate change hasbeen known for at least the past 50years but only recently has the analyticaltechnology to extract this informationreached feasibility.“When I began my doctoral research inthe mid-1990s, there were only a handful ofpeople around the world attempting thisSummer 2006 29

Entrance to Suku Cave, in the heart of Small Ngella Island,Solomon Islands.An unexpected glorius deep blue pool hints that this cleftcaveopens somewhere in the ocean (Russell Islands group,Solomon Islands).work. It was pretty exciting; everything wasnew and there was a lot of groundbreakingwork being done.“In the last five to ten years it has reallytaken off, partly because technologyand concepts have been proven, butincreasingly it’s fuelled by the growingawareness of global warming and the needto quantify short-term variability in theclimate system.”Deep sea coral research is more recent.“It’s only in the last decade that peoplehave begun to systematically study thebiology, ecology and geochemistry of theseorganisms. Again, this is partly drivenby technological change; exploration ofthe deep oceans is in its infancy, and theubiquity and complexity of deep-coralhabitats is only now being realised.”Sinclair says that the most direct usersof the kind of climate record he hopesto generate are the scientists runningthe combined ocean/atmosphere globalclimate models (GCMs) that provideclimatic forecasts.“So much is still uncertain about thephysics of our climate and ocean systemthat it is very important for these modellersto tune their simulations by running‘hindcasts’. That is, reproducing pastclimate behaviour from proxy records.“This gives them confidence that theirmodels will ‘forecast’ reasonably accuratelyfor some period into the future.”Prior to his current post in Texas, Sinclairheld a postdoctoral research post atGEOTOP, Université du Québec à Montréal(2002-2005), where he worked primarilyon deep sea corals, and was a consultantfor the Australian Nuclear Scienceand Technology Orgnisation (ANSTO),participating in environmental remediationprogrammes for acid mine drainage.Both Sinclair’s parents have an interest inthe natural world; his father is a botanistand biology teacher. Sinclair creditsthem with instilling in him the sense ofcuriosity, fascination for discovery, andenvironmentalism that have driven hisscientific work.“As kids, my brother, sister and I wouldbe taken into the forest to search for rareinsects and endangered species of frog,go on fossil-hunting trips, or to hunt forundiscovered cave systems in the ruggedwest-coast karst landscape.“I love discovering things and thedetective work required to piece togethera geochemical puzzle, and my research hasalso taken me to some amazing places.“But I’m also driven by a strongenvironmental ethos. Like many scientistsI’m alarmed at the possibility of globalwarming, and am critical of a world whereexcess consumption and waste generatesa great many social and environmentalproblems, some of which we have yet tofeel the worst of.“I hope that my research helps tocontribute to an understanding of ourworld, and, more directly, to generatescientific fact that politically-motivatedadministrators can’t ignore.”The success of his present 18-month pilotstudy in Texas, which is showing promisingresults and now has just four monthsleft to run, will determine whether thisresearch continues as a major study.Sinclair, meanwhile, will be seeking apermanent scientific post after somethingof a nomadic existence for the pastseven years. He is currently applying forpositions at New Zealand’s Institute forGeological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS)and the Scottish Alliance for Geoscience,Environment and Society (SAGES).Thick tacky mud — a mixture of river sediment and disease-riddenbat guano — can make fieldwork difficult and dangerous.30 Canterbury Magazine“The faithful four-wheel drive: fieldworker’s friend in the Solomon Islands where you don’t have to go far from Honiarabefore you hit kidney-puréeing conditions that would trash less rugged vehicles.” Dan Sinclair with staff from the SolomonIslands Department of Mines and Geology.

Insider politicsBy Maria De CortSay “field trips” and images of bush shirt-cladbiologists or geographers hiking through tussocks aremore likely to spring to mind than aspiring politicalscientists in plush, pressed business suits ascending thesteps of Parliament.But there is a new breed of field trippers emergingfrom the University of Canterbury’s College of Arts.In June this year, Dr Bronwyn Hayward and DrTherese Arseneau (Political Science and Communication)led a group of 14 political science honours and graduatestudents on the second annual parliamentary field tripto Wellington.The students experienced first-hand the cut and thrustof daily politics in the capital. Over the course of two-anda-halfdays the students got the chance to discuss issueswith political leaders, public servants and policy analystsand receive a privileged insight into what goes on “behindthe scenes” in our nation’s corridors of power.Hayward said field trips were a key learningopportunity in arts.“The chance for students to compare what they havelearnt in a classroom with real world observation isinvaluable. We are very grateful for the way so manypolitical leaders and leaders in the community, media,business and the public service, together with UCgraduates, are willing to give their time and experienceto help mentor and inspire these students.”The intensive programme with back-to-back meetingsfrom the crack of dawn until long past dusk included afew significant political coups. The students were ableto conduct a group interview with National MPs BillEnglish, Katherine Rich and John Key on the role ofopposition parties and conduct one of the first interviewswith the new Green Party co-leader partnership of JeanetteFitzsimons and Russel Norman.One highlight of the programme was an eveningreception for 40 past and present students themed, “WhatI wish someone had told me before I graduated”.The students’ interaction with graduates now workingand researching in Wellington was a great opportunity fornetworking and mentoring to take place, said Hayward.Vanessa Roberts, an honours student from the class of2003, who graduated in April this year with her Masterof Arts in political science, helped organise the eveningfunction.Roberts, who currently works for the Ministry ofHealth as a policy analyst on the National Ethics AdvisoryCommittee, said the informal mentoring session was agolden opportunity for the current students to get aninsight into “the pitfalls and highlights” of job-hunting.“I would have loved to have had this sort of opportunitywhen I was nearing the end of my postgrad study. It canbe difficult for students outside of Wellington to developa real feel for career opportunities here, especially inthe public service. It is difficult to know who you arecompeting against, what policy analyst and other rolesinvolve and if you are offered a job, whether to take it.“It is a valuable opportunity for current students to askquestions that might not be appropriate to ask lecturersor even the best careers advisers. For example, questionsabout the workplace culture in different organisations,realistic starting salaries, and how to cope with movingcities and leaving friends behind.”At a big picture level the field trip was about fosteringleadership, Arseneau said.“We recognise these students are future leaders and weare really trying to nurture them as such. It is importantto us to make sure they are engaged in the world aroundthem, particularly the political world. We want to instil inthem a sense of excitement about politics as well as a senseof their responsibility to give back to this country that ishelping to educate them.”Arseneau said this year’s students had impressedeveryone they came in contact with and were “trulywonderful ambassadors for Canterbury”.Honours student Ara Tai Rākena said a highlight forhim had been realising what an incredible democracy NewZealanders lived in, that allowed such unfettered access tothose in power.“Everyone we talked to was surprisingly open and it wasparticularly interesting for me to discover how people withvastly different, and often directly opposing, ideologicalviews actually enjoyed professional and productiveworking relationships with each other.”Classmate Nicky Wilson-Kelly said it was a privilege totake part in the voluntary field trip.“Despite having studied New Zealand politics forquite a few years now, nothing could have prepared mefor the sheer delight at being able to translate some of myintellectual understanding of how parliament functionsinto real interactions with the political machine,” she said.“The trip definitely reinvigorated my appetite forpolitics.”Summer 2006 31

DAVID TEECE:ROCK STAROF BUSINESSBy John MacDonaldProfessor David TeecePhoto courtesy of The New Zealand Herald.David Teece has reportedly been labelled“an economics rock star”. Appropriate,perhaps, for someone who joined thelikes of heavy metal band Metallica in themusic industry’s battle with the Napsterinternet music-sharing scheme.The likening to a rock star is somewhatincongruous, though, when Teece talksabout his place on the world’s economicsstage. There’s not a lot of swagger andno hint of arrogance.For example, becoming a professor at theUniversity of California, Berkeley, by theage of 34 was not something he set outto achieve.“When I left Canterbury, my plan was toobtain a PhD in economics from a worldclassoverseas university in the UK orNorth America.“I certainly didn’t think I was goodenough to get a professorship at a topAmerican university.”Yet, just 11 years after graduating from UC,he was Professor Teece at Berkeley and onthe road to becoming one of the world’s“Top 50 Living Business Intellectuals” andthe 10 th most cited scholar worldwide ineconomics, business and finance.He has remained at Berkeley andis currently Professor of BusinessAdministration at the Walter A. HaasSchool of Business, holder of theMitsubishi Bank Chair in InternationalBusiness and Finance, and Director ofthe Institute of Management, Innovationand Organisation.Among his numerous off-campus interestsare his chairmanship of the Law andEconomics Consulting Group (LECG), aprestigious international economic andfinancial consulting firm he co-foundedin 1988; and his role as a director ofCanterbury New Zealand Ltd.He also provides advice to the legalfraternity.One of the high profile cases he has beeninvolved in was the action by the recordingindustry against the Napster internetmusic-sharing scheme.The Recording Industry Association ofAmerica alleged that Napster’s technology,which allowed users to share musicstored as MP3 files, was a major violationof copyright.The action involved 17 recordingcompanies, with the support of severalmajor recording artists such as Metallicaand rapper Dr Dre, and led to the servicebeing shut down by a court order.With such variety in his work, Teecedescribes himself as an economist,entrepreneur and consultant, dependingon what he is doing.He says it reflects current attitudes.32 Canterbury Magazine

“The reality is that outside academia, andoutside North America, very few take abusiness intellectual all that seriously,despite the critical importance of businessand business initiatives to the globaleconomy and everyday life.“I happen to have the most cited paperin the combined fields of business andeconomics for the decade 1995-2005, but Idoubt more than a handful of executiveshave read it.“In short, the notion of a businessintellectual is unpersuasive to bothbusiness people and to intellectuals alike.”Nevertheless, he successfully marriesacademia and business.“I routinely use ideas and findings fromthe academic literature in my consultingactivities; and I’ve built a firm with1200 employees and annual revenues ofapproximately NZ$500m, applying whatI have learned from the academicliterature and from my consulting andbusiness experience.“My understanding of scholarship andbusiness organisation gave me theknowledge, confidence and the courage tomount a new business model and pursue adifferentiated strategy.”Teece says he is not a corporate tycoon anddescribes his business endeavours as “smallchange” in the global business world.And any suggestion he might be some sortof guru is quickly dismissed.“In the academic world, I don’t have— and nor do I seek — guru status. You arecorrect to observe that according to ScienceWatch (November/December 2005) I wasranked number 10 globally in business andeconomics for the decade based on citationcounts in the leading scientific journals.”Speaking from California, he tellsCanterbury magazine that while he hasachieved great things outside NewZealand, it makes him no less a NewZealander than he was when he left in1971 to continue his studies.Born in Blenheim, he moved with hisfamily to Nelson when he was 12 andwent to Waimea College. By 1966 he washead boy. From there it was to CanterburyUniversity where he developed his interestin economics, graduating BA in 1970 andMCom in 1971.His belief that New Zealand shouldcelebrate and share the successes of itscitizens wherever they are drove him tojoin The Warehouse’s Stephen Tindall inco-founding the Kiwi Expat Association,also known as KEA.“The vision of a greater New Zealandnation not confined to New Zealand’sgeographic borders was appealing to meand to others too.“There had been much talk and little actionabout an expatriate network for a numberof years. I teamed up with Steve Tindalland, together with him and many others,I think we have begun to materialise a verygood idea.”Teece describes members of the associationas “door-openers” for each other and NewZealand around the globe.“We can help budding entrepreneurs,professionals and creative talent moregenerally.“Although Steve Tindall and our familyfoundation funded it for the first threeyears, it is now financially self-fundedand expanding nicely by bringing value toits membership.“We just opened a new chapter inMelbourne and 400 Kiwis showed up forour first event. Three hundred of them arenow registered members.”While Teece does not see himself returningto New Zealand to live permanently, he isa regular visitor.His family holidays at their property inNelson most summers. This year he islooking forward to hiking, four-wheeldriving, boating and catching up withfamily and friends.“Especially those from my University ofCanterbury days.”Summer 2006 33

Life through T-ray spectaclesBy David HaywoodDr Tim DrysdaleTeraView’s terahertz imaging system shows the fullextent of a skin cancer (depicted in red).Microscale detail of the structure of the terahertz filter.QinetiQ’s terahertz (millimetre-wave) imaging systemreveals hidden weapons.Image courtesy of QinetiQ. Image courtesy of University of Glasgow.Image courtesy of TeraView.Photo courtesy of Tim Drysdale.“Amazing X-ray Spectacles” have beenadvertised in the back pages of Americancomic magazines for more than 50 years.The spectacles have swindled generationsof misguided schoolboys with theirclaim that the wearer will “see throughclothes!”. The would-be voyeur learnsan important lesson about advertisingwhen a pair of opaque cardboard glasses(labelled “novelty value only”) eventuallyarrives in their letterbox.However, real-life systems that cansee through clothing have now beendeveloped. “Although they are a lot largerthan a pair of glasses,” says Universityof Canterbury graduate Dr Tim Drysdale.These machines produce an image using“T-rays” or terahertz radiation, a formof electromagnetic radiation that canpass straight through clothing but notthrough flesh.Imaging systems using terahertz radiationhave the potential to detect weapons andcontraband concealed under clothing.These systems offer a significantimprovement on current security andanti-terrorism technology, and also havea number of possible applications in themedical industry.Drysdale graduated from Canterbury witha BE(Hons) in electrical and electronicengineering in 1999 and has beenresearching terahertz technology sincestarting his PhD at UC in 1999.“The conventional devices used tomanipulate radio and optical wavesgenerally aren’t suitable for use atterahertz frequencies,” explains Drysdale.“So my doctoral work concentrated ondeveloping fundamental componentsthat would allow terahertz radiation to beaccurately controlled.”This research led to a terahertz filterthat can “tune” the radiation frequencyemitted and received by terahertzsystems. Drysdale was granted a patentfor his terahertz filter in 2001. His doctoralsupervisor Associate Professor RichardBlaikie and long-time collaboratorProfessor David Cumming (University ofGlasgow) were co-inventors on the patent.Safety is an important selling point interahertz technology. Terahertz radiationlies in the far-infrared region — well belowthat of visible light — so its frequencyis orders of magnitude lower thandangerous radiation such as X-raysand gamma-rays, and yet higher thanpotentially harmful microwaves.“The energy in each photon is minimal atterahertz frequencies,” explains Drysdale.“So it’s completely non-ionizing; thephotons just don’t have the energy toknock away electrons. On the other hand,the imaging systems operate at suchlow powers that heating effects aren’t aproblem either.”Different substances reflect terahertzradiation in different ways. This enablesterahertz imaging to see tooth decay,and means that future dental-scanningtechnology could reduce the exposureof dental staff and patients to X-rays.Terahertz devices have also proven to be aninvaluable tool in identifying skin cancers.“Sometimes skin cancers will appearsmall,” says Drysdale, “but the diseasedarea extends into the surroundinghealthy-looking skin. Terahertz imagingcan identify exactly where the cancer islocated, and this helps the surgeon toremove all the affected tissue.”After completing his PhD, Drysdale wasrecruited by the prestigious Departmentof Electronics and Electrical Engineeringat the University of Glasgow. Hispostdoctoral work has resulted in threefurther patents with Cumming and anumber of industrial collaborations.His work was recently selected by theRoyal Society for an exhibition atBuckingham Palace. “Part of the exhibitdemonstrated the potential of terahertzpassenger screening systems by using a‘terrorist’ mannequin that had replicaguns, knives and explosives concealedwithin its clothing,” he says.“Using British company QinetiQ’scommercial terahertz (millimetre-wave)imaging technology, you can immediatelysee not only the body beneath the clothesbut any hidden weapons.“Of course, there are obvious privacyissues with such images, but QinetiQhas developed something called ‘fig leaf’technology,” he explains reassuringly. “Thispixellates the groin area for all passengersand the chest area for females, so theoperator doesn’t see any more than theywould at the beach. It’s only the computerthat gets the whole picture.”Drysdale recently completed hispostdoctoral research, and was appointedto the position of lecturer in theElectronics Design Centre at the Universityof Glasgow.34 Canterbury Magazine

HELPING HEARTSBy Diana MoirA Canterbury University mechanicalengineering graduate is working todevelop the world’s first artificial doubleheart pump.For his PhD in medical engineering fromthe Queensland University of Technology,Nick Gaddum is working on a revolutionarynew concept, the BiVAD, or Bi-VentricularAssist Device.Heart failure, stroke and vascular diseaseare responsible for more deaths than anyother disease group in most Westerncountries. To reduce these deaths,treatment now looks beyond medicaltherapy to medical devices that aim toassist or replicate the heart’s function.Gaddum, in his innovative research, whichis a joint venture between QUT and ThePrince Charles Hospital in Brisbane, isseeking to develop a BiVAD that provides adual pumping system to support the failingventricles of a diseased heart.Most heart attacks occur as a result of thefailure of the left ventricle, which has ahigher workload, since it pumps blood tothe whole body.Current implantable heart pumps, knownas VADs, or Ventricular Assist Devices,focus on supporting the left ventricle.Such devices can enhance life for end-stageheart disease sufferers, allowing them tocarry on a relatively normal life while theyawait a heart transplant. However, they canalso result in complications for the patient,including the likelihood of blood trauma,incompatibility with the bodyand difficulty in controlling the deviceso that it can respond to the body’s owndemands effectively.“A significant number of patients who havesuffered from heart attack due to a failingleft ventricle also require support of theright ventricle to help drive the blood fromthe body into the lungs,” Gaddum says.“Without such support, the right ventriclecould fail because it is overworked.”Gaddum’s response has been to designthe two pumps to operateinterdependently, just like the mutuallysupporting action of the ventricles of ahealthy heart which contract against eachother when they pump.“One pump is designed to support theleft ventricle to pump at a higher pressureso that it can pump blood around thebody. The right heart-supporting pump isdesigned to operate at a lower pressure,to oxygenate the blood through the lungs.The special feature of these pumps isthat they are designed to work together.The left heart-supporting pump is ableto adjust its output depending on theoperation of the right heart-supportingpump and vice versa.”Gaddum has built a series of pumps whichhe is testing through a mock-up of thecirculatory system.The research involves simulatingheart failure and various other diseaseconditions and checking the responseof the artificial heart pump in the mockcirculation loop.Patented technologies are beingimplemented into the design to createa novel device to allow bi-ventricularsupport. Once completed, it is expected tobe the first BiVAD commercially availableas a single unit.Gaddum gained his degree fromCanterbury with first class honoursin 2004, and says that his interest inbioengineering was stimulated during hisundergraduate studies.“Bioengineering is the application ofengineering works and concepts tobiological matter and systems. Biologicalmatter, such as biofluids, biomaterials,biogases, etc, often perform differently tostandard, more conventional engineeringmaterials. Bioengineering meets medicalengineering when these biomaterials arestudied and used for medical use.“Professor Tim David, who later becamemy honours supervisor, introduced ideasspecific to biological fluid dynamics in mysecond year of study.“Since then, my interests in this field havegrown and I was very keen to work on asignificant bioengineering project.”Gaddum is supported in his work byacademics from the Institute of Healthand Biomedical Innovation at QUT and bysurgeons and cardiologists at The PrinceCharles Hospital.“We’re expecting the BiVAD to be readyfor blood testing in September 2007,and hoping to have it implanted in five toten years.”Nick GaddumHeart failure, stroke andvascular disease are responsiblefor more deaths than anyother disease group in mostWestern countries.Photo: Queensland University of TechnologySummer 2006 35

On the busesBy Stacey DoornenbalUsing public transport is not everyone’s idea of fun but for oneCanterbury University graduate riding Christchurch’s red busesproved inspirational.Tim Veling, who recently completed a Master of Fine Arts inphotography, spent two years of his three year master’s projectriding the city’s buses. He spent entire days, often six days a week,hopping onto random buses at the City Exchange accompaniedonly by his Leica camera and a questioning mind.He would take photographs of sights and scenes that interestedhim, chat to people, hop off at a stop that caught his attentionor just sit and soak in the atmosphere. The experience, he says,taught him a lot about himself and about where he comes from.“It’s really solidified in my heart where my home is and whatthat abstract idea of ‘home’ means to me. I know my heart willalways be here, in Christchurch, and this experience has givenme the strength to know that I can live somewhere else and knowwhere I belong.”The project, called Red Bus Diary, took on a life of its ownonce Veling completed it early this year. An exhibition of hisphotographs was held at the Centre for Contemporary Art (CoCA)during the University of Canterbury’s arts festival, Platform, inAugust, and a book containing his photographs, thoughts andtravel stories was published by Hazard Press. The book, also calledRed Bus Diary, is part of the A Place in Time project, a School of FineArts multi-media project documenting the 21 st century.“It’s been pretty strange to tell you the truth. It’s all crept up onme pretty quickly. I wished this would happen to me — that I’dhave an exhibition and get my book published — but I didn’t thinkit would happen so quickly. It’s been a real whirlwind.”Part of the whirlwind was fuelled by media interest in his project.The 26-year-old appeared on TV1’s Breakfast show earlier this year,has featured in local newspapers and been interviewed on RadioNZ, Plains FM and student-run radio station RDU.“It was strange seeing myself on TV and in the newspapers. I’vehad people stopping me in the street asking me about my projectand saying I must have learned a lot. It’s just been amazing,”says Veling.Seeing his work on a gallery’s walls was also a somewhatsurreal experience.“It didn’t seem like my work. I’ve moved on from the time of mylife when I was working on the book and, although I know eachTim Veling looks at one of his photos featured on the back of a city bus.photograph and paragraph intimately, I know I don’t see the worldin quite the same way anymore — and that’s a good thing.”Veling was also excited by an educational component of theexhibition which gave Christchurch school children a chance toride the city’s buses with cameras and experience what Veling had.Their photographs were also exhibited at CoCA.“They seemed to really latch onto the idea.”Inspiration for Red Bus Diary came after Veling’s car broke down ashe was heading to work. He was forced to take a bus and sat nextto a man who gave him food for thought.“I sat next to this older guy wearing a McDonald’s uniform andwe got talking. It turned out this guy had been really sick withprostate cancer and thought he was going to die. He’d been backat work for a week and was feeling better and then I complainedabout not liking buses and he said something that really got methinking. He said, ‘What are you going to learn by being in a car byyourself that you don’t already know?’”From that day Veling started to ride the city’s buses.“I took photos of everything as a kind of visual diary so I hadhundreds of rolls of film. But it was ‘out-of-the-corner-of-my-eye’stuff, and glimpses of interesting things I saw on the buses. I’dalso get off when I saw something interesting and walk around.There were days when I’d just walk from Hornby to New Brightonand the amount of photos I’d take depended on the day.”Veling began Red Bus Diary with the intention of creating a socialdocumentary but it developed into what he now calls “a selfishdiary adventure”. Until deciding to explore the city by publictransport, Veling had spent much of his life in the northwestChristchurch suburb of Burnside and his daily routine of studyand work had kept him within a limited section of the city.When he became quite ill with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatorybowel disorder, while finishing his undergraduate studies, herealised he might never see the rest of his own city let aloneanywhere overseas.“It’s so easy to get caught up in that kind of routine and when Igot sick I realised how entrenched you can become in that kind oflifestyle. It didn’t take much for me at all to jump on a differentbus each day and go somewhere I’d never been before.”After nearly four years of keeping Red Bus Diary to himself andtalking about it only to those close to him, Veling says it’s beenstrange sharing it with other people and expects there will bea “mourning period” now the project has ended. However, he’s“itching” to start another project.“I’ve been getting these ideas floating around in my head ofwhat I want to do and explore and I’d really like to put theminto practice.”He says he would like to produce a body of photographic workwith an authentic New Zealand voice, but with more colour toreflect his new state of mind.“When I was writing Red Bus Diary I wasn’t all that happy but I gotit out of my system through obsessive writing and taking photos.I’m not thinking in black and white anymore — I’ve moved on fromthat and I’m pretty bloody happy now so it’s all good.”As an exclusive offer for University of Canterbury alumni Red Bus Diary is available forpurchase through the Alumni Office for the special price of $29.95.36 Canterbury Magazine

“What are you going to learn bybeing in a car by yourself thatyou don’t already know?”Winter 2006 37

Books in BriefShaping a Colonial ChurchEds Colin Brown, Marie Peters and Jane TealCanterbury University Press, 2006, RRP NZ$45.00,316pp, paperback, ISBN 1-877257-44-3To mark the 150 th anniversary of thearrival of Henry John Chitty Harper as thefirst Anglican bishop of Christchurch, 10experienced historians have produced acommemorative volume of essays.Shaping a Colonial Church: Bishop Harperand the Anglican Diocese of Christchurch1856-1890 recounts the establishment ofa branch of the Church of England in anew colony, highlighting the people— bishop, clergy and lay people — whoshaped this story.New research into the rich records leftby Harper and others allows the authorsto illuminate in fresh ways the processby which the English church model wasadapted to a very different land. By thetime of Harper’s retirement in 1890, thediocese was arguably the most successfulin New Zealand.Edited by former Canterbury Universitystaff Colin Brown (Religious Studies) andDr Marie Peters (History), and diocesanarchivist Jane Teal, the book provides anassessment of the Harper episcopate in thewider context of the evolution of provincialand colonial society and the developmentof the Anglican Church, both in NewZealand and worldwide.Shaping a Colonial Church will appeal toa general readership and is generouslyillustrated, with many previouslyunpublished photos. Publication was madepossible through a generous grant fromthe Anglican Diocese of Christchurch.Lighting the Coast: A history of NewZealand’s coastal lighthouse systemHelen BeagleholeCanterbury University Press, 2006, RRP NZ$55.00,356pp, hardback, ISBN 1-877257-43-5To 19 th century New Zealanders, inhabitinga small colony in the vast South Pacific,shipping was a lifeline to the rest of theworld — a lifeline often imperilled bythe ferocity of the weather and a longhazardous coastline. Lighting the Coastis the first comprehensive history of thesystem of lighthouses that were essentialfor “the great maritime future” the NewZealand Government envisaged.This authoritative book reveals thefascinating story of the siting, design,construction, operation and eventualde-manning of those 19 th and early 20 thcentury monuments to engineering. Itreveals much of the lives of the lighthousekeepers — practical, independent menwho took their families to live in remoteparts of New Zealand — and raises criticalquestions about the future of thesehistoric structures. Helen Beagleholealso discusses how settlers coped withthe unfamiliar geography, climate, floraand fauna and how they adapted newtechnology to meet their maritime needs.This tribute to an enthralling aspect of NewZealand’s history features more than 250black and white and colour illustrations,including early photographs, paintings,diagrams, maps and charts.Beaglehole’s well-informed researchis complemented by years of yachtingexperience. She and her husband havecircumnavigated New Zealand in theiryacht Cape Resolution and visited most ofthe lighthouse sites by foot, yacht or bike.Entrepreneurship and SMEs in the Euro-Zone:Towards a Theory of SymbioticEntrepreneurshipLeo-Paul DanaWorld Scientific Publishing Company, 2006, RRPUS$48.00, 252pp, hardback, ISBN 1-86094-647-XThey may share a common currency butcountries in the Euro-zone are not identicalwhen it comes to their approach tobusiness, says Associate Professor Leo-PaulDana (Management). In his latest book,Entrepreneurship and SMEs in the Euro-Zone, Dana looks at 12 European countriesthat have adopted the Euro currency andcompares how they do business.Over the past two years he has interviewedgovernment officials, entrepreneurs andsmall to medium-sized enterprise (SME)owners in Austria, Belgium, Finland,France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy,Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugaland Spain. Providing an introduction toeach country with geographic, demographicand historical overviews, Dana builds adetailed picture of each businessenvironment, outlining what to expect —and what not to expect — when doingbusiness in these countries.“Business is about people and you haveto understand how people do business asa function of their culture andenvironment,” he says.A further chapter explores Dana’s theory of“symbiotic entrepreneurship”, identifying anew type of entrepreneurship, with formercompetitors now co-operating to increasetheir market leverage.More than a textbook for students or areference for policy makers, this book isessential reading for anyone doing businessin one of the featured countries.38 Canterbury Magazine

How to Look at a PaintingJustin PatonAwa Press, 2005, RRP NZ$24.99, 128pp, paperback,ISBN 0-9582538-8-9Justin Paton leads a journey of explorationthrough the centuries and acrossthe painted world: from the fruits ofCaravaggio to the landscapes of RitaAngus. This exposition of painting in allits forms demystifies art and invites us tosee with new eyes. He teaches us the artof observation and explores the paradoxthat while viewing a painting usually takesplace in public, it is very much a privateexperience. He shows us how to look at apainting physically, and where to let it takeus imaginatively.Seventh in the “Ginger Series”, this bookis refreshingly jargon-free, and the firstperson narrative makes it easy to imaginePaton by your side as he takesyou on an informal tour of Aucklandgalleries (“Half a day with the dealers”)or sympathises with your tired limbsand offers tips for surviving museumfatigue (“On going to a museum”). “Tengood reasons” gives us Paton’s ownpainting picks.Winner of the 2006 Montana NewZealand Book Award for Lifestyle andContemporary Culture, this highly readablebook is for everyone who enjoys art orwants to. Paton is currently curator ofDunedin’s Public Art Gallery and one ofNew Zealand’s most prominent art writers.He completed a BA in art history andEnglish at the University of Canterburyin 1993.Magic Eyes: I Spy New Zealand HistoryCoral Atkinson; illustrator Tina CooperReed Publishing, 2006, RRP NZ$20.00, 32pp,paperback, ISBN 1-86948-533-5-13Magic Eyes: I Spy New Zealand History is anew picture book that aims to make NewZealand’s past come alive for youngerreaders. In a departure from her usualgenre of historical fiction, Christchurchbasedauthor Coral Atkinson has teamedup with Nelson illustrator Tina Cooper toproduce this beautiful children’s book,drawing on her earlier experience asa secondary school history and socialstudies teacher.The book depicts 13 significant scenes fromNew Zealand’s history, between the years1840 and 2000, relating to such subjectsas the Treaty of Waitangi, the Goldrush ofthe 1860s, women’s suffrage, Jean Battenarriving at Mangere, soldiers going offto war in 1914 and the celebrations at theend of WWII, visits by the Queen and theBeatles, and the 1995 America’s Cup. Thebook is designed to encourage observationskills and curiosity while providing afun way to inform children of importanthistorical events. Magic Eyes invites theyoung reader to find a selection of objectswithin the pictures and to find the dog Kurihiding on each page.Born in Ireland, Atkinson graduated fromthe University of Canterbury with an MAin history in 1969. She is the author of twonovels, The Love Apple (2005) and The PauaTower (2006), as well as short fiction andnon-fiction.The Jesus Papers: Exposing the GreatestCover-Up in HistoryMichael BaigentHarperCollins, 2006, RRP NZ$32.99, 336pp,paperback, ISBN 0-00-724122-4Michael Baigent’s latest controversialoffering raises new possibilities questioningthe perceived truth about the life of Jesus,suggesting there is proof he survived thecrucifixion. Exploring in detail the politicaland religious context into which Jesus wasborn, Baigent examines both the conflictsbetween the Romans and the Jews and thestrife within the different factions of theJewish Zealot movement, and chronicles themigrations of Jesus’ family, his subsequentexposure to other cultures, and the events,teachings, and influences that were mostlikely to have shaped his early years.While putting forward new documentation,Baigent also reveals the inconsistenciesand biases in the accounts of the likesof Josephus, Pliny and Tacitus, the majorhistorians of the time who have shaped theauthoritative version of Jesus’ life.Baigent takes the reader to sites that overthe past 20 years he has explored, studied,and in some instances excavated for thefirst time, providing many fascinatingnever-before-seen photos.New Zealand-born, Baigent graduated fromthe University of Canterbury with a Bachelorof Arts in psychology in 1972, followed bya Master of Arts in mysticism and religiousexperience from the University of Kent,England. He has published a number ofbooks that question commonly-heldversions of the life of Jesus, including HolyBlood, Holy Grail and The Messianic Legacy.Summer 2006 39

Dressing for successBy Jean SharfeEvery year, more than 3000 graduandsof local tertiary institutions emergefrom the basement of Old Chemistry atthe Arts Centre like butterflies from achrysalis. This metamorphosis is broughtabout by the donning of academic regaliafrom the Canterbury Branch of the NewZealand Federation of Graduate Women(CFGW), a service provided since 1935when 30 graduands wore gowns ownedby members or borrowed from localschools “where reluctant teachers shedthem for the day”.Since those early beginnings, thedemand for academic regalia has grownenormously. From a single CanterburyCollege ceremony each May, thegraduations are now spread throughoutthe year with major ceremonies in March,April, September and December. Regalia isalso supplied for graduation ceremoniesat other local tertiary organisations as wellas smaller ceremonies for Canterbury andLincoln universities. At the end of the yearthere is demand from schools throughoutChristchurch and Canterbury requiringregalia for their prize-givings.Few of those who cross the ChristchurchTown Hall stage resplendent in theiracademicals have previous knowledgeof the federation or its other activitiesin supporting education and charitablebodies in Canterbury and beyond. TheInternational Federation of UniversityWomen (IFUW) was formed in theaftermath of World War I to work forpeace and international understandingthrough education, particularly the highereducation of women, and to promotefellowship between women throughoutthe world. The Canterbury Branch wasformed at Canterbury College in 1921. Formany years the branch met in variousbuildings around the campus and duringthat time built a close relationship withthe University which continues today.What then happens to the incomegenerated by the hiring of academic dress?Since 1991 the business of regalia hirehas been operated by the CFGW Trust.The income from this business is usedto provide scholarships at Canterburyand Lincoln; to fund CFGW Awards whichinclude awards for continuing students atCanterbury and Lincoln, for mature womenreturning to education and travel awardsfor postgraduate students. The trust boardadministers the Sadie Balkind Scholarshipand Awards funded by the bequest of aformer branch member. Contributions aremade to scholarship funds administeredby the national body, NZFGW. While thosemade for educational purposes constitutethe largest single category in the annualdisbursement of charitable donations,contributions are also made to localcharitable, community and arts bodies.The organisation and management of theservice is dependent on the labours of adedicated team of volunteers who meeteach week to mend and clean regalia, packand unpack orders from other NZFGWbranches and to prepare regalia for localborrowers. As well, members of theGraduate women through the generations: BrennaLovell (22), BSc 2006, winner of this year’s Sadie BalkindScholarship, with Dr Elizabeth Flint (97), MSc 1936.branch engage in a variety of activities,including a monthly newsletter, monthlymeetings with informative speakers, anannual awards evening when those whohave received scholarships and awards areinvited to speak on their research projectsand studies, a mid-winter lunch, a summerouting and an annual morning tea forsenior members.Any woman who is a graduate of a tertiaryinstitution is warmly invited to join thefederation. Contact the MembershipSecretary, PO Box 3088, ChristchurchMail Centre, Christchurch 8140, or emailthebranch@canterburynzfgw.org.nz.40 Canterbury Magazine

Corks pop for century of commerceUniversity of Canterbury commerce alumniraised their glasses at Labour Weekend totoast a century of achievement.The College of Business and Economicscelebrated the centennial year of its majorundergraduate programme, the Bachelorof Commerce (BCom), one of the oldestundergraduate degrees in business andeconomics in the English-speaking world.Commerce centenary festivities beganwith a cocktail function on the Fridayevening at the Christchurch Art Gallery.About 250 alumni, current and formerstaff, members of the local businesscommunity and invited dignitariesattended the function where BComgraduate (1983) and National Party MP JohnKey was guest speaker.Key recollected his days as a Canterburystudent, spoke of his career path sinceleaving Canterbury with “a great degree”and reflected on the value of education,which led into his announcement of hissupport for the establishment of theUniversity of Canterbury CommerceUndergraduate Scholarship Fund.The fund, established by the Universityof Canterbury Foundation, will provideannual scholarships worth $10,000 for topschool leavers embarking on a Bachelor ofCommerce degree.Key announced on behalf of himself andwife Bronagh (née Dougan), also a BComgraduate (1984), his generous commitmentto fund one of the scholarships.On the Saturday, distinguished UC alumnaPansy Wong MP (BCom 1978; MCom 1979)planted a kauri tree opposite the commercebuilding. Other activities included a tour ofthe new campus, class photos, a lunch-timescreening of the University’s promotionalfilm from the 1960s and a barbecue dinnerfor both alumni and staff. During theafternoon tour of the old campus, nowthe Christchurch Arts Centre, EmeritusProfessor Roger Hopkins (BCom 1953; MCom1961; PhD 1970) shared his experience ofteaching in the still-preserved lecturetheatre as the University’s first full-timeeconomics lecturer.The honour of the closing remarks at thedinner was given to the oldest alumnusJohn Key MP, BCom 1983.at the celebrations, 90-year-old MauriceNewman (BCom 1941), a former studentvice-president, life member of theUniversity of Canterbury Students’Association, and UC Foundation patron.Photo: Linton PhotographyPostcard from PerthAlumni based in Perth, Australia, had theirfirst get-together on 18 August at thepopular Rigby’s Pub. Branch co-ordinatorStephen Alpers (BSc 1991) writes: “Wetook the opportunity to discover oldconnections and swap contact details.The best represented department wasgeology, but there were also alumni frombotany, commerce, engineering and law.The spread in years of graduation was from1964 to 1997. We will have another meetingearly in 2007 — hope to see you there.”Clockwise from left: Phil Little, Stephen Alpers,Adrienne Pooley, Tony Milne and Matthew Grant.Photo courtesy of Stephen Alpers.Astronomical marvels at Mt JohnThe Alumni Association’s second annualvisit to Mt John University Observatoryon Saturday 30 September was rapidlybooked out, with 41 participants makingthe drive to Lake Tekapo, travelling viaGeraldine for morning tea.The party lunched in Tekapo beforegathering at 2pm for the day-time tourof the 1.8m MOA telescope, the Bollerand Chivens 60cm telescope, and the1m McLellan telescope, with observatorysuperintendent Alan Gilmore, technicianPam Kilmartin and observatory directorProfessor John Hearnshaw (Physicsand Astronomy).A magnificent afternoon tea wasprovided by the Tekapo SchoolAssociation, followed by a presentationby Hearnshaw at the Godley ResortHotel. Hearnshaw’s illustrated talkemphasised the huge diversity ofobjects in the universe and thewide range of observing techniquesused by astronomers, across theelectromagnetic spectrum, from theground and in space. He also provideda brief history of Mt John and the role ithas played in astronomical discovery.Guests then enjoyed a dinner atReflections Restaurant, by whichtime the high cloud of the afternoonhad dispersed and the party wasable to enjoy a successful night-timeviewing at the observatory. Gilmoreat the 1m and Kilmartin at the OpticalCraftsmen telescope conducted theobserving sessions between 8.30 and10.30pm, treating guests to glimpsesof Uranus and Neptune, 47 Tucanae,Alpha Centauri, the Jewel Box clusterin Crux, the Tarantula nebula and othercelestial gems, including the Moon atfirst quarter.Alan Gilmore points guests in the right directionat Mt John.Photo: Chanel HughesSummer 2006 41

Class NotesAnido, David G H (PhD, ENGL, 1973) hasbeen appointed to the board of directorsof the Conference of Defence AssociationsInstitute in Canada. The institute is thesenior advisory body for the Canadiangovernment on issues related to defence,intelligence and anti-terrorism.Buchanan, Philip C (BSc, PHYS, 1981) taughtat St Andrew’s College for three years,then spent three years in the USA, andhas been back teaching in New Zealandfor eight years. He is currently executivedirector of CoroNet, a collaborative clusterof nine secondary and area schools forICT PD (Information and CommunicationTechnology Professional Development),which seeks to develop teaching andlearning and shared senior classes throughvideo conferencing, and incorporatescourses from four tertiary institutions.Button, E John (BA 1953; MA(Hons),ENGL, 1954), now retired, taught atsecondary level in France, New Zealandand Singapore. He has had six textbookspublished in Singapore and six localhistory books in New Zealand. His latest,Geraldine: the first 150 Years, is to belaunched in November.Carr-Smith, P Michael H (BCom, 1991) hasbeen working abroad in Asia and the USAfor the past 14 years in equity brokerage.Clark, Anthony (Arch) (MA(Hons), EDUC,1980) spent 16 years lecturing in Singapore.Since returning to New Zealand in 2001he has been teaching, lecturing andworking as a social worker. He is currentlylecturing in the University of Canterbury’sSchool of Social Work and Human Servicesand working as a supervisor for Refugeeand Migrant Services.Clarkson (née Littler), Sally M (BSc, GEOG,1999) worked in Wellington for the Ministryof Fisheries before moving to Auckland andstudying for a Master of Planning Practice.She now works as a planner in Auckland.Gardiner, David R (BEd/BSc, GEOG, 1998)has been teaching overseas and is nowco-owner and director of the Lonestar Cafeand Bar in Queenstown.Gledhill, Laura G (BSc 1994; MSc, BOTN,1997) joined the Ministry of Agricultureand Forestry as a quarantine assistant,becoming a quarantine officer atAuckland Airport, and is now a projectmanager, overseeing large-scale processimprovement projects within theorganisation.Gregg, Donald R (BSc, GEOL, 1948;MSc(Hons) 1951), now retired, was a parttimedemonstrator in the University’sgeology and physics departments (1948-50),then worked as a geologist for the NewZealand Geological Survey (1950-64). From1964 to 1971 he was keeper of geology at theCanterbury Museum, and from 1972 to 1991,director of the Tasmanian Museum and ArtGallery in Hobart, Australia. He also heldthe post of president of the National Trustof Australia in Tasmania (1991-94).Harris (née Harkness), Diana F (BA1968; MA(Hons), FREN, 1969) lectured atCanterbury University for a year beforetaking up a French Government Scholarshipto study at Grenoble University. She thenwent to London, where she managed acompany operating hotel barge cruisesin France. On returning to New Zealandshe joined a publishing company and hasworked as an editor ever since. She haswritten several books herself, includingchildren’s fiction and non-fiction, and isabout to publish a historical biography, TheSaga of Johnny Jones, in 2007.Harty, Simon R R (BE(Hons), ENCI, 2000)has worked for Transit New Zealand,Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner, andFletcher Construction in the cities ofDunedin, Christchurch and Aucklandsince graduating. His work has primarilyrevolved around state highways, includingmajor projects such as Dunedin’s FairfieldMotorway, Auckland’s Central MotorwayJunction Stage 1 Upgrade (Freeflow Alliance)and the Northern Busway project. He iscurrently traffic manager for the latter, ajob he says “is challenging, to say the least,given our 7 km worksite alongside, over andunder the Northern Motorway”.Hill, David J (LLM, 1963) retired as a partnerat Sydney legal firm Minter Ellison in 1998,continuing as a part-time consultant untilJune 2006 and completing 35 years ofservice.Hindle (née Mabey), Susan M (BSW(Hons),SOWK, 2004) worked as social worker andadmissions co-ordinator for Anglican AgedCare from March 2005 until February 2006,as the sole social worker in that team,before being offered a fulltime position as asocial worker for Alzheimers Canterbury.Hindle provides community support forpeople with dementia and their families,co-facilitates groups for carers and peoplewith dementia, and is involved in educationprogrammes.Hinchcliff, Dr John C (BA 1962; MA(Hons),PHIL, 1965) retired as vice-chancellor of AUT(Auckland University of Technology) andwas elected to the Auckland City Councilin 2004.Commerce graduate Maurice Newman with Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Business and Economics) Professor Nigel Healey.Jones, Dr Jeffrey A (BE(Hons), ENCI,1969) has retired after 17 years as chiefexecutive of Environment Bay of Plentyfor the Bay of Plenty Regional Council.He was awarded an honorary doctorateby Waikato University in April 2006 andis currently deputy president of theInstitution of Professional Engineers ofNew Zealand (IPENZ).Lawry, Ammie C (BA, POLS, 2005) isworking in the Southern RegionalCommercial team for Crane Distribution asa contracts estimator, costing projects inthe commercial plumbing industry.Lockwood, Dr David J (BSc(Hons), 1964;MSc 1966; PhD, PHYS, 1969) of the NationalResearch Council of Canada was awardedthe 2005 Brockhouse Medal of theCanadian Association of Physicists foroutstanding achievement in condensedmatter and material physics. He was alsoawarded the 2005 Henry Marshall ToryMedal of the Royal Society of Canadafor outstanding research in a branch ofastronomy, chemistry, mathematics,physics, or an allied science, for hisseminal work on quantum confinementeffects in semiconductor nanostructures.The University of Canterbury awarded himan honorary Doctor of Science in 2000.McLauchlan (née Alexander), Helen F(BSLT, 1998) worked as a speech therapist inthe Hutt Valley and Napier before leavingNew Zealand in 2002 for the UK. She hasheld various locum positions in London,the most recent being team leader SLTPhoto: Linton Photography42 Canterbury Magazine

for acute inpatients at St George’sHospital, London.Meisner, Karey E (MEd, EDUC, 2005)is employed at the Health & DisabilityCommissioner’s Advocacy Service inChristchurch. He works with peoplereceiving health services to ensure thecode of rights is being maintained, andruns education programmes forhealthcare providers, consumers andthe wider community.Narayan, Praneita S (BForSc, FORE, 2002)was employed by two of Fiji’s majorforestry companies, Fiji Pine Ltd andFiji Hardwood Corporation, from 2003to 2006. She is currently on a two-yearstudy leave to complete a master’s degreein international and tropical forestry inGoettingen, Germany.Newman, Maurice L, OBE, DSC (BCom,ACCY, 1941; FCA) entered the family firm ofFerons, a fish marketing and processingcompany in Christchurch, in 1933, workinghis way up to managing director andproprietor after WWII, in which he servedas a lieutenant attached to the Royal Navy.After Ferons merged with the TimaruFishing Company, Newman openedthe first salmon farm in the southernhemisphere at Pupu Springs near Takaka,and became managing director of the ML Newman & Co Ltd group of companies.He served on three trade missions openingmarkets for New Zealand fisheriesproducts in Australia and the Far East,was president of the New Zealand FishingIndustry Association (1951-6; 1971-4) andwas president of the Canterbury Chamberof Commerce (1973-74). In 1994 he wasawarded the OBE for services to industryand the community.Nieuwenhuijsen, Judith C M (BA/LLB,FREN/LAWS, 2001) was a governmentsolicitor for the Dutch Ministry of Justice’sImmigration Service and is currentlyemployed in Amsterdam as a legalconsultant for Foursquare Relocation,which specialises in employee relocationservices.Penlington, The Hon Peter G S (LLB, LAWS,1956) tutored in the Law School in the early1960s and practised as a barrister andsolicitor at Christchurch legal firm YoungHunter, where he became a partner. Heworked as a barrister from 1977 onwardsand was appointed QC in 1978 and a highcourt judge in December 1990, retiring in2000. He is currently judge of the Court ofAppeal in Fiji.Pole, J Richard (BA, POLS, 2004) has beenworking as a medical doctor in Nelson,Marlborough, and recently moved toBoston, USA, to undertake an MBA atHarvard Business School on a FulbrightScholarship and Knox Fellowship.Rowlands, Frank J (BA, GEOG, 1990)became a bus driver in 1991, fulfilling anearly childhood ambition. “My family,friends, and university colleagues wereeither upset or amused.” Rowlands,however, says the overall experience hasbeen rewarding.Saba, Tarazullah (ME, ENME, 2004)was a product design engineer withWindsor Engineering and Fisher andPaykel from 1994 to 1999 and is currentlythe senior wind power engineer with PBPower in Australia.Smith, Nigel P (BCom, MGMT, 2001) isa project manager for a medical devicecompany in Colorado, USA. He is marriedwith one daughter and another child onthe way.Sriboonlue, Sarina (BE(Hons), ENCI, 2003)graduated from the University of Arizonawith a master’s degree in agriculturaland biosystems engineering in 2005 andis now working for Malcolm Pirnie, anenvironmental consulting firm in Irvine,California (USA).Stanbridge, Dr Kate (BSc, PSYC, 1998)graduated from Otago University in 2005with a medical degree and is now workingas a house officer at Christchurch Hospital.Tan, Richard H K (BSc, 1978; MSc 1980;PhD, PSYC, 1986) worked for Child, Youthand Family’s Specialist Services for 17years, and was then the South Islandregional manager for the ProblemGambling Foundation for two years. He iscurrently a research fellow at the Centreon Behavioural Health at Hong KongUniversity and a research associate for theNational Institute for Public Health andMental Health Research at AUT (AucklandUniversity of Technology), New Zealand.Tocker, Jim M (MCom, 1945) graduatedwhile serving in the Royal New Zealand AirForce in New Zealand and the South Pacificas a medium bomber, reconnaissanceand transport pilot, flying Hudsons andVenturas. He was also a flying instructorfor Tiger Moths (1942) and Venturas (1945).After his discharge in 1945, Tocker joinedChristchurch accountancy firm Nicholls,North and Nicholls, becoming a partner in1953 until his retirement in 1982. He wasthe first fulltime secretary of the NewZealand Society of Accountants, and from1983 to 1998, a part-time Canterbury auditinspector for the New Zealand Law Society.Tritt, Stephen P (BE, ENME, 1978)completed a postgraduate diploma inmanagement at the Waikato ManagementSchool and in 2006 graduated with aDiploma in Economic Development fromAUT (Auckland University of Technology).He is a member of the WaikatoManagement School Stakeholders Forum,an advisory board member for Students inFree Enterprise (SIFE) and a judge for theannual Waikato Chamber of CommerceBusiness awards. His career in the energyindustry took him from transmissionand thermal generation to hydroengineering,then generation developmentin geothermal, landfill gas and windtechnologies. Now based in Hamilton withNew Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Tritt’srole is to stimulate sustainable economicgrowth across diverse North Islandcommunities, from Taupo and Te Kuiti tothe Waikato and Coromandel.Ward, Kathryn M (BE(Hons), ENEL, 1979)joined the New Zealand ElectricityDepartment when it became a state ownedenterprise, and eight years later joinedconsulting group Design Power, where sheworked for 10 years. Currently she worksfor Beca Carter Hollings and Ferner.Ward, Trevor J (BE(Hons) ENCI, 1967)immigrated to Canada a year aftergraduating and went on to completemaster’s degrees in transportationengineering and business. Specialising intraffic and transportation engineering,he has had his own consulting companysince 1988, Ward Consulting Group, with acurrent staff of seven.Willis, Jeremy J (BA, ENGL, 1996) has beenliving in London since 1996, working for theprofessional services firms Andersen andPricewaterhouseCoopers. He completed anMBA at the University of Warwick in 2005.Woods, Lisa J (BE(Hons), ENCI, 2006) isworking as a graduate engineer for HolmesConsulting Group in Auckland.Young, Dr Brent R (BE(Hons) 1986; ME 1987;PhD, ENCH, 1993) returned to New Zealandin January 2006 after 15 years’ experienceas an engineer and academic in Australiaand Canada. He now holds a seniorlectureship in chemical and materialsengineering at the University of Auckland.His return coincides with the publicationof the second edition of a book he coauthored,A Real-Time Approach to ProcessControl, published by John Wiley.Summer 2006 43

Event Diary Mark these dates on your calendarAlumni, staff and friends of theUniversity of Canterbury are warmlyinvited to participate in the followingevents. To receive invitations and noticesfor these events as they come up,please ensure your contact details andCanterbury affiliations are up to dateat the UC Alumni Office, ph: 0800-UC-ALUMNI (0800 822 586) or +64 3 364 2344,email: alumni@canterbury.ac.nz,www.canterbury.ac.nz/alumni.30 November 2006 End-of-Year WellingtonGet-Together5.30-7pm, Wellington Club(Level 5, 88 The Terrace, Wellington)Tickets: $25 per person (partners welcome)Drinks and nibbles with guest speakerDr David Natusch, a Canterbury MScgraduate and Chairman of the APECEnergy Business Network, who will speakon the timely topic, “New Zealand’sEnergy Future”.RSVP: to the Alumni Office.10 December 2006 Annual Alumni AssociationGarden Party12.30-3pm, University Staff Club(87 Ilam Road)Tickets: $20 adults; $10 childrenEnjoy a buffet BBQ lunch in the beautifulgrounds of the Ilam Homestead, withmusical entertainment.RSVP: to the Alumni Office by 1 December.13 December 2006 December GraduationAll faculties are involved in this colourfulsummer ceremony.For more information: phone +64 364 2987,ext 8981, email graduation@canterbury.ac.nz, or see www.canterbury.ac.nz/acad/graduation.shtml. For details on gifts,degree frames, photography and thecomplimentary shuttle, seewww.canterbury.ac.nz/alumni.March 2007 APSY Reunion DinnerAlumni who studied in the AppliedPsychology Programme are warmly invitedto attend a reunion dinner for all years.Further details to be confirmed soon. Pleaseensure your contact details are up to date atthe Alumni Office to receive your invitation.30 March – 1 April 2007Bishop Julius Hall 90 th Anniversary Reunion2007 marks the 90 th anniversary of theopening of the original Bishop Julius Hallon Park Terrace, Cranmer Square.To register: contact Lynne Williams,78 Greendale Avenue, Christchurch,email: pete_lynne@snap.net.my, or seewww.bishopjulius.ac.nz.24 & 27 April 2007 Graduation10am & 2pm, Christchurch Town HallFour ceremonies over two days ofcelebration.For more information: phone +64 3364 2987, ext 8981, email graduation@canterbury.ac.nz, or see www.canterbury.ac.nz/acad/graduation.shtml. For detailson gifts, degree frames, photography andthe complimentary shuttle, seewww.canterbury.ac.nz/alumni.24 April 2007 Canterbury Challenge Quiz7.30pm, UCSA BallroomJoin in the madness and mayhem of theAlumni Association’s annual team quizevent to see which department, faculty orcollege has the superior general knowledge.Open to teams of five, which may includeUC staff, students, alumni, friends andfamily. For an entry form, contact theAlumni Office.24 May 2007 UC Alumni Association 14 thAnnual General MeetingDetails to be confirmed.Photo: Linton PhotographyA pint with your matesBeen a while since you’ve seen your varsity mates? Keen to meet up with fellow Canterbury grads?Join in the regular monthly drinks. Come to drinks on 7 February and enter the draw for aRicoh Caplio RR660 (6.0mp) digital camera*.For enquiries, contact the Alumni Office, ph: 0800-UC-ALUMNI (0800 822 586) or 364 2344,alumni@canterbury.ac.nz, www.canterbury.ac.nz/alumni44 Canterbury Magazine5.30-7.30pm, first Wednesday of the month at the UCSA’sCommon Room bar. Complimentary nibbles courtesy of the UCSA.* Entry not open to University of Canterbury staff.

Photos: istock photoAlumni NetworksThe University of Canterbury AlumniAssociation is 35,000 members strong,covering 92 countries around the globe, withages ranging from 20 to 101. Membershipis free and automatic to all University ofCanterbury graduates, former studentswho have completed at least 12 points, andcurrent and former staff. It is also open tofriends and supporters of the University. Ifyou know someone who is not receiving theAlumni Association communications andbenefits to which they are entitled, pleaseencourage them to contact the AlumniOffice, ph: 0800-UC-ALUMNI(0800 822 586) or +64 3 364 2344,email: alumni@canterbury.ac.nz,www.canterbury.ac.nz/alumni.Need to update your alumni details?Keeping track of Canterbury alumni is afulltime job, and sometimes we don’t get theright messages to the right people in timefor them to hear about important reunionsor events. You can help us by letting us knownot only your address details but all of yourCanterbury connections — subject majors,clubs, halls of residence, employment, etc.Simply complete the enclosed Alumni UpdateForm or the online form at www.canterbury.ac.nz/alumni/update.shtml, or phone theAlumni Office at: 0800-UC-ALUMNI (0800822 586) or +64 3 364 2344. Don’t miss out ona reunion that’s meant for you.New 0800 numberNow you can call the Alumni Office to updateyour details or register for an event fromanywhere in New Zealand free of charge.Just call 0800-UC-ALUMNI (0800 822 586).(NB If calling from outside New Zealand orwithin Christchurch, please continue to useph: +64 3 364 2344).Wellington UC Alumni BranchContact: Brian LynchPh: +64 4 970 3444Email: brianice@paradise.net.nzInternational UC Alumni BranchesGermanyContact: Silke DeselaersDanziger Str 35SonnenbergD-65191 WiesbadenGermanyMobile: 0 171/5474747Email: silke.deselaers@web.deUCAM (University of Canterbury Alumni,Malaysia)Contact: Richard Tankersley, PresidentPO Box 1056550718 Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaPh: +60 3 2141 0822Email: ucam@tm.net.mywww.ucam.org.myKuching Branch, UCAMContact: Dr Chua Ching GehPO Box 32193704 KuchingSarawak, MalaysiaEmail: chingeh@pc.jaring.myWestern AustraliaContact: Stephen AlpersGerard Daniels AustraliaQv1 Building250 St George’s TerracePerth, WA 6000AustraliaPh: +61 8 9322 0877Email: stephena@gerard-daniels.comOther AssociationsNew Zealand Federation of GraduateWomen Inc (NZFGW)The NZFGW is open to all women graduatesof New Zealand universities, polytechnics,colleges of education and Wänanga, andcurrently has 15 branches nationwide, withlinks to the International Federation ofGraduate Women. Contact the NationalSecretary for your nearest branch (PO Box3057, Wellington, email: wendyz@ihug.co.nz),or see www.nzfgw.org.nz.Christchurch Classical AssociationMeets regularly to hear lectures frominvited speakers.Contact: Secretary, UC Classics ProgrammePh: +64 3 364 2987, ext 8580Email: secretary@clas.canterbury.ac.nzNew Zealand Geographical Society(Canterbury Branch)Meets monthly for seminars and discussion.Contact: Secretary, UC Geography DepartmentPh: +64 3 364 2900Email: secretary@geog.canterbury.ac.nzwww.nzgs.co.nzCanterbury Historical AssociationMeets monthly for presentations on historicaltopics by UC staff, visiting lecturers,postgraduate students and local historians.Contact: Professor Geoffrey RicePh: +64 3 364 2283Email: geoffrey.rice@canterbury.ac.nzOther Alumni CommunicationsCE News (Civil Engineering)Contact the Alumni Office,ph: +64 3 364 2344,email: alumni@canterbury.ac.nz,to join the distribution list, or seewww.civil.canterbury.ac.nz.Geophiles (Geography)See www.geog.canterbury.ac.nz.UC School of Law Newsletter(School of Law)See www.laws.canterbury.ac.nz/newsletters,phone +64 3 364 2602 oremail law-enquiries@canterbury.ac.nzto receive a copy.Summer 2006 45

ObituariesHenderson, Francis (Frank) Martin,Emeritus Professor, BSc/BE(Civil) 1944(Cant), MSc (Vic), b. 28 December 1921,d. 25 August 2006, was internationallyrespected for his work in fluid mechanicsand water engineering.An outstanding all-rounder at St Bede’sCollege, Henderson gained the highestmarks in New Zealand for the 1938University Scholarship exams and was thetop engineering student in New Zealandin his final year of study. After graduating,he was manpowered to the DominionPhysical Laboratories of the then DSIRbefore completing his MSc. He then studiedwater engineering on a scholarship toMassachusetts Institute of Technology.In 1952 he was appointed as senior lecturerin UC’s Civil Engineering Department,where he was instrumental in establishingthe fluids laboratory and securing theUniversity’s first computer. His expertise influid mechanics led to the first axial-flowjet boat in 1955.In 1964 Henderson was made a fullprofessor and head of department, duringwhich time he began writing the fluidmechanics textbook, Open Channel Flow.In 1968 he became head of civil engineeringat the University of Newcastle, Australia,retiring in 1983.Lloyd, David Graham, Emeritus Professor,BSc 1959 (Cant), PhD (Harv), b. 20 June 1937,d. 30 May 2006, was a pre-eminent plantevolutionary biologist whose exceptionalknowledge of New Zealand floratransformed the thinking of plant scientistsaround the world.Professor Spencer Barrett (Universityof Toronto) and Dr Lawrence Harder(University of Calgary) credit him asthe founder of the theory of plantreproduction.“Lloyd pioneered the concept of plantgender and was the foremost authority ofthe evolution of plant sexual systems.“[His] scholarly work laid the foundation formuch of today’s research on the ecologyand evolution of flowers, as well as severalother fields of evolutionary biology.”Lloyd was the first graduate of any NewZealand university to gain first classhonours in a BSc Honours degree. He thenstudied at Harvard University on a FrankKnox Fellowship, and three years laterwas appointed as a lecturer at CanterburyUniversity, becoming a senior lecturer in1971, a reader in 1975 and professor of plantscience in 1986.Emeritus Professor David LloydIn 1992 Lloyd was the seventh residentNew Zealander to be elected a Fellow ofthe Royal Society of New Zealand, one ofthe world’s oldest and most prestigiousscientific societies.Munz, Peter, Emeritus Professor, MA 1944(Cant), PhD (Camb), Hon DLitt (Cant), b.12 May 1921, d. 14 October 2006, fled as arefugee, first from Hitler’s Germany andthen from Mussolini’s Italy. On arrivalin New Zealand in 1940 he resumed hiseducation at Canterbury UniversityCollege where he was taught by one ofthe 21 st century’s greatest philosophers,Karl Popper, who became his mentor.After graduating MA in 1944 he won ascholarship to Cambridge where he tookhis doctorate before returning to NewZealand because it had, as he said,“nourished him”. Munz taught historyfor 40 years at Victoria University andon his retirement in 1986 was made anemeritus professor.One of the country’s most distinguishedhistorians and philosophers, Munz washighly regarded for the extraordinarypower and breadth of his writing. His13 major books covered the history ofmodern political thought, medievalhistory, the nature of religious belief,myth, the philosophy of history andevolutionary epistemology.In 2003, UC recognised Munz’s lifetimeachievements with an honorary Doctorof Letters.Orbell, Margaret, CNZM, BA 1954, MA1956, PhD 1976 (Auck), b. 17 july 1934, d. 31July 2006, was a leading scholar of Mäoriliterature, joining the UC Mäori Departmentin 1976, a year after it was founded.Educated at St Cuthbert’s, Orbell completedan MA in English at Auckland Universityand trained as a primary school teacher.While teaching in Ruatoria she first cameinto contact with Mäori language andculture, which inspired her to study Mäoriat Victoria University. While editor for fouryears of the Department of Mäori Affairs’periodical, Te Ao Hou, she discoveredthe wealth of largely unpublished Mäorimaterial that lies in archival collectionsaround New Zealand, and began to edit andtranslate stories and waiata for publication.From 1974-5 she taught Mäori studiesin Auckland University’s AnthropologyDepartment and worked on her PhD,awarded in 1978, which comprisedgroundbreaking research into thethemes and images in Mäori waiataaroha (love songs).Orbell’s best known publications areThe Natural World of the Mäori, on Mäoriknowledge of flora and fauna, and TheIllustrated Encyclopedia of Mäori Mythand Legend.Orbell retired in 1994 but continued to writeand publish. In 2002 she was awarded theCNZM for services to Mäori and literature.Ridley, John (Jack) Wallace, QSO, BSc1940, BSc 1941, BE(Civil) 1942 (Cant), MA1947 (Oxf), b. 29 April 1919, d. 23 August2006, possessed an expertise in buildinghydroelectric dams that was invaluable ata time when New Zealand was strugglingwith inadequate electricity supplies.Dux of Timaru Boys’ High School(1937), Ridley won a University NationalScholarship to attend Canterbury UniversityCollege and was serving as a secondlieutenant in Italy when he was awarded aRhodes Scholarship.Returning home in 1948, he joined theNew Zealand State Electricity Department,subsequently the Ministry of Works,and worked on such key projects as theWairakei geothermal power scheme nearTaupo and the nearby dams at Atiamuri andWhakamaru on the Waikato River. In 1954he was awarded the New Zealand Instituteof Engineers’ Fulton Gold Medal, followedby a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship tostudy dam engineering in the USA. Thisled to his appointment as project managerfor the design and construction of theBenmore hydro dam.From 1962-65, Ridley worked in Australiaas the first non-American local head ofUS firm Utah Engineering, then played asignificant role as mining and developmentmanager of New Zealand Steel.From 1972 to 1975 he served as Labour MPfor Taupo, regaining the seat as a NationalMP from 1978-81. He undertook consultancywork until 2000 and was awarded the QSOfor services to engineering in 1998.46 Canterbury Magazine

Alumni BenefitsIn many instances you will require an Alumni Association Membership Card to access these benefits.This card is free upon request to the Alumni Office.Internet accessEnjoy competitive rates on Internet accessthrough UC’s Information TechnologyServices. For more information,phone +64 3 364 2060,email helpdesk@it.canterbury.ac.nz,or visit www.it.canterbury.ac.nz.Find a friend with CATSThe Canterbury Alumni Tracking Serviceallows you to get in touch with lost friendsand colleagues who may be registeredon our alumni database. Please providename, degree/course and years of study,if known.Note: The Alumni Office complies in allrespects with the Privacy Act and will notgive out personal information without theindividual’s permission.Use the LibraryContinue to enjoy borrowing rights at oneof New Zealand’s top university librarieswith a 25% discount on the standardexternal borrowers’ fee: $150 per annum or$75 for six months. Note: applicants mustreside in the Christchurch area. Phone +643 364 2987, ext 8723, or visit www.library.canterbury.ac.nz.Sign up for CareerHubUC students, recent graduates andemployers can take advantage of theCareer Development and EmployerLiaison Centre’s excellent website,CareerHub, which provides information onrecruitment, vacancies, events, employerdetails, seminars, web links, news andarticles. Register at www.canterbury.ac.nz/student/careers.Sign up for a UC Visa cardApply for the credit card with a difference:it both commemorates your time at UC andraises funds for student scholarships, atno extra cost to you. Contact the AlumniOffice for more information.Maintain your gym membershipThe UC Recreation Services & Sports ScienceCentre offers alumni competitive rates forgym membership. Services on offer includeweight-training, circuits, aerobics (step,pump, spin, etc), squash, team sports,recreational classes, climbing and much,much more. Phone +64 3 364 2433, or visitwww.phed.canterbury.ac.nz.Join the University Staff ClubEnjoy the Staff Club’s excellent hospitalityfor $84 per year. Contact the Alumni Officefor an application form (not open tocurrent students).Off-campus benefitsSix Continents Hotels and ResortsExceptional rates at more than 3200 hotelsand resorts worldwide. Phone toll free:0800 801 111 to make a booking, and quotethe UC number: 958384347.Alumni House Bed & Breakfast(51 Middleton Road, Riccarton, Christchurch)Receive 10% discount on standard rates.Ph: +64 3 980 9000Email: alumnihouse@paradise.net.nzwww.alumnihouse.co.nzPacifica Lodges & InnsReceive 10% off normal accommodationrates at over 70 properties nationwide. Forreservations, phone toll free: 0800 800 112,or visit www.pacificahotels.co.nz.40 Thornycroft Street Bed & Breakfast(Fendalton, Christchurch)Receive 10% discount on standard rates.Ph: +64 3 351 8228, fax: +64 3 351 8820Email: bbthornycroft@clear.net.nzwww.thornycroft.co.nzSt Albans Pharmacy &Pharmacyonhand.comReceive 10% discount on all purchases(excludes prescriptions & photos).Simply mention Canterbury Alumni tothe staff members serving you or type“Canterbury Alumni” in the message sectionof your online order to receive your discount.1073 Colombo St, Edgeware VillageChristchurch 8001Ph: +64 3 366 0404, fax: +64 3 379 3183Email: pharmacyonhand@xtra.co.nzFor online pharmacy healthcare seewww.pharmacyonhand.com.The Alumni OfficeLevel 5, RegistryUniversity of CanterburyPrivate Bag 4800Christchurch, New ZealandPh: 0800-UC-ALUMNI (0800 822 586) or+64 3 364 2344Fax: +64 3 364 2679Email: alumni@canterbury.ac.nzwww.canterbury.ac.nz/alumniSummer 2006 47