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I have been interested in science in its broadest sense all my life. Although neither of my parents had any training or experience in science, I aways had books about animals, astronomy, the oceans and more. Amongst many others, the iconic How and Why Wonder Books were an incredible source of information, albeit with a strong American focus. Other key sources of information were high quality swap cards that came with packets of TyneeTips tea (birds of Australia) and from Shell petrol stations (shells, beetles, fish, butterflies, and many more).
During my high school years, I had a chemistry set at home that rapidly expanded with supplies from the local pharmacist. A friend and I used to get together on weekend afternoons to do experiments in our kitchen, where we had access to a gas line from the stove to power our bunsen burners. Incidents of experiments going badly wrong were thankfully rare but memorable… I also had a slot car set and through that learned a lot about electricity as I rewired motors for better performance. During that time, my grandfather gave me the basic equipment to develop and print my own photographs.
In interludes between surfing, I began collecting sea shells and became a junior member of the Malacological Society of Australia. From there, I did volunteer work in the Marine Invertebrates section of the Museum of Victoria for many years. When I began studies at the University of Melbourne, I intended to do marine biology, but the new program wasn’t ready so I ended up in the comparative anatomy / physiology / embryology stream of Zoology. It was an incredible course, taught by world-leading experts in their fields, and I ended up doing my PhD in that area, which set me up for everything that has followed.
Why I was doing my undergraduate science degree, I was also writing and performing poetry. I was a member of a weekly poetry workshop run out of the English Department at the University of Melbourne, mentored by Chris Wallace-Crabbe and Vincent Buckley, two of Australia’s leading poets. With other members of the group, I co-edited the University’s poetry magazine. These experiences ended up feeding into my science career in many unexpected ways, and laid the foundations for my activities after I retired from full-time science.
My scientific career was rich and varied, covering many different areas over more than 40 years. I was fortunate to do science at a time when funding was realistic and an amazing sequence of scientific revolutions were underway: molecular biology, optics, and computing being the most significant. During that time, my colleagues and I at the Centre for Neuroscience at Flinders University were regarded as world leaders in understanding the microscopic organisation of nerves monitoring and regulating the activity of the internal organs and skin. Along the way, I made many close friends all around the world.
Throughout my career, I have sought to make the incredible knowledge base and insights of science accessible to as many people as possible. I taught across a wide range of disciplines from functional human anatomy to the microscopic organisation of the body and the biomechanics of movement. Beyond formal University teaching, I regularly gave presentations to the public: schools, community groups, open forums, radio, adult education programs, and more. Allied with all that, I am a long-standing member of the Board of the Adelaide Festival of Ideas.
Since retiring, I have returned to my natural history roots and enjoy sharing new information with members of citizen scientists groups around South Australia.
Follow the links below to see some examples of my interests and work in different domains.