Research Report 2010/2011 Produced by Research & Innovation and Communications & External Relations, University of Canterbury Design by Communications & External Relations, University of Canterbury CD produced by Amstore Publication printed by Kalamazoo Wyatt & Wilson April 2012 ISSN 1176-8193 Cover image: University of Canterbury zoology PhD student Sara Kross.

University of Canterbury Through research one is able to venture beyond the horizons into unchartered waters, unidentified fields, unseen domains, and unexplored knowledge/s to piece together the unfamiliar in the creation of new patterns; new ways of knowing; as is suggested in the Māori word for research, “rangahau”. It is through research that we can tap into our potentials and ascend to new heights; like “te piki kōtuku” (the ascending heron). The bird that partakes of the miro berry reigns in the forest. The bird that partakes of the power of knowledge has access to the world.

Nōna te Ao. Mixed media (ink, watercolour) by Mere Skerrett, Waitaha, Kāti Mamoe, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Pikiao and Ngāti Mahuta (Senior Lecturer, School of Māori, Social and Cultural Studies in Education).

Research Report 2010/2011 1 Research & Innovation Connecting UC’s research with the world Research & Innovation is the first point of contact for external organisations who are interested in: discussions on how UC resources might help your organisation; assistance in accessing UC expertise and facilities, including the areas of science, engineering, education, Sara Kross, zoology PhD student business and economics, arts, and law; consulting services and contract research; opportunities to use or commercialise UC’s intellectual The New York-born student studied for her property; assistance in identifying business or investment opportunities. master’s degree at St Andrews in Scotland R&I includes NZi3, the national ICT Innovation Institute. NZi3 is an after completing her undergraduate degree at entrepreneurially focused, applied research institute for strategic ICT Cornell University. When she arrived in Blenheim, research. New Zealand, she was intrigued by Falcons for Phone: +64 3 3642688 Grapes, a Marlborough-based programme which Email: [email protected] translocates falcon chicks from their nests in www.research.canterbury.ac.nz the mountains into the vineyard dominated valleys and is aimed at helping to increase falcon www.nzi3.com numbers while also providing a sustainable answer to pest birds. Supported by funding from the University of Canterbury, Pernod Ricard, Canon New Zealand and the Brian Mason Scientific and Technical Trust, Kross’ research looks at whether the falcon conservation project UC SPARK is working. She uses carefully developed remote A showcase of UC research videography — or nest cameras — in the nests of wild and vineyard falcons to compare a variety UC SPARK (system for people and research knowledge) is a searchable of factors including feeding rates, prey species, website which showcases UC’s research. You can search SPARK for parental attentiveness, parental behaviour, chick information about individual researchers, the projects they are working behaviour and predation. on, the research groups they belong to, the specialist equipment that they use, and their affiliations. SPARK provides a comprehensive view of research at UC.

www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark

2 University of Canterbury Contents

4 Research 2010 & 2011 32 Molecular mysteries unravelled 58 Chemical linked to development disorders 6 At the cutting edge 33 Building on UC’s research strengths 60 Celebrating innovation 8 Law and disasters — trying to do it better 34 Preserving earthquake memories 62 Modern technology built upon ancient knowledge 10 Quakes trigger a wave of research 36 Cancer epidemiology enhances health sciences 64 Understanding human-animal relationships in a disaster 12 Dutton honoured as outstanding scholar 38 Court cases to sing about 66 Helping late talkers 13 A healthy approach to education 40 Quantifying liquefaction 68 Facilitating Māori research 14 Fellowships open a world of discoveries 42 Making the boardroom green 70 Proteins promote partnerships 16 Ruffling feathers 43 Revolutionising medical imaging 72 College of Arts 18 Searching for the sources of seismicity 44 Challenging the traditional concept of learning 73 College of Business and Economics 20 Living in the red zone 46 A smart approach to water management 74 College of Education 22 Delving into the nuances of social media 48 Power computing 75 College of Engineering 24 The burka ban 50 Schools can benefit from better parental involvement 76 College of Science 25 Stress taking toll on frontline workers 51 New software renders city in pre-quake glory 77 School of Law 26 Antarctic lake opens window on early life on Earth 52 Treasures brought to light 78 Research Institutes and Centres 28 Understanding the youth of today 54 Unpicking communication 80 UC Statement of Strategic Intent 30 Putting real-life economic theories to the test 56 Bioimprints provide valuable research platform 81 Research Outputs 2010/2011 CD

Research Report 2010/2011 3 Research and scholarship is the core business of the University of Canterbury and links strongly to our other core business, teaching and learning in a research-informed context. Research at the University of Canterbury ranges from what may be described as pure, fundamental or “blue skies” to that which is termed applied because it fulfils an identified need within our society or is a response to specific “end-user” requirements. A dilemma for research-led universities, such as ours, and governments, which are their prime funders, is around the correct balance between pure and applied research. Unsurprisingly, the New Zealand Government is calling for an increased emphasis on research of direct economic value to the country. Elsewhere in this report I have outlined the University of Canterbury’s positive responses to that call and its increasingly direct relevance to the economic prosperity of the region and the nation as a whole. However, universities take a Research 2010 & 2011 longer term and broader view of what is, or may become, relevant or useful to society. It is hard This report provides an overview of the wide range of research activities to predict the future. We do therefore undertake much research which can be labelled pure or undertaken by staff and postgraduate students at the University of Canterbury fundamental because that is a measure of a research-led university of international calibre. in our five Colleges (Arts, Business and Economics, Education, Engineering and It’s a question of balance and researchers themselves hold differing views on what that Science) and the School of Law. It is a celebration of human inquisitiveness and balance should be. Whatever your view, I hope curiosity — the willingness to ask and be asked questions, often very hard ones, you enjoy reading this sample of the research, both pure and applied, done at the University of and the determination to answer them. Canterbury.

4 University of Canterbury The current report on the University of research engine of the University. These students and whose challenging and controversial book Canterbury’s research activities covers two were adversely impacted by the earthquakes The Art Instinct was published in 2009. Sadly, years — 2010 and 2011. Normal practice is annual in much the same way as their academic Dutton died in late 2010 shortly after receiving reporting but the earthquake of 22 February 2011 supervisors and, for some, the completion of the University medal. The 2011 recipient of the and ongoing seismic activity redefined many their research and submission and examination Research Medal was Professor Douglas Bridges of our priorities and thus prevented completion of their theses were delayed. In 2010, the of our Department of Mathematics and of the report on our 2010 year. The bonus is this numbers of completed PhD and masters theses Statistics. Bridges has published copiously bumper issue! were 110 and 207 respectively. In 2011, these within mathematics and is recognised as a It is very pleasing to report that total research figures were 106 and 197. world leader in the branch known as funding from all external sources reached a Despite the negative impact of the earthquake constructive mathematics. record $55.4 million, up from $49.8 million in the activity on research at the University, a positive Our leading researchers and their achievements previous year. effect has emerged. The earthquake and post- continue to be recognised at the national level. The total number of quality assured research earthquake circumstances of Christchurch and In 2010, Fellowship of the Royal Society of New outputs was 4071 in 2010, the first year this figure its community have generated a significant Zealand, our national academy, was conferred quantum of new research activity amongst our has surpassed 4000. There is no doubt that the on Professor Geoff Chase of the Department staff and postgraduate students. To date (March imperatives of the Performance-Based Research of Mechanical Engineering. In 2011, Professor 2012) more than 170 new earthquake-related Fund system are at least partly responsible for Richard Blaikie of the Department of Electrical research projects have been initiated. Some, this increase. However, total research outputs and Computer Engineering and Professor Jack in 2011 were lower at 3534 (but still exceeded particularly those related to the immediate Copeland of the School of Humanities were the 3150 total of 2009). The tectonic events that response phase, have already been completed. awarded fellowships. In addition, a prestigious began in September 2010 have had an impact These research projects and programmes span all James Cook Research Fellowship was awarded in on research activities at the University of disciplines across the University. Many of these 2011 to Professor Rick Millane of the Department Canterbury as teaching-related activities became projects are in direct response to the needs of of Electrical and Computer Engineering. our overwhelming priority in our recovery the Canterbury community and at the behest of Steve Weaver response. Most staff were displaced from their those organisations responsible for managing I congratulate our researchers for their Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Research offices, laboratories and work spaces, and their the recovery of the region. Several are outlined in endeavours over the last two years. Theirs is a research materials and facilities for significant this report. remarkable success story given the challenges periods of time. Some lost research results and Each year we recognise excellence in research that the region has endured, and ample equipment. Many staff have experienced severe by the award of the University of Canterbury verification that they are prepared to change the impacts in their personal circumstances and for Research Medal. In 2010 the recipient was world as the world itself changes around them. many this is a continuing factor in their lives. Professor of Philosophy Denis Dutton, an Research postgraduate students, those pursuing intellectual leader of world renown who founded masters thesis work and PhDs, represent the the influential Arts and Letters Daily website

Research Report 2010/2011 5 At the cutting edge

Hooked on mathematics since reading of mathematics, tending instead to look at else’s work. What we developed is an approach an acolyte who, together with others in various a book on elementary calculus as a constructivity over a wide range of areas. to topology that provides a fairly general countries, has been keeping Bishop’s ideas alive.” schoolboy in Edinburgh, University of These have included algebra; apartness and framework for large parts of mathematical A graduate of Edinburgh, Newcastle and Oxford Canterbury mathematician Professor uniform spaces; topology and analysis in activity. It is based on five axioms that universities in the United Kingdom, Bridges has Douglas Bridges’ enthusiasm for his metric, normed and locally convex spaces; encapsulate the notion of objects being apart, received numerous accolades both nationally subject has seen him become one of the constructive methods in the foundation of and it encompasses both point-set topology and internationally. He was appointed a Fellow physics and economic theory; and mathematical and the theory of uniform spaces.” leading authorities in his field. of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2000 and, logic. He is currently working in a relatively Apartness and Uniformity is the latest in a four years later, was elected a Corresponding new area of mathematics, constructive Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, one Bridges, who has held the title of Professor prolific output of published work. Bridges has reverse mathematics, one aspect of which of only 61 such fellows worldwide. In 2006 an of Pure Mathematics at the University since written more than 170 research papers as well involves finding the principles that are international conference was held in Bavaria 1999, is recognised worldwide for his work in as eight books. Two of these monographs — necessary and sufficient for constructive in his honour and further tribute was paid constructive mathematics, in which the focus Constructive Analysis (1985, with Errett Bishop), proofs of individual results. and Varieties of Constructive Mathematics through a special edition of the Journal of is on finding algorithms for constructing Universal Computer Science. However, perhaps the The work he is most proud of, however, has (1987, with Fred Richman) — are regarded as mathematical objects. strongest international endorsement of Bridges’ been the development of the axiomatic indispensable references for those working “In standard mathematics a typical proof of work came in 2000 when he was awarded a theory of apartness spaces, which he started in the field of constructive analysis. A third, the existence of an object goes like this: higher doctorate, a Doctor of Science, from the working on in 2000 with former University Techniques of Constructive Analysis (Springer, assume the object does not exist, derive a University of Oxford. of Canterbury mathematician Dr Luminiţa 2006), written with Vîţă, is the only book to contradiction, and conclude that the object Simona Vîţă. This theory, which has highlight the developments in constructive The latest accolade came in 2011, when he was exists after all. The trouble with this type of subsequently been investigated by analysis over the preceding 20 years. awarded the University of Canterbury Research proof is that it doesn’t give any clue about mathematicians in Japan, Sweden, Germany Medal during the December graduation finding the object. In contrast, an existence Bridges’ work has seen him dubbed the and the United States, resulted in his latest ceremonies. The medal is awarded annually proof in constructive mathematics must provide successor to American mathematician Errett book, Apartness and Uniformity: A Constructive and is one of the University’s highest honours, the information that enables the mathematician Bishop, the father of constructive analysis. recognising academic staff who have made Development (Springer, 2011), written with to find — or, usually, to compute/construct — It was Bishop’s 1967 book, Foundations of an outstanding contribution to academic and Vîţă. It is the first book to deal with the the object in question. Thus every constructive Constructive Analysis, which got Bridges into scholarly research. proof embodies an algorithm that could be apartness approach to the mathematical constructive mathematics when he was a In support of Bridges’ nomination for the implemented on a computer. Moreover, the discipline of constructive topology. graduate student at the University of medal, one of the referees, fellow mathematician “This theory is absolutely our baby and I think Newcastle-upon-Tyne. existence proof also shows that the algorithm Professor Michael Rathjen from Leeds University it is the most significant thing I’ve done in the is correct — in computing parlance, ‘meets its “I was studying operator algebra theory when in the United Kingdom, said that the medal specifications’.” last 10 years,” says Bridges. I came across Bishop’s book, and when I read would be “a very well-deserved tribute to Although he has a particular interest in “We’re particularly proud of the whole thing it, I was gripped by it. I’ve been interested in this outstanding mathematician and most constructive functional analysis, Bridges says because the theory was initiated and developed constructive mathematics ever since — but I eminent authority in the world of constructive he does not work in any individual branch by us, rather than being based on someone wouldn’t call myself Bishop’s successor, more mathematics”. By Stacey Doornenbal

6 University of Canterbury “This theory is absolutely our baby and I think it is the most significant thing I’ve done in the last 10 years.”

Professor Douglas Bridges

Research Report 2010/2011 7 “Since we started we realise how wide this thing is and how world- wide the whole disaster recovery industry is. So there are plenty of international leads we can pursue.”

Professors Jeremy Finn and Elizabeth Toomey

8 University of Canterbury With assistance from Professor Lucy Johnston students in Advanced Land Law during the family law cases particularly involving one parent Law and (New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain and February 2011 earthquake. wanting to move a child out of Christchurch. Behaviour), Finn and Toomey have put together The researchers hope to broaden their work to The detail of the work is important. a detailed online questionnaire that canvasses other kinds of natural disasters and have applied “Not many people do shipping law,” says Finn, approximately a thousand lawyers in practice for a Marsden grant to do so. in Canterbury since the earthquakes began in “but if the docks in Lyttelton are out that may disasters “Are we in fact imposing the same allocation of raise some quite interesting shipping law even September 2010. They are looking for both the lawyers’ own experiences and those of their risk of disaster for different disasters, or does though not many lawyers handle the issue.” clients that can be disclosed within the limits of each one have its own regime, which no one has The bigger issues demonstrate how complex the looked at before?” asks Finn. “Do the same rules — trying confidentiality. legal problems are. apply for tsunamis, or for volcanic eruptions or The survey is to assess the impact of the whirlwinds?” “What does ‘uninhabitable’ in a residential earthquakes on the New Zealand legal system tenancy situation mean?”, asks Toomey. as part of a wider project that will also consider This bigger picture project involves looking at Finn and Toomey are hoping to minimise the legal issues raised by floods and other natural many issues to try to get a global understanding, to do it consequences of natural disasters with laws disasters, and to suggest legal or professional and then picking it apart to come up with allowing more predictable results. practice changes which may better address the harmonious solutions to assess future risk and risks of such consequences. Funding for this tailor remedies. “Moving it on, basically, so someone who is in better stage of the project was received from both the In addition to electronic data the study includes the same situation in ten years time has got a New Zealand Law Foundation and the Centre of collaboration with a research assistant, seven best practice model from which to work,” says Surveying members of the legal Commercial and Corporate Law Incorporated. Canterbury law colleagues and two city-based Toomey. profession who experienced Canterbury’s Follow-up interviews need to be conducted with practitioners. A senior law lecturer from Otago Finn says a key point is that “we previously earthquakes is seen by law professors businesses and social organisations including University is also involved, as is a staff member thought of earthquakes as a one-off, not a from UC’s Department of Accounting and Jeremy Finn and Elizabeth Toomey judges, trade unions, community lawyers, long-lived event”. Information Services. Members of the group beneficiaries, Ngai Tahu, the Pacifika community, Toomey expresses the worth and moral as just the start of what is an exciting supervised five summer scholarships in 2011/12 migrants, budget advisory groups, the Citizens obligation this research has internationally. and significant undertaking. They covering aspects of disaster law and experiences, Advice Bureau, the Institute of Value and Grey She has attended comparative conferences aim to produce a best practice model Power. They hope to capture experiences “as with some of this valuable work to be published. recently both at the Law Institute of Victoria in broadly as possible,” says Finn, to assess what Further interaction is with the University of for earthquake recovery and expect Melbourne and at the Australian Network of was and wasn’t easily resolved. Looking at an Canterbury CEISMIC Project which involves to recommend changes to both legal Japanese Law Conference in Sydney. “enormous spectrum across a huge range of building a comprehensive digital archive of practice and substantive law based on areas” enables them to look at a possible video, audio, documents and images relating “Since we started we realise how wide this thing their findings. “Can we design a better change in the law that will have a positive to the Canterbury earthquakes, including a is and how worldwide the whole disaster recovery law?” asks Finn. “It’s a very big project.” outcome all round. collection of “Quake Stories” from the public. industry is. So there are plenty of international leads we can pursue.” Their focus is on the experiences of rural, city Toomey sits on the CEISMIC committee. Two and suburban lawyers, including those that PhD students are also starting work soon on Both professors will visit the USA to learn from have moved away, and these lead into the legal earthquake-related projects. the Californian experience of earthquakes and stories of the general public. Each story “leads While all the data has not been analysed, analyse the consequences of Hurricane Katrina. to another,” says Toomey. The end result will anecdotal feedback allows them to suggest Progress workshops are planned and plenty embrace socio-legal parameters, putting law the major legal problems are likely to be: CERA of interim articles. A book will be published into the “people context”. Toomey’s own story and the buy back deals, commercial leases, in two years which Finn promises will have even appears on YouTube — captured lecturing insurances, employment, lack of IT backup, and “considerable impact”. By Amy McDaid

Research Report 2010/2011 9 Quakes trigger a wave of research Jessica Petersen took up the role of Canterbury Earthquake Research Facilitator at UC Research & Innovation in July 2011. Since then, she has seen the number of earthquake-related projects at UC increase from an initial 40 to more than 170 and predicts this number will reach 200 before the middle of 2012.

“The UC research response following the “My previous experience with disaster and The engineering departments completed a vast There is also significant work being done on earthquakes was profound,” says Petersen. recovery through civil defence organisations data collection and analyses of earthquake the impacts of the earthquakes on business “It began with a number of quick-fire rapid has made me very aware from a government effects on infrastructure including water and and tourism and the challenges that education response projects commissioned by Government perspective of the information needs of waste systems, bridges and other utilities and faces as a result of ongoing disruptions. Staff in with specific requirements for getting the government agencies. I can also gauge when lifelines. Within buildings they are researching the history programme are particularly active city back up and running. This comprised those needs will arise during response or a range of elements including construction in ensuring that the seismic events and their comprehensive assessments of damage to recovery, and the forms in which the information materials used and their performance through to effects on the community are recorded for existing infrastructure, the performance of will be required. Most important is the need to structure design, foundations and non-structural posterity. A number of projects are devoted to architectural heritage, while others are materials comprising that infrastructure and keep everyone informed, on both sides of the elements. Findings from this work will eventually repositories for people’s stories and experiences. changes to the soils, land and waterways equation.” feed into revised building and design codes to minimise the effects of major earthquakes on “Funding for the research has come from a resulting from the earthquakes. Since the initial thrust of research, a large New Zealanders in the future. number of sources,” says Petersen. “Much of the “Researchers from both engineering and number of projects have either been established Innovative new construction technologies early work was commissioned by CERA, ECan and geological sciences made themselves or were redesigned following the earthquakes. that have evolved within UC’s Department of other authorities. The Natural Hazards Research immediately and unreservedly available in This second category applied to projects that Civil and Natural Resources Engineering are Platform is funding a range of projects, with had already recorded baseline data before the response to the city’s needs and local authorities being put forward as engineering solutions funding also coming from academic funds such earthquakes and are now in a position to draw are now basing many of their decisions on that that will allow the construction of large timber as the Marsden Fund and some overseas funds definite conclusions about their effects through early research. Many important publications, buildings from precision pre-fabricated structural if their criteria can be met. UC has also been direct comparisons. guidelines and revisions to building and design elements to incorporate earthquake resilience able to offer six PhD scholarships related to the codes have been generated as a result. Two environmental projects are based around into the commercial and industrial buildings of earthquakes. But there is not one single source “A crucial part of my role has been to connect recovery dynamics in the Avon-Heathcote the future. of funding, and many of the researchers are undertaking the work with no extra funding.” researchers with end users and vice versa. I Estuary. One project is investigating the effects “Because people were so affected by the quakes, have built up strong connections within CERA of sediment upheaval, raw sewerage inputs and researchers within the social sciences are It is important to Petersen that when she [Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority], changes to sediment geochemistry. Another working hard to capture some of these effects completes her contract in the middle of 2012 that Environment Canterbury [ECan], the Christchurch is determining the effects of the disturbances within the community — from demographic the foundations have been put in place for UC’s City Council and the councils of Waimakariri on the estuarine ecosystem and its intertidal movements within the red zone to the simple research in this area to develop and continue to and Selwyn districts,” says Petersen. “I am point communities. coping mechanisms of different groups,” says inform and contribute to the future rebuilding of Canterbury. of contact for these authorities if they need On and around the Port Hills, there are a number Petersen. research, and can put them in touch with the of engineering geology projects underway which “Our people are working very closely with CERA “These are historic times and the research appropriate UC personnel. Alternatively, I may concentrate on understanding the rock and around community wellbeing and have helped generated at UC following the Canterbury see an application for our research within one of cliff collapses that have occurred there. Other devise a set of indicators of community health earthquakes will be an enduring legacy for these groups and will contact them directly to geologists are engaged in seismic and tectonic and welfare that will be employed for the next 15 decades to come.” make them aware of the resource. surveys and analyses of the entire region. years as the region moves towards full recovery.” By Jann O’Keefe

10 University of Canterbury Jessica Petersen

Research Report 2010/2011 11 Dutton honoured as outstanding scholar

Internationally renowned philosophy professor University of Michigan, he founded the Denis Dutton died in December 2010 just two journal, Philosophy and Literature, as an outlet “His research and weeks after receiving one of UC’s highest for new ideas in a developing field. The journal recognition — the University’s Research Medal. was taken over in 1983 by Johns Hopkins scholarship was of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Town University Press, where it remains one of highest international described Dutton as “an outstanding scholar, their flagship journals. It has received the popular teacher and generous colleague”. coveted “A” rating in the European Union’s standard and he was international rating of scholarly journals with “His research and scholarship was of the Dutton continuing as editor for a further recently awarded the highest international standard and he was thirty-five years. awarded the University’s Research Medal to University’s Research recognise his enormous contributions to his In October 1998, Dutton created Arts & Letters Medal to recognise his discipline.” Daily, a website with carefully selected links to essays, articles and book reviews on an Dutton’s prolific and celebrated contributions enormous contributions extremely broad range of topics. The New York to the field of the philosophy of art placed Times described the website as one of the first to his discipline.” him at the forefront of academic excellence. sites “to exploit the Internet as a vehicle for A referee for Dutton’s nomination for UC’s meaningful intellectual exchange”. When the Research Medal, Professor Steven Pinker of Canterbury Research Medal at a graduation site was barely three months old, the Guardian/ Harvard University, said Dutton was “a true ceremony in the Christchurch Town Hall. Observer named Arts & Letters Daily the best intellectual leader, an astonishingly productive website in the world. The site, now owned by the Dutton took the opportunity to say a few words and daring scholar and one of the most Chronicle of Higher Education in Washington, following the presentation and thanked the influential academics in the world”. receives 3.7 million page views a month. University for the opportunities it had afforded Dutton’s magnum opus, The Art Instinct: him “by the research environment it has so In 2004, Time magazine named Dutton as one Beauty, Pleasure and Human Evolution carefully cultivated over the years” and his of “the most influential media personalities” (Oxford University Press and Bloomsbury colleagues for their “rugged, incisive, yet cheerful Press, 2009), accomplished the rare feat of worldwide for the acclaimed Arts & Letters Daily criticism” of his work. website, recognising him as one of the first becoming a hugely respected academic By Jeanette Colman study that also achieved commercial success. people to recognise the power of the Web to Described by Dutton as “a study of art as a facilitate intellectual discourse. product of evolution”, the book focused on Born in California in 1944, Dutton received Darwinian applications in aesthetics. It has his PhD in philosophy from the University of so far been translated into five languages and California Santa Barbara in 1975. He joined the has become a landmark in its field. staff at the University of Canterbury in 1984 and As well as developing philosophical theories, was appointed Professor of Philosophy in 2009. Dutton sought to encourage recognition of the Just two weeks prior to his death, Dutton briefly work of others. In 1976, while working at the left hospital to receive the 2010 University of

Professor Denis Dutton 12 University of Canterbury A healthy approach to education

Creating a healthy, supportive environment The aim of HPS is to address barriers to learning from the HPS framework to tackle these issues, within school communities could be the key to by promoting the creation of positive and few were using the three components of the addressing barriers to learning and improving supportive school environments that address integrated approach. educational outcomes. the physical, mental, social and spiritual “Which means their programmes are not One strategy that is being mooted internationally needs of students. The strategy hinges on the going to be as effective as they could be,” as a way to achieve this goal is the Health involvement of all members of the school Cushman said. Promoting Schools (HPS) approach and two community — students, teachers, parents, community organisations and health agencies “For example, if a school is teaching health UC College of Education researchers have been education but the school canteen isn’t providing investigating the use of this method in New — working together to protect and promote healthy food options and parents don’t know Zealand’s schools. student health and wellbeing. what the healthy options are then the health Penni Cushman and Tracy Clelland (Sciences and While not mandatory in New Zealand, Cushman education programme has little chance of being Physical Education) said HPS is internationally and Clelland said schools have been encouraged successful.” recognised for its effectiveness in addressing to engage in HPS practices. To gauge the Cushman and Clelland said the survey also a range of health issues that adversely impact current use and knowledge of HPS in New revealed a general lack of understanding of the on student learning. These issues range from Zealand’s schools, the pair recently carried HPS approach among educators. mental health and food-related concerns out a nationwide survey of 1000 primary and to hygiene, physical fitness levels and sleep secondary schools from across urban and rural “There is not a lot of professional development deprivation. areas and representing a mixture of deciles. at a national level to help schools get on board The survey asked schools to identify the health but our research shows that there is a definite “Healthy students are more likely to be issues they believed influenced learning and need for it,” Clelland said. engaged in the school environment, which explored the strategies schools used to address means they learn better,” Cushman said. The survey findings had so far resulted in the these issues. publication of four papers, as well as conference “By creating a learning environment that presentations in New Zealand and overseas. promotes physical, mental, social and spiritual “What we found was that almost every school Cushman and Clelland said the survey had also wellbeing schools will be contributing to the identified health issues as being barriers to development of healthy, well-rounded people, learning,” Clelland said. opened up a lot of other research areas they were giving them skills they will carry with them “The top health concerns were to do with food keen to investigate. for life.” issues, where schools identified poor nutritional The New Zealand Ministry of Health is in the HPS is an international movement that choices and a lack of food as of concern. Mental process of developing a national strategic Tracy Clelland (left) and Penni Cushman emerged in the 1990s and is based on the health issues such as stress, anxiety, depression, framework to support and increase the principles of the Ottawa Charter for Health and emotional issues around self worth, bullying effectiveness of HPS in schools and Cushman some of the latest, up-to-date research to learn Promotion, an international agreement signed and stereotyping were also at the top as well as and Clelland hope their work will support from,” Cushman added. at the First International Conference on Health lack of sleep, physical activity and low fitness.” the process. “Hopefully they will leave their studies with more Promotion organised by the World Health The researchers said while a lot of the schools “Our findings have also helped inform our own understanding of HPS and how it can help create Organisation in 1986. surveyed had put in place one or two initiatives practice so our teacher education students have healthy learning environments.” By Stacey Doornenbal

Research Report 2010/2011 13 Fellowships open a world of discoveries

University of Canterbury academics are benefiting from a newly established fellowship programme designed to support early to mid-career researchers.

Five UC researchers have been awarded largely unknown so Tylianakis is studying these Rutherford Discovery Fellowships since network structures in detail and relating this to the programme was launched in late 2010. the function of ecosystems. Administered by the Royal Society of New Working in collaboration with scientists in Zealand, the fellowships provide financial Argentina, Tylianakis’ research shows that it is support of up to $200,000 per year over a five- possible to predict which relationships between year period, with funding going towards both the plant species and pollinators, such as particular researcher’s salary and programme of work. bee species, are most under threat. The multi-million dollar research boost is “Those plant and bee species that depend most furthering a variety of research projects at the strongly on each other will be the most likely University ranging from episodic word memory to to suffer from environmental changes, and this the development of a system to control rockets. accelerates the extinction of both plant and Three UC academics received fellowships in the pollinator species,” said Tylianakis. inaugural round — Professor Jason Tylianakis and Dr Paul Gardner (Biological Sciences), and The research, published in the March 2012 issue Professor Jennifer Hay (Languages, Cultures of Science, also showed how the network of and Linguistics) — with Dr Christopher Hann insects involved in pollination is disrupted not (Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Dr randomly but in a consistent way, which is why Anthony Poole (Biological Sciences) taking up they can now predict which relationships are the fellowships on 1 December 2011. most at risk. Tylianakis is using the fellowship to assist his Hay, who is Director of the New Zealand research programme investigating the interplay Institute for Language, Brain and Behaviour of species traits and resource constraints during based at UC, is conducting research into the assembly and disassembly of ecological episodic word memory. networks in changing environments. Individuals know many hundreds of thousands Global environmental changes threaten of words. Recent results indicate that what we biodiversity, but their effects on the networks of know about each word is shaped in a dynamic interactions connecting all living organisms are ongoing way with our own experience with that

Dr Christopher Hann

14 University of Canterbury “We are just beginning to appreciate the number of central roles that RNA mediated processes play in biology.”

word. Hay’s research programme explores this “This grant will allow us to investigate Australian, wind loads to allow prediction and Poole, a senior lecturer in genetics, is using a episodic word memory — asking what the range New Zealand and UK listeners’ adaptation stabilisation of the rocket. This approach combination of computational and experimental of environments (social, physical and contextual) to each other’s accents, in order to shed will avoid the need for costly trial and error approaches to investigate the evolution of in which we encounter a word does to the way light on how we are able to achieve stable runs currently used to tune the control systems biological complexity. He aims to shed light on we hear, use and pronounce that word. word recognition via flexible adjustment to and significantly reduce the long turnaround the mechanisms by which complex molecular “For example, words vary in their distribution pronunciation differences.” time required to launch and accurately position and cellular systems evolve. across different dialects and social groups,” said Gardner will put the new funding to use on a a payload. Poole said when looking at the inside workings Hay. “Someone exposed to both American and research programme looking at bioinformatic Hann has completed four successful rocket of a cell it was easy to think that the enormous New Zealand English dialects will have likely approaches to functionally characterise RNAs. launches for testing parachute recovery and complexity we saw reflected a well-honed and heard words like ‘filibuster’ predominantly from Together with proteins, fats, sugars and has completed the avionics. “I have developed well-adapted machine. a 6DOF rocket model with fin actuation and the former, and ‘parliament’ predominantly from DNA, RNA is a member of the selected group “But complex is not necessarily better — have validated it on one rocket flight and several the latter. In New Zealand a speaker will have of molecules that play a major role in life’s sometimes a simple streamlined system is wind tunnel tests. A gimbal frame has been heard the word ‘frightened’ more from older chemical machinery. Recent scientific advances more efficient than a needlessly complex one. constructed and we will do extensive control speakers than younger speakers, and the word have shown that RNAs are important for turning What I am hoping to do is to test the conditions system testing for pitch, yaw and roll in the ‘husband’ more from females than males.” genes on and off in response to different signals. under which biological complexity evolves and vertical wind tunnel followed by subsonic rocket In a central strand of her work, Hay is interested to understand how it persists. We want to work Gardner is using UC’s Blue Fern supercomputer flights in the near future. In addition, we have in whether the fact that the distributions out the genetic conditions that are conducive to facility to perform computational analyses developed a supersonic rocket, which is capable of some words are dominated by certain the emergence of such complexity. I’m excited of RNAs to find out more about their diverse of speeds up to Mach 2 and is expected to reach speaker groups have any consequences for the by the prospect of building a team of talented functions. an altitude of 8km.” representation and processing of these words. Gardner said his personal research goal was students and postdocs to work with me on these To answer this question, she is conducting In addition to writing a provisional US patent on “the complete functional classification of all problems.” psycholinguistic experiments and working with real-time control concept for rocket flight, Hann functional RNAs”. Poole said that as a scientist, UC was a “really large archives of recorded speech. and a PhD student are working with Trimble “We are just beginning to appreciate the Navigation Ltd to apply similar mathematical exciting place to work”, with new research labs One interesting set of questions arising number of central roles that RNA mediated algorithms developed on the rockets to and a talented cohort of local and international from the work relates to how the dialect to processes play in biology.” Caterpillar machines. students being attracted to the school. which a speaker is most exposed affects “I’m very pleased to have the opportunity and constrains their language use, and how Hann will use the fellowship to progress his Hann said the fellowship was “a fantastic to contribute to a strong research culture listeners are nonetheless able to adjust to work in the development of a system to opportunity to pursue exciting research in at Canterbury and to be working alongside speakers with different dialects. Hay, together control rockets. New Zealand”. students as they develop into great young with collaborators in Australia and the UK, His work involves building a mathematical “The Royal Society has had a great history of scientists.” was recently awarded an A$501,000 Australian model of the rocket as it is travelling through funding scientific projects and I feel honoured to Research Grant on this topic. space, including directly identifying random be part of that.” By Jeanette Colman

Research Report 2010/2011 15 Associate Professor Annie Potts

16 University of Canterbury Ruffling feathers

The human-like qualities of chickens, Chicken analyses the harsh reality of modern, changing cultural role in art, cinema, literature, including their ability to communicate, mass chicken farming and how that has mythology and even therapy. “There are 50 form friendships, feel pain, joy, grief developed over the past 100 years. “The ancient Romans used chickens for fortune and even boredom, are examined in a “There are 50 billion chickens killed for meat telling to predict the outcome of battles,” she billion chickens new book by University of Canterbury worldwide each year and 90 million chickens says. “In the past they were revered as creators killed for meat academic Associate Professor annually in New Zealand alone,” she says. of the universe in mythology while roosters were seen as solar divinities. Annie Potts (Humanities). The UK-published book cites the latest scientific worldwide each research from the United Kingdom, United “In the book I give an example of a bantam Chicken has been a two-year project for Potts States and Australia, revealing how chickens are rooster called Mr Joy who imparted ‘chicken year and 90 million who says she wanted to write a book showing more intelligent, expressive and individualistic therapy’ when taken around nursing homes chickens annually the intelligent side of an animal that has than they are credited for. to cheer up the patients. He developed quite a following and was very loved and admired. become largely disparaged in recent history. “I explore their cognitive, emotional and in New Zealand “I hope that by reading the book people will “I was concerned that people didn’t really have social abilities and how they form families gain a new perspective on, and appreciation alone.” any knowledge about chickens as living and communicate. People don’t often think for these birds.” creatures. I felt that they are seen as unthinking about chickens as being able to talk but avian and unfeeling blobs of meat. Most people don’t ethologists have discovered they have at least • Chicken by Annie Potts, published have anything to do with them until they end up 30 different calls, each meaning something by Reaktion Books Ltd, 2012, RRP on their plates,” she says. different. Previously it was believed that only US$19.95, paperback, 216pp, human language demonstrated syntax and “I wanted to show behind the chicken jokes. ISBN 978-1-86189-856-6. semantics; now we know chickens are also I was interested in their history and how it By Renee Jones capable of representational thinking and came to be that they are now so undervalued. associative learning. Chickens have traditionally been revered in past cultures but something has changed and “Chickens can also grieve when they lose a fellow now they are disparaged and ridiculed. Over chicken they are particularly close to. They will go the past 100 years they have gone from being and sit in the dark for a few days and stop eating. respected creatures to the most manipulated Interestingly, they are also capable of altruism, beings on the planet. I argue that it’s because and of acting deceptively.” of industrialisation and changes to the Potts, who grew up with a flock of chickens ways they are farmed that we have lost our in her backyard, also examines the natural connection to them.” history and evolution of chickens and the birds’

Research Report 2010/2011 17 Searching for the sources of seismicity

For the past 25 years, UC’s Geophysical Ltd, supported field survey logistics. not available in New Zealand. It was the connected to each other. In this context, if Department of Geological Sciences Professor Don Lawton, Director of the University collaboration with the University of Calgary team one fault segment ruptures and generates an has systematically studied and built of Calgary’s Consortium for Research in Elastic that provided this essential component.” earthquake due to a build-up of plate tectonic Wave Exploration Seismology (CREWES) and stresses, individual fault segments will tend up a record of the earthquake hazard of CREWES brought with them from Canada a support staff joined the team, making available heavy tractor-like buggy that transmits sound to rupture sequentially over a period of time the Canterbury region. No one could the specialised equipment required to undertake signals into the ground which are then reflected as there are no direct links between them. This have foreseen how critical this would the survey. back off geological strata ranging to depths is why the earthquake sequence has been so become in understanding the “Before these events, we had already identified of greater than two kilometres. The reflected complex, rather than a single through-going extraordinary sequence of Canterbury quite a number of active faults in the Canterbury signals are then recorded by a six kilometre array fault extending from the Greendale structure right through out to the eastern city. We’ve earthquakes that have occurred since region,” Pettinga says. “Both in the foothills of of geophone sensors and the data processed. had this sequence that’s been transferred September 2010. the Southern Alps and in the north-west and The end result provides images that build up a western part of the Canterbury Plains, we have detailed picture of the geometry and disposition progressively onto a number of fault branches of geological layers, including evidence of progressively further to the east.” Professor Jarg Pettinga, current Head of been aware for more than a decade now that any faults which are displacing strata in the Geological Sciences, along with now retired there are active faults close to Christchurch. So The information generated from the Seismic subsurface. colleague Jocelyn Campbell, were the driving we knew they were there, but we didn’t have Reflection Survey will provide the location force behind the longitudinal study which has great detail. The seismic reflection survey focused on the and some insights into the activity of faults since proved so valuable and pivotal in the “With our extensive database we have supported central and eastern parts of the city and on the beneath the city and its environs to assist investigations that have followed the Canterbury the probability modelling led by GNS Science aftershock-rich zone between the Greendale authorities with the revision of building codes earthquakes. Their Active Tectonics and over the last decade. This resulted in the fault and the Port Hills fault. Around 50 km of and land-use planning for the region. Pettinga Earthquake Hazard Research Programme had inclusion of a potential magnitude 7 earthquake line surveys were completed during the months has been involved in a number of workshops already established a sound understanding of source on hidden faults beneath the Canterbury of April and May 2011, and Pettinga and his team and committees to support decisions around the regional geological context. This was crucial Plains. So in effect, we had correctly identified are currently working through this data and these issues, and also to do with the forecasting in quickly recognising why these earthquakes the probability of such an event, but not pinned writing up reports. of earthquakes through his role as UC’s representative on the Natural Hazards Platform. were occurring and the relationship between down a specific location. Although we didn’t To the question of whether or not these two the September 2010 Darfield earthquake, the know about the Greendale fault in particular, critical faults will join up, Pettinga says it “is “These seismic events have added enormous February 2011 Port Hills earthquake and the we certainly had enough understanding to highly unlikely because both faults are inherited knowledge to the ongoing Active Tectonics and subsequent events that have occurred to the appreciate that there were active faults beneath from a much earlier geological period around 60- Earthquake Hazards Research Programme and east of the city. the plains that occasionally would rupture and 80 million years ago”. the team is even more highly motivated now to Following the February 2011 earthquake, Pettinga generate large earthquakes. “They were formed under different geological add to that,” Pettinga says. was commissioned by the Natural Hazards “The events of September 2010 and February conditions during a period when the Canterbury “South-west of the city and at the end of the Platform, along with GNS Science, to lead a 2011 highlighted the urgent need for a more crust was being stretched and extended, Greendale fault where the ground surface collaborative seismic reflection survey to search comprehensive knowledge of the subsurface the exact opposite of the situation today. rupture finished in September 2010, evidence for faults beneath Christchurch and the region geological profile beneath Christchurch and In extensional settings, faults tend to be has been found of that fault extending closer to south-west of the city. Dr Michael Finnemore, surrounding region,” says Pettinga, “but of relatively short length with many small the city by several kilometres. Evidence from the a UC graduate and Director of Southern such a survey requires expensive equipment segments that are not necessarily directly seismic survey corroborates this, confirming that

18 University of Canterbury the fault appears to terminate just on the city side of the state highway, but there is no evidence that the fault continues closer to the city.” Pettinga and colleagues from Geological Sciences and Civil and Natural Resources Engineering have postgraduate research students working on other aspects of the earthquake sequence on the Port Hills and on liquefaction studies in Christchurch and Kaiapoi. A newly arrived Rutherford Foundation Post- doctoral Fellow, Dr Ben Mackey, is undertaking a landform study to document previous large earthquakes that impacted on Banks Peninsula. Paleo-channels of the braided river systems forming the Canterbury Plains shown on vertical aerial photographs from the 1940s are being used to search for evidence of pre-historic ground ruptures but, to date, none has been found. “A wealth of new knowledge has been achieved over recent months and the seismic reflection survey has definitely added new understanding and insights to that which already existed prior to the earthquake sequence,” says Pettinga, “but as is always the case, many new questions arise and also need to be researched, so we are actively engaged in trying to answer those as well as contributing in any way we can to the rebuild of our city and community.” By Jann O’Keefe

Professor Jarg Pettinga Research Report 2010/2011 19 Dr Mark Quigley

20 University of Canterbury Living in the red zone

University of Canterbury geologist Quigley says his aim is to understand not only “We are trenching into the sand to understand “What I want to do is provide the whole scientific Dr Mark Quigley is digging deep into the history of active faults around the country, where the material is coming from and what context for the earthquakes in a user-friendly, the depths of the Canterbury Plains but also to discover the maximum magnitude this is going to look like in the geological record easy-to-read format for the public. I want to take potential of the faults. He is also involved in 1000 years from now. Will we be able to come an immensely complicated subject and pull it to try to shed light on possible future research into the much-talked-about Alpine Fault back to these sites where there have been several apart to its bare essentials so that people can earthquake activity in the region. and the Hope Fault in Marlborough. earthquakes above the critical shaking threshold understand the science,” he says. “We are trying to understand patterns of tectonic for liquefaction and know what happened or “I want to weave into that my own personal A senior lecturer in tectonics and uplift in the Kaikoura region and to the west. would we just see a pile of sand and not know experience of what it was like living in the red geomorphology, Quigley’s research focuses on The Hope Fault starts off the coast of Kaikoura what to make of it?” zone and to go through what we did. It’s a two main areas: earthquake behaviour, such and joins up with the Alpine Fault. It is a large Quigley’s research in East Timor, funded by personal account and a story about science. as fault rupture processes and the impact that earthquake and potential tsunami source so a Royal Society NZ Fast-Start Marsden Grant, It’s a unique position to be in as an earthquake has for future hazards; and the geomorphic understanding its earthquake history is very uses fossil corals to develop sub-annual records scientist to have my home destroyed by an evolution of continental landscapes. important. We are trying to understand its of climate change over millions of years and earthquake and to have a natural laboratory just Quigley (Geological Sciences) is currently past patterns of ruptures and I have a student examines how the tectonic uplift of Timor may metres away in my backyard.” have played a role in global climate change. channelling his expertise into analysing the working up there on that using airborne laser Quigley says that he is enormously proud of the past behaviour of the Greendale Fault near scanning imagery.” Despite his ongoing research, Quigley has been research that has been accomplished despite the Darfield, the site of the 7.1 magnitude quake on But Quigley, whose research has taken him to consistently in the media spotlight since the 4 hardships of the past year. 4 September. September and 22 February events, commenting Australia, East Timor and Mexico, has also been “We have accomplished incredible things. We led on the earthquakes and giving 45 public lectures. “It isn’t an easy thing to study because the working a lot closer to home. The geologist lost the world in the earthquake science response to record of past earthquakes is not obvious on the his Avonside home in the 22 February quake But his dedication has paid off. Not only was the Darfield earthquake despite the challenge of surface, so we have to dig deep to understand and has turned his red-zoned backyard into a he awarded the 2011 New Zealand Association living locally. It’s been difficult for a lot of us but any previous activity,” he says. laboratory for research. of Scientists Science Communicators award I would hope that the book I write could provide “We are using all sorts of techniques including “I have been focusing just on my property for 2011 for his communication work following a learning resource and also help people get ground penetrating radar, seismic reflection as a small scale project that needs to fit the quakes, but he also received the 2011 Prime through such an ordeal when it happens again in Minister’s Science Media Communication Prize surveys and detailed mapping to try and into a regional context but it’s important to New Zealand,” he says. and with it $50,000 and a further $50,000 understand the earthquake history of the understand things on a small scale,” he says. “The more we understand something the less allocated for developing his science media Greendale Fault and the other faults that “I am correlating the amount of distributions afraid of it we become and it helps to know communication skills ruptured last year. That also involves trenching of sand that comes out as liquefaction to the what we are up against. It hasn’t been easy but the faults to see if we can find evidence of past intensity and duration of seismic shaking at “To win those awards and to receive it has been an opportunity to do some amazing displacements in the materials. We are trying that site. It’s kind of the interface between acknowledgement from my peers is hugely science, educate the public and hopefully make a to produce maps of the sub-surface and try and seismology and geology. We are learning about important to me and I am very grateful,” he says. difference. As a scientist you don’t often get the image buried stream channels that may have the seismology from the dense seismic network Quigley adds that the Prime Minister’s award will chance to a make that sort of impact in broken apart in past quakes,” he says. in that area. enable him to write a book this year. your career.” By Renee Jones

Research Report 2010/2011 21 Veer, a senior lecturer in marketing and winner of longer socially acceptable, so the 21st century appeal with more than 800 million active users the 2011 College of Business and Economics’ Early has delivered replacement channels in the around the world. Delving Career Researcher of the Year Award, recently form of reality TV shows like Jackass and Tosh.O He says his family got into it as a great way conducted a study exploring how Facebook and online sites such as YouTube, Failblog and of keeping in touch with friends and family facilitates the breaking of social norms, using Facebook. overseas. the example of how the site eases the tension He says future research needs to look at whether “Also, colleagues overseas get to know me better between our desire to stare and the social taboo schadenfreude staring is triggered by Facebook through Facebook so that when we meet at a into the that frowns upon it in Western society. activity or if it is simply a change in consumer conference we can shake hands and talk about In his study with a small group of avid Facebook culture that accepts and demands more of this everything because we are like close friends, users, published in Research in Consumer Behavior type of entertainment. while if you just took our interactions at prior Vol 13 (Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 2011), “And my research raises the question: Is conferences we would vaguely remember each nuances Veer discovered users’ motivations for staring tomorrow’s online generation simply not that others’ names and that would be about it. into the lives of their “friends” were driven by interested in the feelings of others due to the Because we interact on a daily basis online we not just a desire to collect novel and interesting mediated nature of online activity? are building a much stronger social network and information, but also because their friends’ posts “I’m 31 so I’ve had 26 years of being socialised in that is hugely beneficial to me as a researcher of social repulsed them, and their friends’ misfortune an offline environment but for the generation here in New Zealand. released feelings of schadenfreude and self- growing up today and tomorrow it is endemic to “We are becoming a globalised culture but we affirmation. their culture so how is the online environment can have a small village feel still with Facebook.” affecting their social skills?” Veer’s research interests in social marketing Applying what he has learned from his initial media and transformative consumer research tend Veer, who has 700-plus Facebook friends and Facebook study to the world of marketing, to centre on “serious” issues such as eating admits to a slight addiction to the media (a Veer says there are key lessons for the business disorders and anti-smoking, so he originally week at a conference in Beijing without Internet community. Facebook. Defined by looked at Facebook for research fodder as a access felt like “an online detox”), says delving “One of the main things is you have to keep urbandictionary.com as bit of “light-hearted fun” but soon discovered into Facebook’s more nuanced appeals with his engaged. You can’t update your Facebook page “a stalker’s dream come true”, a much darker side to the phenomenally research “hat” on has opened his eyes to what’s every six months and think that’s okay. You can’t the voyeuristic behaviour of some popular pastime. going on but not turned him off it. have a competition to join Facebook and then of the social networking site’s users has He finds the schadenfreude aspect the most “A lot of people I know rage against it but for not do anything for two months. If you want to come under scrutiny by UC “consumer fascinating and says literature reviews reveal me I just accept that when I post something on do this it has to be a regular thing. psychologist” Dr Ekant Veer. that not much research has been done on Facebook — even if I have great privacy settings “And it’s not just about information. A lot schadenfreude in modern society aside from — I have to appreciate that someone will find out of Facebook business pages use this as an “surface level stuff related to sporting teams”. who I didn’t intend.” information portal but you see the really Veer says the Internet is “the modern-day freak Veer says it’s all about appreciating that “we’re successful ones are not just saying ‘here’s show”. He argues that the travelling freak show not so private now, learning to accept it and have what we’re doing and here’s the latest news’ carnivals of the late 19th/early 20th century with fun with it”. but also ‘here’s who we are, what we have in such “exhibits” as the bearded lady and Siamese Despite learning more about the darker, seedier development, what we’re planning’ and they twins that would draw crowds willing to pay, side to the site’s use, Veer says Facebook has a share and invite the sort of interactions that stare and laugh at other people’s misery are no lot of positives to offer its users hence its huge friends have and give a human side to their page.

22 University of Canterbury “I mean, you don’t just see your friend and say ‘Hey I’ve just had a baby’. You say ‘we’re thinking of having a baby’, ‘we’re pregnant’, ‘we’re six months on’ you know and then they can get involved and engaged. But if all you’ve heard from someone is ‘I’ve had a baby’ you’re going to feel you’ve missed out on a whole lot of the process and won’t feel close at all. “I’m reluctant to use the analogy of pregnancy but businesses do need to gestate a little bit for every news announcement.” Veer also says it is important businesses and organisations try to engage their audience and get them “liking” and commenting on posts. “Facebook is not a panacea for every business. It depends on how much effort you can put into it. And it is important to note it isn’t a way of making money but a way of building relationship and brand.” Having just dipped his toes into Facebook for research purposes, Veer sees plenty of scope to dive in to a huge potential pool of topics. “I’m looking more at the way that social media is changing our offline relationships, looking specifically at how our offline relationships and our online relationships are very divergent. Are you a different person when you are on Facebook than when you are offline? Or when you’ve had a bad day offline do you try and compensate by getting support from your online world?” Veer says he would also like to explore more of the nuanced interactions that are deemed acceptable online but offline would be quite the reverse, such as assuming someone else’s identity on Facebook to post as them (“fraping”) or the notion of “defriending”. By Maria De Cort

Dr Ekant Veer

Research Report 2010/2011 23 The burka ban

When a controversial French law became a topic of interest over coffee, UC senior law lecturer “Stripping women of the right to wear an item of Geoffrey Leane’s curiosity was piqued. The result was an internationally published article, spiritual significance will have a psychological price-tag. a two hour lecture to law students in France, The burka is a ‘public’ face for many women, do they and inclusion in his teaching at the University of Canterbury as an example of when a Bill now need to hide?” of Rights can fail. The problem? In April 2010 the French passed a law banning women from wearing the full body burka in public. Leane University of Toulouse was invited to speak on for wearing the niqab and these prosecutions labels this “outrageous”. “How far do you go? the topic in November at the University of Albi. are being contested. Potentially the French ban Surely it’s a hallmark of a liberal democracy to His lecture coincided with the publication of may end up before the European Court of be tolerant of others.” his research in the international journal Human Human Rights. The French law carries a fine of €150 for female Rights Quarterly (2011, 22: 1032-1061). Both were New Zealand came under scrutiny in 2011 when violators and larger penalties for men found to well received, although Leane was surprised at in two separate incidents bus drivers refused be pressuring women to wear the garment. the conservative response from the French law entry to Moslem women wearing a veil. Leane students. “Half of them were happy with the “When I heard about it, I realised it was a said our own protection of rights was much question at the limits of liberal political theory, law.” He has since found this result mirrored with weaker than the French “when you consider how the freedom of an individual’s right to express his University of Canterbury law students. little difficulty the New Zealand government their religious belief,” said Leane, who reasons “To understand our Bill of Rights, you must would have in changing our own Bill of Rights”. that despite our preconceptions about the burka, understand how liberal political theory forms “Stripping women of the right to wear an we have no right to inhibit the wearing of a it,” said Leane. “This French compromise item of spiritual significance will have a garment if an individual should freely choose to is extremely important, it’s a wonderful psychological price-tag,” said Leane. “The do so. opportunity to observe a contemporary breach burka is a ‘public’ face for many women, do “This happens to be material I teach in my Bill of of rights.” His research has a “payback in they now need to hide?” Rights and Jurisprudence classes. So I did more teaching” and helps students here to focus on Leane will continue to question the justification research and found this law at odds with France “our own weak protection of rights”. for this ban. The absurdity of the ban was as a liberal democratic state. Why was that? Can This is a topic very much in vogue. Similar brought home to Leane on a flight to Paris when it be justified?” legislation to the French burka ban is being a woman sitting next to him suggested that On study leave in the second half of 2011, Leane rolled out through the Netherlands, Belgium and “there are laws against wearing too little, this is

Photo: Dreamstime Photo: was in France and through the Law School of the Spain. Two women have been fined in Brussels a law against wearing too much”. By Amy McDaid

24 University of Canterbury Stress taking toll on frontline workers

Human service workers in Christchurch have Many human service organisations had been under a lot of pressure over the past taken steps to support their employees, year following the Canterbury earthquakes, though some methods were proving more University of Canterbury social work and effective than others. Some organisations human services lecturer Associate Professor had their out-of-town management visit Kate van Heugten has found, but there are Christchurch to better understand the steps organisations can take to help. situation and so avoid making unreasonable Van Heugten, who interviewed frontline workers demands. Van Heugten said that it was and managers from human service organisations important that management was seen to be after October 2011, said she noticed several making an effort to support staff. trends. She found that prolonged stress was “Of course, it’s been hard for some, but if taking a toll on those in charge of helping others, they’ve visibly and actively made efforts for but also that they were often reluctant to tell staff to be able to talk about the impact on others they were having trouble. them and support them at home as well “They’re coping pretty well, but they are really as at work, that’s built loyalty amongst tired. They’re not necessarily publicly advertising their workers.” that because they really are people who are Talking about experiences was found to be concerned about their client groups or service an important part of dealing with stressful users, so they don’t want to say ‘we’re really situations, as workers responding to the tired’ because they want to help.” immediate and longer term aftermath of The causes of the stress varied, with improvised the disaster often experienced stress in the facilities and reduced resources putting workers form of “shared trauma”, where they had to repeatedly put their own problems to the One positive trend that came up in the in difficult situations. Other causes were not interviews was that the first earthquake in “The causes of the stress being able to talk about their own problems and side in order to help other people deal with theirs. September 2010 actually ended up being helpful varied, with improvised the feeling of not being able to offer as much because it gave staff at many organisations help as was needed. “Some organisations have encouraged something akin to a dry run before the more facilities and reduced “What upsets service workers most is when they people to talk about the earthquake more severe earthquake in February 2011. don’t feel they have the resources available to help than others, not forced debriefing but giving resources putting people opportunities to talk about it. Some “A number of people talked about how it helped their service users. Working long hours is hard, them prepare for the February one. [Without it] workers in difficult working with really distressing situations is hard, organisations have at least been perceived as clamping down on that. People find in some ways they wouldn’t have been quite as but what really gets people down is when they well prepared,” van Heugten said. situations.” feel they can’t do as good a job as they would that stressful — they prefer to be able to like to for the people that they serve. That’s why communicate.” By Martin Moore they’re in that line of work. It’s not for the pay.” By Amy McDaid

Research Report 2010/2011 25 Antarctic lake opens window on early life on Earth By Stacey Doornenbal

Unique microbial structures found only in a remote lake in Antarctica are giving a University of Canterbury researcher a glimpse into the organisation of early life on Earth.

Photo supplied by Professor Ian Hawes.

26 University of Canterbury “As far as we know there are no other ecosystems like this in the world and by studying it we could have a better understanding of what life perhaps used to be like on Earth billions of years ago.”

Limnologist Dr Ian Hawes, Professor of Antarctic intensely purple Cyanobacteria (blue-green He said the astrobiologists were particularly Limnology at Gateway Antarctica and the algae) and are made up of layer upon layer of interested in what the lake could tell them about Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management, organo-sedimentary material. These structures what life could have been like on Mars. was recently part of an international research seem to be unique in the modern world, yet “Mars is extremely cold now but it used to be closely mirror formations that were common expedition to study other-worldly landscapes a lot warmer and there is a body of opinion in shallow waters around the globe around two discovered in 2008 in Lake Untersee in the that, for a long time, it could have supported billion years ago,” he said. Queen Maud Land area of Antarctica. Earth-like organisms. Knowing what to look for Lake Untersee, the largest and deepest “Understanding the functioning of these as incontrovertible evidence of past life is a real freshwater lake in East Antarctica, was extremely modern structures can offer insights into challenge, and the communities in Lake unusual, Hawes said. Its crystal clear waters were how the earliest communities on Earth were Untersee provide more insights into what permanently covered in about three metres of organised. Cyanobacteria are the oldest lineage fossilisable structures are unmistakable Professor Ian Hawes ice so there was no contact with the atmosphere; of photosynthetic organisms on Earth, having evidence of life.” Hawes said the cone-like shape of the structures there were no streams flowing into the lake so evolved two to three billion years ago when Hawes first got a glimpse of Lake Untersee was also due to the convection currents caused it got all its water and gasses, including carbon the Earth was a very different place. They are and its unusual inhabitants in 2008 when he by the melting ice, which also distributed the dioxide needed for photosynthesis, from melting thought to have introduced high concentrations travelled to Antarctica with the same group of bacteria, creating chains of mounds along the ice. The lake’s water, which contained high levels of oxygen into the atmosphere and, for hundreds researchers. Unable then to study the lake fully, lake floor. of dissolved methane, was extremely alkaline. of millions of years in the Precambrian, they probably dominated the planet. the team was able to return recently to study “Diving beneath the ice of Lake Untersee is an These unusual features, Hawes said, had led its environment more closely. eerie experience. Everything is blue, it’s super- “The first evidence of the emergence of these to the creation of a unique environment as quiet, the water is crystal clear and spread organisms are fossils known as stromatolites, to “We were a varied team and my job was to microbial ecosystems in the lake adapted to their out before you and, way into the distance, are which some of the Lake Untersee structures bear measure the photosynthetic activity of the unusual surroundings over millions of years. countless numbers of these extraordinary cones. a striking resemblance. The Untersee structures bacteria and to look at the ecology of the lake Working with scientists from the Winogradsky It’s easy to imagine that you have dived into a in particular resemble a type of stromatolite and how the mounds were formed. In terms of different world.” Institute of Microbiology, part of the Russian known as a ‘complex cone’, and these are so growth, the structures formed very slowly — Academy of Sciences, and planetary scientists far the only known modern example of such growing at a fraction of a millimetre a year over Hawes said the task now was to examine from NASA, the SETI Institute and the University stromatolites. There is still controversy over thousands of years. Slow growth is mainly due samples collected from the lake as there were a of California, Hawes’ role on the expedition was the extent to which this and related kinds of to the absence of carbon dioxide in the water, lot more questions the team wanted to answer. to study bacterial cone-like structures, a form of stromatolite are evidence of biology or could be which severely limits photosynthesis but the “As far as we know there are no other ecosystems stromatolite, that cover the bottom of the lake. formed by sedimentation alone. The evidence very small amount of sediment reaching the like this in the world and by studying it we could “These structures rise up to half a metre from from Lake Untersee comes down on the side of a lake means that even slow growth can outpace have a better understanding of what life perhaps the lake bottom, are covered in a thin layer of biological involvement.” sedimentation.” used to be like on Earth billions of years ago.”

Research Report 2010/2011 27 Understanding the youth of today

Dr Bronwyn Hayward’s research in Environment: Nurturing a Democratic Imagination Hayward said seed funding from UC was vital to planning for a new longitudinal global survey political and social sciences is youth- in a Changing World (Earthscan/Routledge, 2012). kicking off the project, however, as the depth of of young citizens aged 12 to 25 years in 21 the research findings became apparent, she countries. The research is for the United Nations focused, globally connected and locally The research for the book began in took special leave to the UK accepting two, Environment Programme’s new sustainable relevant. Her field of enquiry centres Christchurch and led to work with research teams in the UK, Norway and the United concurrent visiting fellowships to develop the consumption unit with the UK Sustainable on understanding the way that values of emerging ideas. The first was with the UK’s Lifestyles Research group in consultation with Nations in Paris. Hayward initiated the Environment/Economics Commissioner Tim a number of agencies including the OECD and democracy and the social, economic and Christchurch study in 2006. Over the following Jackson’s research group RESOLVE, an ESRC- International Social Science Research Council. environmental conditions required to four years she worked with seven graduate funded centre for Research on Sustainable students: Jessica Buck, Wakaiti Dalton, Holly “The study aims to provide global qualitative support citizens can be renewed for Lifestyles, Values and the Environment based at Donald, Nicholas Kirk, Amanda Thomas, Celia research that will be useful for drawing each generation. the University of Surrey and the second, at the Sheerin, and Aramiro Te Rakena. The students international comparisons and tracking trends in Tyndall Centre for Climate Change based at the each graduated with distinction and were children’s lifestyles.” “Every generation faces unique challenges; University of East Anglia. however globally, those born at the turn of funded by New Zealand Electoral Commission Hayward’s work at the Tyndall Centre focused scholarships, a College of Arts grant and UC With Jackson, Hayward joined the steering this millennium face an almost perfect storm on rethinking the “social contract” or the summer scholarships. The project examined committee of a United Nations Environment relationship between governments and of unprecedented youth unemployment, Christchurch children’s attitudes to citizenship, Programme global survey where Hayward led generations of citizens in a changing climate. dangerous environmental change, a strained with the graduate researchers returned to the UK and New Zealand contribution to an That work culminated in a research partnership model of economics driving unsustainable their home primary schools to interview 160 international research study involving 8000 with Professor Karen O’Brien and Dr Elin Selboe growth, growing social inequality and weakening children aged 8-12, mostly in Christchurch, young participants from 21 countries using at the University of Oslo in Norway, funded democracies as communities everywhere about their views on their community and online qualitative surveying undertaken in by the Norklima Norwegian science research struggle to hold decision makers to account,” 13 languages. local democracy. council. The team plan to study young people’s said the senior lecturer in UC’s School of Social “Our research questioned 18-35 year olds lives and attitudes in Norway over the next three “We were looking at what gives children a and Political Sciences. about their quality of life and their lifestyle with years to understand what enables Norwegian sense of ‘political agency’, that is, their ability “In Christchurch we have a constant reminder of a view to predicting social, consumer and children to flourish in a changing climate. to imagine their future and the confidence the importance of the task before us. The future energy trends.” and skills to act with others to achieve their “2011’s devastating Oslo shootings will prompt of our young people requires us to rethink the goals. The results were very rich and startled “The project proved to be an insightful source of a careful reconsideration of how we use the social, economic and environmental supports us. Children’s sense of politics and justice, their data because we collected information directly research resources to support the recovery of a our children will need if they are to flourish into experience of their environment and community, from participants via social media rather than cohort of Norwegians devastated by the loss of the future.” and the hardships and joy they reported gave us relying on data filtered by government reports.” so many young leaders.” Hayward’s current work is published in a a deeper insight into what supports children’s The success of that global survey resulted in Hayward notes that disaster also intervened in forthcoming book, Children, Citizenship and ability to act as citizens in liberal democracies.” Hayward and Jackson being invited to lead the the Christchurch children’s study in the form

28 University of Canterbury “2011’s devastating Oslo shootings will prompt a careful reconsideration of how we use the research resources to support the recovery of a cohort of Norwegians devastated by the loss of so many young leaders.” of the Canterbury earthquakes in ways that underscore some of the universal conditions that all children need to flourish as citizens in changing environmental conditions. “Our earthquake experiences have provided a point of connection for other communities. Reflecting on my research in the UK, particularly after the austerity measures were introduced there, for example, I have been startled at the parallels between the impacts of economic restructuring on young lives and earthquakes — both have the potential to have some similar, devastating effects. It is how we respond to prioritise children that will make a difference to outcomes. We have to tackle issues affecting youth at all levels, globally and locally.” A passionate advocate for youth, Hayward hopes that her research and her involvement in cross- disciplinary teams can make a difference to the futures of young people. Since returning to New Zealand Hayward accepted an appointment as trustee of the Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable Development in London, working with government agencies and charities to develop a voice for future generations at the United Nations. She has also been appointed to the management committee of the Child Poverty Action Group in Auckland. By Jacquie Walters

Photo: Dreamstime

Research Report 2010/2011 29 Putting real-life economic theories to the test The New Zealand Experimental Economics Laboratory (NZEEL) based at the University of Canterbury under the directorship of Dr Maroš Servátka (Economics and Finance) has the potential to benefit businesses and individuals alike.

Dr Maroš Servátka

30 University of Canterbury To test economic theories and potential This methodology also enabled NZEEL to provide Martin Dufwenberg from University of Arizona effects of exogenous revenue shocks on long- market institutions, NZEEL performs controlled evidence and support for how policies might and Radovan Vadovič from Autonomous term relationships between firms and their laboratory experiments to identify how people unfold in the field. One could run economic Technological Institute of Mexico, propose a new workers. behave in different economic situations. experiments to assess various open policy issues, theory of negotiations in partnerships, which will “The research environment at UC is exceptional ranging from whether labour market trial periods “Economics is about behaviour,” Servátka said. be tested using laboratory and field experiments. and I have greatly benefited from it.” “How do economic agents like firms are an effective way of screening employees or “Partnerships occur under a variety of whether an unemployment insurance bonus Servátka joined the staff at Canterbury in and consumers behave and make decisions? circumstances. Sometimes they are reinforced increases the search intensity for jobs. 2007. After completing a PhD in economics at “Experimental economics is the application by formal agreements or contracts that induce the University of Arizona in the United States, The team believed its work had a multitude of experimental methods to study economic co-operation through the right set of economic he took up a position at the University of of potential benefits yet to be accessed in questions. incentives. But more often agreements are Mannheim in Germany before coming to UC. New Zealand. informal, sealed only by a handshake, which “In the laboratory we are able to accurately requires the parties to trust in their mutual In 2008 he was awarded a fellowship to spend observe human decision-making, eliminate “When you look at big companies in the States, like eBay, Google, or Yahoo!, they have honesty. In this project we’re studying how the a semester at the George Stigler Center at the potential confounds present in naturally University of Chicago Booth School of Business, occurring activities and even observe their own research department that conducts incentives in the ensuing relationship shape economic experiments relevant to their business the agreement between honest players on what and in 2009 he served as guest editor of a special unobservables, like for example fraud or issue of the journal New Zealand Economic cost of effort. Our participants are paid strategies. New Zealand doesn’t have these actions to take. Papers (43(2)), which focused on experimental based on the decisions they make. This helps economies of scale so that’s why NZEEL could be “Our solution builds on the past 20 years of economics. to create the incentives they would have in so important here. We can run projects that the behavioural research. It specifies that parties everyday-life scenarios. whole of New Zealand society can benefit from,” to a negotiation split monetary gains-from- His research has been published in European Servátka said. Economic Review, Experimental Economics, “In our experiments everything depends on how trade equally as long as this is individually Journal of Economic Education, Journal of real people respond to economic incentives. At “We are affiliated with large experimental rational for each of them. Unequal divisions, or Economic Psychology, Journal of Socio-Economics, the beginning of each experiment we give them research centres throughout the world and have compensated deals, are justified only if one of instructions about the decision-making scenario amazing visitors, top experimental economists the parties is facing too much temptation to Games, Economics Bulletin, and Perspectives on and available choices and explain what the who come every year to visit NZEEL and work on renege and would be unlikely to honour the Economic Education Research, among others. monetary consequences of their decisions are. our collaborative projects.” deal in the future.” He also has five working papers which are currently undergoing a review process in highly Based on their own preferences, people choose Servátka specialises in experimental and Servátka’s other projects include a couple of ranked economics journals and another eight options they prefer. Then we calculate their behavioural economics and is interested in behavioural studies of firm boundaries (with earnings and pay them in cash as they leave the how fairness considerations and psychological Hodaka Morita from the University of New papers in progress. laboratory. factors, such as guilt, pride or reciprocity, South Wales), a real-effort experiment with Servátka was named the UC College of Business “Having a world-class lab here at Canterbury govern decisions of economic agents during Canadian economists Bram Cadsby and Fei Song and Economics’ Early Career Researcher of the gives us a huge advantage. It’s a modern lab negotiations or in labour markets. using MBA students as participants to study Year in 2010 and was awarded the Early Career that enables us to test sophisticated theories Servátka is currently working on a research gender competitiveness, a series of experiments Research Excellence Award at the 2011 Modelling which, based on a set of assumptions, predict programme examining whether informal exploring the effects of status quo in economic and Simulation Society of Australia and New certain decisions. Following an experiment agreements fostered trust and co-operation decision-making (with an NZEEL affiliate James Zealand biennial conference held in Perth in we are able to answer whether people really in the absence of formal contracts. In this Cox, from Georgia State University, and Vadovič), December 2011. behave the way that the theory predicts,” he said. programme Servátka and his co-authors, and a labour market experiment testing the By Jane Lucas

Research Report 2010/2011 31 An engineer in the field of structural biology determine the shape of the molecule, requiring Molecular is looking to apply new data analysis tools to additional experimental work. Sometimes the unravel the complex structures of individual crystals are not good enough and so they don’t biological macromolecules such as proteins diffract sufficiently well, and sometimes it’s just mysteries and viruses. not possible to make a crystal. So there are many In September 2012 Professor Rick Millane protein molecules out there whose structures unravelled (Electrical and Computer Engineering) will take haven’t been determined — membrane proteins up a two-year James Cook Research Fellowship in particular, which are actually very important.” to study ways of decoding data from new x-ray The new x-ray free electron lasers rely on short free-electron laser technologies which will enable pulses, lasting just hundreds of femtoseconds (or biologists to better understand the structure and quadrillionths of a second), of extremely intense function of biological molecules. It is a relatively x-rays to give atomic-level resolution snapshots new field of science — Millane will be working on an ultrafast timescale. with scientists and engineers at the University o “Because the intense diffraction is much f California Berkeley and Arizona State University stronger you can use much smaller crystals — in the US, and the University of Hamburg in nanocrystals, less than about a thousandth of Germany — but a field expected to produce long- a millimetre in size. These are easier to produce awaited insight into the workings of these tiny than bigger crystals and can form spontaneously.” particles. The result is tens of thousands of weak diffraction Biological molecules are made up of long patterns giving huge amounts of digital data, polymolecular chains that fold themselves which is where Millane’s expertise comes in. up into complex three-dimensional shapes. Identifying this shape helps determine how the “It is somewhat unusual for engineers to be molecule functions biologically and the location working in the biology arena — it is a different of active sites where it interacts with other skill set — but we do a lot of data processing and molecules to perform certain biological processes. tend to think in a more mathematical way, and the combination of complementary skills can For the past sixty years x-ray crystallography, lead to a more creative outcome.” in which an x-ray beam is fired through an artificially grown crystal made up of millions of A better understanding of the thousands of molecules lined up in a regular pattern, has been proteins in the body is sought by biologists, used to plot the unique shapes of molecules. A physicians and drug companies. detector picks up the pattern of the scattered “If you’re designing drugs, you need to know how x-rays (called a diffraction pattern) which is then a particular protein functions and the only way analysed using a computer to provide the three- to do that is to work out what its precise chain dimensional shape. folding is. For example, finding out where the While the process is becoming more efficient, active sites are in a virus, and the arrangement of it does have its drawbacks. the amino acids in the sites, may help you design a drug that can block replication of the virus. “Sometimes it doesn’t work, particularly for That’s the end goal.” large molecules,” says Millane. “Sometimes it can be difficult to get enough information to By Sally Blundell

Professor Rick Millane

32 University of Canterbury Building on UC’s research strengths

Driving the research environment at the Water and Atmospheric Research and Geological University of Canterbury to reflect its core & Nuclear Sciences via the Natural Hazards strengths is just one of the many priorities Research Platform,” he said. Assistant Vice-Chancellor Research (AVCR) “We are working with those external Professor Steve Weaver wants to achieve. organisations much more closely, often Weaver, who took over the role of driving the involving postgraduate students in joint strategic research direction and performance of research programmes. We have always worked the University in 2010, has worked on campus for with the CRIs but now we are achieving a 34 years, originally making his mark in geological step change in the degree of cooperation as sciences where he was head of department for New Zealand research moves away from the ten years. competitive model of previous years.” Weaver’s own research during that time focused Weaver said the transformation of UC’s on the geological evolution of the Southern research efforts via the innovation pipeline is Pacific Rim and environmental applications of a priority for the University to demonstrate geo-chemistry. Now, as AVCR, he is committed tangible returns to the society that supports to guiding the whole research portfolio to its endeavours. emphasise the University’s established and “I see the University of Canterbury as playing emerging strengths and to indicate clearly the a significant leading role in the New Zealand benefit of UC research to New Zealand. research and innovation eco-system,” he said. “We need to develop further our existing very “We are working in partnership with industry good research strengths in engineering, the far more effectively than ever before. NZi3, sciences, communication disorders and health the Wireless Research Centre, Electric Power together with education and linguistics,” he said. Engineering Centre and the Biomolecular “In saying that, across the university there Interaction Centre have all helped us make are other areas of research expertise that are good progress in this area.” Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Research, Professor Steve Weaver nationally and internationally recognised.” But the University’s research role during the Weaver said another key focus was to intensify rebuild of Christchurch, following the sequence “The response of our researchers at the discipline has got involved which is superb, and and drive strategically collaborative research of 2010-2011 earthquakes, would be particularity University has been very impressive. We now the CEISMIC project is a major contribution in partnerships with the Crown Research important, Weaver said. have more than 170 earthquake-related research the digital humanities and beyond,” he said. Institutes (CRIs). “I think a very significant portion of our research projects across all disciplines. A lot of people “That response is an immediate confirmation of “We have made very good progress in the last effort now and for the next few years will be would expect just geology and engineering the relevance the University of Canterbury has to 12 months, particularly with relationships with directed towards and will benefit the recovery to be involved but we have had our education the community that it serves.” people out there in schools, sociologists and Industrial Research Ltd, Environmental Science and growing resilience of the Canterbury By Renee Jones By Sally Blundell & Research, SCION, the National Institute of region,” he said. psychologists out there, just about every

Research Report 2010/2011 33 Long after the ground finally Preserving stops shaking, the story of how the people of Canterbury endured in the face of some of the most significant natural earthquake events in New Zealand’s history will remain thanks to a major new digital archive initiative based at the memories University of Canterbury.

Photo by Ross Becker

34 University of Canterbury CEISMIC — the Canterbury Earthquakes Digital “Already Canterbury’s stories are being lost disaster impact and recovery, complementing accounting practices, and experience of the Archive — is an initiative of UC’s School of as people try to move on, perhaps deleting the Ministry for Culture and Heritage’s website, disaster by the elderly. The CEISMIC project is Humanities to preserve the stories, images their earthquake-related emails, texts, phone www.quakestories.govt.nz. also supporting a group seeking to preserve and media concerned with the devastating messages, images and movies in the process. “We’re building for the long term,” says Millar. Christchurch history through a range of local Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. The We must begin now and we must be prepared “Quakestudies can hold millions of digital heritage digitisation initiatives. project’s website, www.ceismic.org.nz, which to operate for decades to come. When all the objects. It will be like an Olympic swimming pool “The CEISMIC website and Quakestudies are was launched in October 2011, was the first step empirical data around the earthquakes has been — really well designed, but largely empty to begin being built for the future as well as the present,” in a process of preserving this material collected and the city’s infrastructure restored, with. Our researchers and students will spend says Millar. “These projects will take time and and facilitating the study of the impacts and the effects will still be felt among families and years filling it. In the coming decades you’ll they will cost money. What we intend to do effects of the disasters and the region’s communities. These events have torn apart be able to plunge in and find it full of material won’t be properly achieved without public buy-in recovery process. towns and suburbs and irrevocably changed our carefully preserved for future generations and and substantial material support. The University It is envisaged that when completed the website society. For a long time our cultural landscapes other communities that experience disasters. of Canterbury, recognising the importance and are going to seem as strange to us as our urgency of the task, committed significant start- will be the portal to a world-class, federated “It is fitting, given everything they’ve endured, archive of earthquake stories, images and media. deconstructed cityscapes. up funding at a time of real scarcity. But with that UC students will drive the CEISMIC Users will be able to search across New Zealand’s “We aren’t unique in our experiences. We know potentially millions of digital objects to curate project. Selected students will work as interns digital heritage collections for earthquake- that many communities will experience disasters and ingest, we’ll be looking in every direction for and research assistants to create and curate related content and find places where they can of this magnitude or greater in the future assistance.” earthquake content. We’re also establishing contribute their own material. but we may be a little unique in being such a New Zealand’s first digital humanities Major supporters already on board include the geographically defined, relatively homogenous, The CEISMIC consortium, led by the University teaching programme around CEISMIC, and Canterbury Community Trust, which donated first-world community with high technology of Canterbury, includes the National Library, the we’ll be offering humanities-focused courses $55,000 towards the recording studio and to uptake. We have the means to fully document Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Christchurch in web design, software development, project support earthquake research; and the project’s our experiences; we have a world-class university City Libraries, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery management, writing for the web and critical two founding partners: multinational change uniquely placed to study these experiences; Authority (CERA), Te Papa, Archives New Zealand, analysis of online content. management company Sysdoc Group, and Canterbury Museum, NZ On Screen and the Ngāi and through the CEISMIC digital archive we will Christchurch newspaper The Press, which will “We’ve even equipped our own mobile recording Tahu Research Centre. have the ability to share what we learn with offer long-term support. communities in similar situations around the studio — ‘The Quake Box’— in a donated Heading the project is UC academic Associate world in the hope they may benefit from our container which will be staffed by students and “The University of Canterbury and the CEISMIC Professor Paul Millar, who co-ordinates the knowledge.” deployed at places where people can record their consortium can play a unique role in turning the University’s Department of English, Cinema earthquake stories.” tragedy and suffering to the benefit of others,” and Digital Humanities, within the School of The focus of the CEISMIC website is on says Millar. “We didn’t ask for this disaster, but To initiate CEISMIC-related research projects Humanities. He and Project Manager Dr James community participation and commemoration, now that it has happened, the onus is on us to the University has established a $100,000 Smithies have modelled the CEISMIC project on but the site will also provide an essential take something positive out of it. contestable research fund to support a range of the 11 September Digital Archive at George resource for local and international researchers and students, says Millar. research projects from any discipline. “I’d like to think that a century or two from Mason University in the United States, which is now, a researcher will still be able to access the not only a major research resource for those UC is not only leading the CEISMIC consortium, Millar says among the 13 projects to have CEISMIC digital archive and find in it answers studying the terrorist attacks but also a significant but has started building an important new received support in the first funding round are to questions people have only just realised they teaching tool and public outreach facility. asset for New Zealand’s national cultural studies on making coastal cities more disaster need answers to.” heritage infrastructure behind the scenes. resilient, the nature of public earthquake Millar says that the creators of the 11 September By Stacey Doornenbal Digital Archive learned that collecting such “Quakestudies”, which will go live in May commemorations, memorialising Christchurch material is time-critical. 2012, will promote and facilitate research into in photos, the effects of the earthquakes on

Research Report 2010/2011 35 Cancer epidemiology enhances health sciences In the short time Professor Ann Richardson has been resident Cancer Epidemiologist in UC’s Health Sciences Centre, she has initiated six collaborative projects with far-reaching potential for public health in New Zealand.

Professor Ann Richardson

36 University of Canterbury Richardson’s position was established as “The reason we test for both viruses,” says have not seen the same rise in incidence of services for people with head and neck cancer in a partnership between the Wayne Francis Richardson, “is that they are both Herpesviruses, colorectal cancer.” Canterbury was identified as an area of need. Charitable Trust and UC. She has worked in and similarly transmitted — so if we detect a link Potter has links with huge cohort studies around The question is whether the services currently cancer epidemiology for more than 20 years, with one virus and not the other, it strengthens the world and has contacted colleagues with being delivered are adequate and whether they firstly at Otago University in Dunedin, then the finding because it indicates that the this hypothesis. Interest is high and the Nurses will remain so as the New Zealand population at Oxford University in the UK, and finally in association may be causal and not due to bias. In Health Study, a large US cohort study, has agreed continues to age and to grow. As the risk of Public Health at the Christchurch campus of previous research, we have found an association to analyse their data to test this hypothesis. head and neck cancer increases with age, the Otago University. Arriving at UC in June 2011, between breast cancer and cytomegalovirus, but “We have also applied for a Marsden Grant, number of people with head and neck cancers is she brought an entirely new area to UC Health not EBV.” led by John Potter, to investigate international therefore expected to also increase in the future. Sciences and a long-standing interest in breast A third proposal, in collaboration with colleagues patterns of breast cancer which show a five fold A detailed guidance document for support cancer epidemiology and screening. at the Christchurch Medical School, will difference in incidence across the world. New services for people with this cancer has recently Richardson also has an eminent collaborator, approach the same hypothesis in a different Zealand is one of the high risk countries and been released in the UK that recognises the Adjunct Professor John Potter, who receives way by testing whether there is evidence of viral many researchers think the five fold difference major difficulties these people experience after support from the Canterbury Medical Research genetic material in breast tissue and will entail can be explained by reproductive factors in treatment. accessing samples from the Christchurch Cancer Foundation, of whom she says “we are females such as number of children, breast Richardson is very aware of the problems faced Society Tissue Bank. The researchers are currently extremely lucky to have the involvement of this feeding or the age of women when they bear by this population. internationally renowned cancer epidemiologist. seeking funding sources for this project. their children, but we are not convinced. “Their difficulties can centre around speech, He has a long history of discovery at the Fred Rice consumption in eastern cultures is the “Although female breast cancer is one hundred swallowing, eating and changes in appearance Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in the US subject of another study, also in collaboration times more common than male breast cancer, that can be extremely hard to adjust to. The and strong affiliations with a number of very with Potter and international colleagues. we have looked at comparing the incidence in support services they require come from multiple large international cancer cohort studies.” This will look at whether rice consumption these countries of breast cancer in men. Findings sources. At different times they will need could be a protective factor for colorectal The two share a common interest in a potential indicate a strong relationship between male surgeons, oncologists and nurse practitioners. cancer. In countries like Hong Kong and Japan, breast cancer and female breast cancer incidence association of viruses with breast cancer and They might also need psychologists, speech international patterns of the incidence of in the same countries. The differences between together are involved in proposals for three therapists, oral and maxillofacial surgeons, and colorectal cancer show a rise from one of the countries cannot be due solely to female different projects to test this hypothesis. One of dentists as well as Māori health providers, the lowest incidence rates to one of the highest in reproductive factors if the same incidence these projects, with Health Sciences colleagues Cancer Society, and the whole range of primary the world within a few decades. pattern is occurring in males, and we want to Arindam Basu and Pat Coope, is in collaboration care support. with the NZ Blood Service to investigate a “This is too fast for a genetic cause,” says investigate this further,” Richardson says. “Delivering these services from a possible link between cytomegalovirus and Richardson. “It has to be environmental. “Finally, we are planning a research project in multidisciplinary team in a well coordinated way breast cancer. One possibility is to do with food and some partnership with the Cancer Society and the is an extremely complex logistical problem, so researchers have looked at the adoption of Canterbury District Health Board [CDHB]. The A similar project will involve stored blood from we want to begin by mapping the services that a Western style diet in those countries as a intention is translational research, or creating a maternity cohort in a Finnish serum bank are currently available and we plan to interview possible cause. But we are speculating that it strong links between research and practice.” which is collected during pregnancy to test for patients and care providers to gauge what their congenital infections. Each sample is filed under may be due not to the introduction of a harmful This project involves others from the UC Health factor, but to the loss of a protective one. requirements might be. We will then collate our a Finnish ID number the donors hold for life so Sciences Centre including Kate Reid, Palliative information and make recommendations. This is that if breast cancer is later diagnosed, these “We know that rice consumption in Japan has Care Convenor, and Associate Professor Pauline exciting work, very applied, and the team is keen earlier samples can be tested for the presence of roughly halved within the same time and there Barnett, who has expertise in analysing to begin,” says Richardson. cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). The is also some biological evidence to suggest that qualitative data. Together, this team consulted proposal for this project was invited by the Finnish rice may be protective against carcinogenesis. with the Cancer Society and the CDHB for areas By Jann O’Keefe serum bank itself and is about to be submitted. Countries where rice consumption has not fallen that particularly needed researching. Support

Research Report 2010/2011 37 Court cases to sing about

Professor Stephen Todd

38 University of Canterbury “My criteria for choosing a case is that it must be one or more of interesting, amusing, bizarre, important; that it must be suitable for light verse and thus must not be nasty, boring or tragic.”

Some of the more bizarre, interesting “I set the various songs to music from the “This is a very famous case and every lawyer sued the Daily Mirror for an invasion of privacy yet groundbreaking court cases in British Gilbert and Sullivan operas. Sir Arthur Sullivan’s knows about it. Mrs Donoghue went with a for publishing the true information that she and American legal history will feature music certainly is cheerful and appealing. I know friend to Wellmeadow Café in Paisley in Glasgow. belonged to Narcotics Anonymous after she the operas quite well, so I chose those songs Her friend bought her a glass of ginger beer, in claimed she did not take drugs; and about Max in a unique songbook being put together which seemed to me to fit the kind of song I an opaque bottle. Mrs D eagerly drank some Mosley who successfully sued the News of the by a University of Canterbury law was writing.” of the ginger beer, but when she poured some World for invasion of privacy after it published academic. Among the songs included in the book are those more into her glass she found the remains of a stories about him undergoing disciplinary Todd put together for three short operas that decomposed snail,” Todd said. sessions with prostitutes. This opera was While claiming to have not much of a musical have all been performed at UC as part of the “Mrs D alleged she was made ill from drinking performed in the 2011 Law Revue. background apart from the occasional “tootle” School of Law’s annual Law Revue. Todd said that the ginger beer containing the bits of snail. “I have also written about 10 more individual on a clarinet, Professor Stephen Todd (Law) has it was during the 1991 revue that the “germ of the She couldn’t sue the café owner for breach songs, based on various cases decided in written the lyrics for 26 songs, set to music by idea” for a songbook first arose. of contract as she didn’t buy the beer, so she England and the US. They did not involve a Gilbert and Sullivan, about some of the more lot of research as I knew about most of them “Staff contributions were invited and I suggested sued Stevenson, the manufacturer, in the tort curious court cases that have made legal history beforehand. However, I did come across one or staff sing a song or songs about interesting of negligence and succeeded. So, Donoghue in the United Kingdom and the United States. two obscure cases that I like. In one example, cases that the students would know about v Stevenson is the foundational case on the a lady took her dog to the defendant animal He is putting them together as an illustrated from their lectures. Our first attempt was pretty responsibilities of manufacturers towards the hospital where it unfortunately died. The owner songbook, Leading Cases in Song, with an amateurish, but we have got much better over ultimate consumers of their products.” arranged for an elaborate funeral, but during accompanying CD. Former UC staff member John the years.” This opera debuted in the 2009 Law Revue it she discovered on opening the casket that it Pattinson worked on the musical arrangements, and was published in the New Law Journal. As well as acting out cases, he took off singers contained the remains of a dead cat. The hospital putting the words and music together on After it was published Todd said his daughter, and groups — such as Metallica, Prodigy, and was held liable for her shock and upset.” computer files. Abba — and rewrote their songs with a legal Lucy, suggested he put together a songbook. Todd said once he had sourced illustrations “My criteria for choosing a case is that it must theme. He recently branched out into opera It may also be performed again at a major th and produced the CD he planned to approach a be one or more of interesting, amusing, bizarre, with his first, featuring six songs, being about conference in Scotland celebrating the 80 publisher with his work. important; that it must be suitable for light verse the 1930s decision of the House of Lords in anniversary of the decision. and thus must not be nasty, boring or tragic,” Donoghue v Stevenson. Songs from this opera Todd’s most recent opera was about the trials By Stacey Doornenbal he said. will be included in his book. of model Naomi Campbell, who successfully

Research Report 2010/2011 39 until work was interrupted by the earthquake of structures embody the combined effects of 22 February 2011. all complex and site-specific factors. This is Quantifying “Suddenly, everything had to be repeated,” says why we have to capture the evidence in great Cubrinovski, “and we were all so exhausted, detail and scrutinise it thoroughly in order but yet again we could count on great support, to better understand our natural and built because the overseas experts from Japan and environments and how they interact during the USA returned to help us again. Colleagues strong earthquakes.” liquefaction from the University of California Berkeley, Cornell One of the practical outcomes from the research University and Virginia Tech in the USA also is a map of liquefaction resistance for urban Since September 2010, no earthquake phenomenon is more familiar to brought grants back with them to continue the areas of Christchurch. It was a product of a Christchurch residents than liquefaction. And no one knows the extent and work and, of course, the students went back into short-term recovery project supporting the significance of the Christchurch liquefaction deposits better than Professor the field again too. The drive to understand what Christchurch City Council (CCC) in its efforts to recover the city water supply and waste water Misko Cubrinovski (Civil and Natural Resources Engineering). was going on was intense.” systems. Two factors — ground shaking intensity Soil behaviour during earthquakes is and liquefaction severity — were combined to extremely complex and the impact of soil on A world-renowned geotechnical earthquake Their investigation sought to determine which produce a resistance index map that indicates structures is even more complicated because engineer, Cubrinovski marshalled an particular soils were susceptible to liquefaction, the strength of the soils in relative terms. The of the interaction between the two in severe extraordinary collaborative data-collecting and under what type and severity of earthquake map reflects soil resistance to liquefaction events. Many means are used to predict such effort following the Christchurch earthquakes. would they liquefy. Records were taken of the through zones 1 to 4, with the soils in zone 4 interactions in the laboratory including soil Earthquake engineers around the world agree ground deformations resulting from liquefaction being four times more resistant than those testing and scaled down physical models of that the result is likely to be the best liquefaction — from lateral movement to ground cracking in zone 1. Cubrinovski also quantified the structures. These are placed in a box within dataset in history. and settlement — and evidence was gathered of deformation expected in each zone and this map a ground model and shaken using different Cubrinovski admits this was only possible the impacts these deformations had on different is now used by the CCC as an invaluable tool earthquake motions to acquire a range of because the quakes were so well recorded on structures, on high-rise buildings, houses, prior to infrastructure design work and repair. responses which allows for variability of ground 15 strong motion stations throughout the city bridges, stopbanks and lifelines. The accompanying comprehensive report also movements. A variety of analyses are also used, and because the reconnaissance and field Of initial surveys with his overseas colleagues, correlates the performance of the water supply from simplified — which are important from investigations conducted by the team were Cubrinovski says their first effort concentrated and waste water systems with liquefaction a practical standpoint, to advanced numerical “unprecedented in quality and number”. on trying to understand what the geotechnical severity, and shows how different pipe materials analyses — which attempt to realistically impacts of the event were. “This took us just performed during the earthquakes. The September 2010 earthquake caught simulate what is actually happening in the field. Cubrinovski at an earthquake engineering over a week gathering evidence of the types When Cubrinovski arrived in New Zealand “In addition, field investigations identify in conference in Macedonia. Because of the of deformation and their impacts on different almost seven years ago, there were no codes situ soil conditions which are added to the significance of the liquefaction event, many structures. We summarised our findings in a on geotechnical earthquake engineering. With 1 of his international colleagues were keen 77-page journal article co-authored by the USA liquefaction evaluation equation. Canterbury colleagues, he immediately formed a working to assist. He organised them to arrive in experts who were part of the team. and Christchurch have a unique groundwater group to address this and is major author of the Christchurch shortly after his own return, where “We realised during this first effort just how regime with so much water coming from the first NZ Geotechnical Guidelines on Liquefaction they immediately faced the challenge of best much more work there was to do, and so enlisted alps and moving through and beneath the city. which were released just two months before approach — whether to cover every aspect, or UC PhD and ME students and a group of Summer This has a pronounced effect on the soils and the September 2010 earthquake. The wealth focus on a select few. Using the expertise of his Scholarship students from UC and Auckland creates some very unique environments,” of experience and ensuing dataset that has international colleagues and an army of students University. Using EQC funding for liquefaction says Cubrinovski. been gathered from the Christchurch seismic from many sources, the team was eventually field investigations, this group systematically “The liquefaction observed in the 2010-2011 events will allow a major update and upgrade of able to cover everything. gathered different types of data and evidence earthquakes and its impacts on engineering this code based on New Zealand specific data,

40 University of Canterbury “Now is the time to get the message across that we must build resilience into our society through good engineering. If we do this in Christchurch, other New Zealand cities will follow.”

and further contribute to the development of international codes on liquefaction. Cubrinovski and his team have amassed crucial information in terms of building resilience into any future city infrastructure. He is keenly aware that “times like these bring a wealth of interest and funding to earthquake engineering research — everyone is paying attention at the moment, and the community is listening”. “Now is the time to get the message across that we must build resilience into our society through good engineering. If we do this in Christchurch, other New Zealand cities will follow. If we do not — the next earthquake will have the same devastating results. We have the information we need and the methodologies are available to us, we now just need to make the right choices.” By Jann O’Keefe

1 Cubrinovski, M., Green, R.A., Allen, J., Ashford, S., Bowman, E., Bradley, B., Cox, B., Hutchinson, T., Kavazanjian, E., Orense, R., Pender, M., Quigley, M. and Wotherspoon, L. (2010) Geotechnical reconnaissance of the 2010 Darfield (Canterbury) earthquake. Bulletin of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering 43(4): 243-320. Professor Misko Cubrinovski

Research Report 2010/2011 41 Making the boardroom green

Companies keen to improve their directors appointed after the CEO performed produced in a way that pollutes. This means the environmental performance should take a look better environmentally. market opportunities for companies that take at the characteristics of their board of directors. “Directors appointed by the CEO are more likely the environmental impact of their activities into Research by University of Canterbury academic to be influenced by him or her, compromising consideration can be substantial and the risks of Professor Chris van Staden (Accounting and the independence of the board.” not doing so can be huge,” he said. Information Systems), working with Professor The research also found that companies that “If companies want to change their Charl de Villiers (University of Waikato) and have larger boards, CEOs of other companies environmental performance, they have to change Associate Professor Vic Naiker (University of sitting on the board and directors with legal their governance.” Auckland), has found that corporate boards expertise had better environmental performance. Van Staden is also investigating environmental play an important role in promoting strong “A bigger board will give a better performance disclosure versus environmental performance environmental performance. because, collectively, it will have more knowledge — looking at the impact of environmental In November 2011 the research findings were and richness of expertise and diversity. A larger performance on reporting. Are companies published in the Journal of Management (37(6): board will also be more independent, particularly misleading stakeholders about their 1636-1663) in a paper titled “The effect of if it’s not involved in the management of the environmental impact, compared to what they board characteristics on firm environmental company or if members are not financially actually achieve? performance”. Van Staden said although it was involved in the company, while CEOs of other Van Staden said he was excited to be doing more too soon to know what influence the paper companies bring a wealth of knowledge and research within the field. would have, early indications were promising. expertise to the board,” he said. “Understanding how company environmental “We are the first to investigate the link between “Lawyers have an understanding of the risks performance (long term and short term) corporate governance and environmental involved if a company’s activities contravene influence where companies choose to disclose performance,” van Staden said. regulations. Not everyone understands these voluntary environmental information has “I expect interest from other researchers. More regulations, so having a lawyer or someone with practical implications for investors, regulators research is needed in this area.” legal expertise on board is an advantage.” and other stakeholders interested in company Professor Chris van Staden Using information from two highly regarded Van Staden said the natural environment had environmental performance. Our findings imply databases, van Staden said the researchers found become an important avenue for companies to that information users and researchers should that the governance structure of a company is gain competitive advantage. consider voluntary disclosures in both annual linked to the impact it has on the environment. “Consumers are becoming more and more aware reports and on websites, because the two media For example, companies that had greater board of environmental issues and want products that are used differently.” independence and a lower concentration of are environmentally friendly and have not been By Marcia Johnson

42 University of Canterbury Revolutionising medical imaging

A Ministry of Science and Innovation (MSI)- “We’ll be able to do things like looking in the behaviour. It’s not so much a matter of gaining funded research project based at the University walls of human blood vessels and determine more detail but gaining a better quality of of Canterbury to build spectral colour CT what is fat and we’ll be able to see a complex molecular and physiological information.” scanners suitable for use on humans is molecule attached to blood platelets,” said Two heart disease researchers from Virginia Tech expected to revolutionise medical imaging Dr Butler, who also splits his time as a UC in the USA, and one researcher from the Mayo globally. researcher. Clinic, were brought to Christchurch in 2011 to The MARS (Medipix All Resolution System) “This will be useful information for applications collaborate on the project. In the first term of collaborative project led at UC by Professor such as diagnosing heart disease or damage 2012 two researchers from the German cancer Phil Butler (Physics and Astronomy) and from stroke. Basically this will unlock a whole research centre in Heidelberg have been brought at the University of Otago by Dr Anthony range of information that’s always been there to Christchurch. Butler involves a multi-disciplinary team but it hasn’t been easy for us to get at it. One The collaborative approach that is at the heart from engineering, mathematics, physics and way of explaining it is to say that the world had of the research project has been crucial, said HIT Lab NZ at the University of Canterbury always been in colour but we weren’t recording Professor Butler, and was particularly evident and specialists from the University of Otago it that way.” post-earthquake when the University of Otago Christchurch. The project was given a very positive mid-project Christchurch was unable to use its premises in “We have been working on this for six years endorsement from MSI at the end of 2011 and the central city. and have enrolled 13 PhDs so far, in addition to has funding for a further three years with the “The team worked hard together to get our producing spin out company MARS Bioimaging next stage being to develop the technology from research back on track and we were delighted to Ltd,” said Professor Butler. its current use in a small animal scanner, which get to the end of 2011 and receive such a positive “Once the project develops to the stage is about the size of a large barbecue, to being endorsement from MSI,” said Professor Butler. where we are building equipment for use on ready for loading into a human scanner. Excitement is building internationally as humans the possibilities for deployment of the “We believe that this will become standard the potential of the locally-built technology technology around the world are staggering.” medical technology in the next 5 to 15 years and becomes clear. While existing x-ray technology measures the that it will make diagnosis easier all around the “Research labs know that there is a new tool Professor Phil Butler total amount of x-rays that pass through an world,” said Dr Butler. coming for them and they are learning what object a spectral colour CT scanner will allow “We will be able to get better characterisation they will be able to do with it,” said Dr Butler. diagnosticians to determine what they are of disease, including a better understanding of “This really is ‘the next big thing’ in the medical looking at in a completely new way. how it is behaving and better monitoring of that imaging world.” By Jacquie Walters

Research Report 2010/2011 43 Dr Kathleen Quinlivan (left) and Dr Jane Abbiss

44 University of Canterbury terms of narrow conceptualisations of ‘back to The methodology used by Quinlivan and Abbiss Challenging basics’ literacy approaches we critically engage to analyse the data across the case studies with and re-vision the knowledges considered was itself unique. A dual meta-ethnography most worth knowing. For example, in two case was carried out from interpretivist and post- studies we explored the potential of embodied structuralist viewpoints. This offered two ways of knowing through dance and the visual interpretations of the data, which included the traditional arts, and considered the extent to which they the eight reported case studies, pre- and post- enabled young people to live and to learn in interviews with practitioner researchers and contemporary times.” pre- and post-questionnaires completed by concept of The project also endeavoured to position student teachers and teachers in schools who educators, both teacher educators and teachers were participants in the case study projects. The in schools, as active and critical curriculum interpretivist analysis focused on the practitioner constructors, rather than technocrats. researchers’ narratives of the issues raised in The project included eight case studies produced shifting conceptualisations of knowledge and learning learning. The post-structural analysis focused on by the practitioner researchers. Each practitioner researcher, including both pre-service and in- ways in which both the overall project and the service teacher educators, explored projects case studies operated as sites of resignification New research published by academics at the UC College of Education has within their area of professional interest and of the knowledges considered most worth investigated the implications of the 2007 revised New Zealand Curriculum practice. The educators’ explored knowledge knowing, and critically engaged with the politics for how teachers, educators and student teachers understand what it means to and learning within a diverse range of contexts, of knowledge production. know and to learn in the 21st century. including engaging with cultural difference, “Doing a dual-analysis of the data was quite an leadership and teaching ESOL. innovative aspect of the project,” said Quinlivan. “One of the case-studies involved a teacher “Most research looks at the data through The Teaching and Learning Research Initiative Wayne Freeth and Neville Myers. The project educator whose project explored what it one theoretical lens, but we were interested (TRLI) funded research project, titled “Shifting aimed to understand how to best support means for teachers to be ‘knowers’. An issue in exploring the potential of complementary conceptualisations of knowledge and learning in educators to explore and critically engage with in teacher education is that there is often the theoretical understandings. We analysed the the integration of the New Zealand Curriculum 21st century ideals of knowledge and learning, expectation that teachers have to take on this data from two different perspectives; the in teacher education”, was led by Dr Kathleen and how they affected pedagogical practices. mantle of becoming an authoritative ‘expert findings had two different theoretical spins Quinlivan (Educational Studies and Human Preparing students as 21st century learners is an knower’, yet that orientation is not always on them. Undertaking a dual analysis meant Development) and Dr Jane Abbiss (Māori, Social underpinning concept of the 2007 New Zealand helpful in encouraging students to engage with that the results were so much richer and more and Cultural Studies), along with former UC Curriculum. what it means to live and learn in uncertain nuanced.” colleague Dr Vanessa de Oliveira Andreotti, now “What we attempted to do with this project contemporary times. The project explored based at the University of Oulu, Finland. Also was to make a case for valuing ways of knowing the possibilities and challenges of reframing The research has been submitted to TRLI and involved in the project as practitioner researchers which, traditionally, have not been given teachers’ identities as knowers. It can be really will soon be published on its website. For more were Dr Jae Major, Alison Ayrton, Juliet Fry, Helen particularly high status,” said Quinlivan. “Instead destabilising for a teacher, to call into question information visit www.tlri.org.nz. Moore, Kerri Fitzgerald, Judi Bruce, Amosa Fa’afoi, of thinking about knowledge and learning in such a taken-for-granted role,” said Quinlivan. By Nick Maitland

Research Report 2010/2011 45 A smart approach to water management Aquifer levels are falling, saltwater is encroaching on underground water systems, nitrate and phosphorus runoff is on the rise and sediment build-up and land development are increasing the risk of flooding.

Photo: Dreamstime

46 University of Canterbury All in all, says UC senior lecturer in management ‘first come first served’. If you want some water “They still need land to irrigate and the water science Dr John Raffensperger, our systems for you go to the council and say this is how much I “The idea is to think is so dispersed in the ground it is difficult coping with water risk are “a bit of a mess.” want and this is what I want it for and they check to stand in one place and get all the water. “Living sustainably means living under to see if it will put them over some limit and if collaboratively, to be Big operations will have a bigger benefit but constraints. We have to learn to live with the it’s not then they say that’s fine.” more aware of what is proportionately the smaller user will benefit available water and, to do that, we need to As people rush to stake their claim the country’s just as well.” manage it better.” resources are being pushed to their limit. happening over the fence. The benefits are considerable. Under a smart market the consent process is faster, application Raffensperger and other members of the “One mindset is if water falls on my land it’s The current system is costs (usually around $5000) are lower and University of Canterbury’s Water Markets mine,” says WMRG researcher Professor Grant farmers can sell unwanted water. Research Group (WMRG) have devised a way Read (Management). “If it flows past my back litigious but if you have a to do just that, using ecological science, yard it’s mine. If I can suck it out of the ground — smart market people are And all it requires, says Raffensperger, is a mathematical modelling and smart market irrespective of where it comes from — it’s mine. secure website, an accounting system and a trading to find the highest value commercial So whoever sucks hardest gets the most. That is incentivised to get along — “modest office”. use for available water while also protecting the a race to the bottom. If you go to some parts of they have to be fair.” The system can also be adapted for other forms environment. the world you find whole villages dead because of water use. Management science student “The idea is to think collaboratively, to be more people put down deeper wells to suck the water Stephen Starkey is examining smart markets for aware of what is happening over the fence. out, leaving traditional wells dry so people have urban water networks, using an optimisation The current system is litigious but if you have had to abandon the place. Then you come to a “You can’t actually define how a particular unit model to manage trade between reservoir a smart market people are incentivised to get beautifully irrigated field owned by some farmer of electricity flows from producer to consumer,” operators, desalinisation plant operators and along — they have to be fair.” wealthy enough to afford a modern pump.” says Read. “It is more as a set of equations in retail water suppliers. which flows are driven by changes in [electrical] A smart market is an auction in which a resource In putting a price on a unit of water at a Fellow student Antonio Pinto, co-supervised by pressure. Underground water is much the is traded by a pool of users within a set of particular place and at a particular time the senior lecturer Tom Cochrane in the Department same. If I pull out one more unit of water here physical constraints. In trading groundwater, incentive to hoard water is gone and agriculture of Civil and Natural Resource Engineering, is it doesn’t take one unit off someone somewhere for example, an auction manager would use has to contend with the real worth of this most studying smart markets for sediment and runoff, else — it will take part of a unit over here and a hydrological optimisation computer model undervalued of resources. In times of drought, so improving water quality, reducing flooding part of a unit over there — it will have quite to allocate water on the basis of users’ bids, for example, the price of water would go up, and incentivising the planting of more green diverse effects.” sustainable river flows and real time monitoring, so incentivising conservation (no longer, says spaces. Management science PhD student so allowing permit owners with unused water Raffensperger, would we see irrigators operating Unlike electricity, however, there is a delayed Indra Mahakalanda is studying the relationship capacity to find a buyer, and those needing more during blistering nor’westers). Periods of low effect with groundwater use — you can suck between electricity and water (electricity water capacity to find a seller. demand, on the other hand, would encourage water out of the ground for quite a long time generation uses a lot of water and water It is, says WMRG member Associate Professor diversification into non-traditional farming before seeing the impact somewhere else. By pumping uses a lot of electricity). Mark Milke (Civil and Natural Resources practices. then, too, the quality of the water may have As senior lecturer in management science Engineering), “a completely new way of Across the world smart markets are being used dropped as lower pressure results in more Dr Shane Dye explains, all these smart market managing the environment”. for natural gas, radio spectrums, university saltwater intrusion. models facilitate things people want to do. “Councils have a fairly sophisticated enrolments (including at Raffensperger’s alma Concerns that smart water markets will be “It just makes it easier, and instead of spending understanding of their water source to manage mater, the University of Chicago) and, most dominated by big users are, says Raffensperger, money on litigation you are helping each other.” current allocation but even that is pretty much commonly, electricity. unfounded. By Sally Blundell

Research Report 2010/2011 47 Power computing High Performance Computing (HPC) is now an indispensable component of modern science.

“Our world is based on computation now and Each processor acts individually but also has glacial environments will look like over the next only occurs in specific sites in the body. If we can’t solve the big science problems without the capability to “talk” to other processors on 50 to 60 years.” you can understand why these cells initiate it,” says Professor Tim David, Director of the thousands of different levels “so you have this in 2011 UC ran the Fast Start Grand Challenge cardiovascular disease then you are well on Blue Fern Supercomputer at the University of massively parallel architecture”. open to young researchers within five years of the way to solving one of the world’s biggest Canterbury. Another significant aspect of the Blue Gene completing their PhD, giving the two winners problems,” David says. David says that although New Zealand is a small is its “greenness”. With a maximum power one million CPU hours each. “We can’t do these experiments in the lab but country it experiences some of the world’s most requirement of 60kw (per rack of 4096 cores) One is using Blue Fern for investigating we can do it numerically. That’s what makes it complex scientific problems and computational it exhibits a very efficient way of utilising phylogenetic trees whilst the second is looking interesting — computers have become the new research is vital in order to address these. thousands of processors. The total cost of at DNA sequence recognition by electrostatic laboratories.” operation is an important factor as huge The original Blue Fern computer was the DNA-DNA interactions. In the future, David hopes to use HPC for electricity bills would eventually end up costing result of collaboration in 2007 between the social agent-base modelling to examine how more than the technology itself. The first Blue Fern PhD scholarship recipient, University of Canterbury and IBM as part Nick Baker, is about to start work with Dr Daniel an individual may react to an environment of the Partnerships for Excellence Project Blue Fern is capable of mathematical Stouffer (Biological Sciences) on understanding given a set of parameters and the outcomes of and was the first Blue Gene in the southern computations on an unprecedented scale and the relationships between animal species. modifying them — but on a scale of thousands. hemisphere. has been used in numerous projects. This research is important from a variety of Through this research we could explore, for “We run a number of challenges as a way of perspectives including future eradication example, the impact of changes in government “Three years ago we began to lobby government policies on thousands of different stakeholders. saying that from an economic benefit point of promoting the use of massive supercomputing programmes. requirements and offer over a million processing view you need to support High Performance In 2011 Dr Mohsin Shaikh, a post-doctoral One of David’s PhD students is studying diabetes hours [on the HPC] to the person who comes up using HPC to model the entire cardiovascular Computing as part of your infrastructure policy.” researcher funded by the National Heart with the best academic project.” Foundation of New Zealand, used Blue Fern system of the brain. Using much of Harvard In 2011 as part of the government matched The 2010 winner was Dr Nick Golledge from for multi-scale modelling to understand the Medical School Vera Novak’s real human data funded National e-Science Initiative (NeSI) UC the University of Victoria. He studied glacier propagation of information between millions along with numerical computation, HPC can upgraded Blue Fern to a Power 7 system along motion in the Southern Alps over thousands of of different cells particularly in relation to replicate and understand relationships on a with the new IBM Blue Gene P, enabling 10 times years using mathematical modelling to predict cardiovascular disease. Using HPC he was able to cellular level. the operational capacity. outcomes for a variety of different scenarios model both individual cells and the arteries, in “We are answering science questions now “The new computer is half the size but 10 including predicted climate change. He could scales ranging from 25mm to 25 microns. no-one would be able to answer without this times faster. An absolutely brilliant piece of never have done it without HPC. “It paints a picture that no one could ever see kind of kit.” technology,” David says. “The glaciers at the northern end of Lake Pukaki before. For the first time we are beginning to As a result of the upgrade, the old The Blue Gene now has 8192 processors with provide your electricity every morning so it is understand how our own cells interact with supercomputer is now used exclusively for eight times more memory per block than before. extremely important to understand what our each other and why cardiovascular disease education, making UC the only university in the

48 University of Canterbury world which has a Blue Gene used specifically to train students in HPC. Blue Fern also operates commercial contracts with industry both as student projects and on a purely commercial basis and provides a service as a collaborative partner in NeSI to researchers outside the University by making application and support staff available to help with projects. Blue Fern was used as a data depository for the earthquake but David believes the supercomputer’s massive computational ability could be used to help create “the whole picture” in the decision-making processes regarding the CBD re-build by modelling potential scenarios and their outcomes. “We would love to help Christchurch get back on its feet. The environment will be very different and town planners and civil engineers may not fully comprehend the impacts on every level.” “We can’t do these experiments in the lab but we can David says scientific discovery has been a fairly do it numerically. That’s what makes it interesting — slow process. computers have become the new laboratories.” “We are still relying on the theories of Newton and Einstein. Technology is the opposite. If we can link the two we can use it to benefit the community. “Computation will only grow. The University of Canterbury has been at the forefront and we will continue to be.” By Vicky Cran

Professor Tim David

Research Report 2010/2011 49 Schools can benefit from better parental involvement

Parents can have a positive effect on their “I’ve been investigating what schools do in terms are dotted here and there and it’s very much children’s development when they get involved of parent involvement with the aim of saying dependent on the experiences of the senior staff.” in their education. Schools stand to gain ‘how could they improve this?’,” Hornby said. Specific strategies to involve parents from significantly by forming strong relationships “What we have found is that there are many diverse backgrounds also need to be developed. with their students’ parents and caregivers examples of excellent and innovative practices “Schools need to think more about how they through co-ordinated parental involvement found at all levels, but effective practice of are going to get involved with parents who are policies and practices, and staff development parental involvement isn’t consistent across not your ‘standard parent’. Some parents have programmes. Better yet, it doesn’t have to the schools.” English as a second language or come from be a costly exercise, according to research by One of the most notable gaps was a lack of different cultures. Some are parents who have Professor Garry Hornby of the University of written school policies on parental involvement. children with special needs, or who are gifted or Canterbury’s School of Sciences and Physical have health problems,” Hornby said. Education. “Basically, schools need to have a written policy on parental involvement developed by the board Rather than being a costly enterprise, often Research consistently shows that parents’ of trustees in collaboration with the staff and a school can gain substantially by merely contributions to their children’s education parent community,” he said. committing to establishing better parental lead to improvements in their academic and involvement practices. behavioural outcomes. Hornby has been “They then need to have effective organisation involved in extensive research over the last for parents’ involvement with the school led by “In terms of its impact on academic four years with schools in the Canterbury a parental involvement co-ordinator, who would achievement, parental involvement is an region — 11 intermediate schools, 21 city be an experienced teacher. That teacher can do important factor and it’s not actually an primary schools, 22 rural primary schools an audit of existing practice, check out whether expensive thing to do. If schools take on board and 21 secondary schools. it needs to be improved and do some training the role of improving their relationships with Professor Garry Hornby with less-experienced teachers.” parents and giving them more guidance on what Hornby’s new book provides an overview of they can do with their children at home it’s not teachers for working with parents, both pre- parental involvement and offers practitioners Hornby also found that parental involvement going to cost any money but can potentially service and in-service teachers. We definitely such as teachers and psychologists a detailed declined as children progressed through have quite a big impact. As parents, we don’t have an important role to play in preparing understanding of how to optimise parent- primary and intermediate schools and was get any training or advice on what we should be teachers to work with parents.” teacher collaboration. Parental Involvement in at its lowest at secondary schools. Practices doing to help our children’s development and Childhood Education: Building Effective School- within schools were often ad-hoc and reliant By Nick Maitland it’s a constant challenge, so parent education Family Partnerships (Springer, 2011), summarises on senior teachers who saw value in establishing provided by schools can be very useful.” results of the studies conducted in Canterbury initiatives. schools. It also provides methods for evaluating “In the studies, we asked teachers what Hornby also considers that teacher education parental involvement and presents a model for professional development they got in parental providers need to equip teacher trainees with developing and maintaining strong parental involvement and most schools said very little. skills to better foster parental involvement relationships, with an emphasis on flexible A couple of principals said they did training strategies. communication and greater understanding of sessions with staff before parent evenings, so “People like me, in teacher-training institutions, parents’ needs. there are some good things going on, but they need to think about how we can better train

50 University of Canterbury New software renders city in pre-quake glory

Based on current estimates, the Christchurch about taking what we’d done and expanding it people can go back in time 50 or 100 years. Then city centre may take years to rebuild, but to work with dozens or hundreds of buildings we’re working with the Christchurch City Council staff and students from the University of rather than just a single one,” said Billinghurst. and CERA [Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Canterbury’s HIT Lab NZ have managed to The team then joined forces with Christchurch Authority] to go forward in time so people can reconstruct its buildings in a fraction of architecture firm ZNO, which helped overcome use the platform to visualise buildings yet to be that time. the challenges of providing accurate content for built, which could be useful for the council in Using Augmented Reality, technology that the programme. getting community feedback on their designs.” blends Virtual Reality with real-world objects, the “We didn’t have the resources to create 3D It is hoped the software will eventually aid other team has constructed a 3D remodelling which models ourselves so we partnered up with earthquake-prone areas to catalogue buildings enables the user to walk around and view the Jason Mills from ZNO who had been modelling and potentially assist in rescue and rebuilding cityscape as it was pre-earthquake. Christchurch before the earthquake and was works. The project, spearheaded by Professor Mark happy to donate those models to us. We also “We are hoping to create a platform that’s easy Billinghurst and Dr Raphael Grasset, has been had other partners. CEISMIC, a group from UC’s enough to take and drop into a city somewhere two years in the making. Hit Lab NZ was School of Humanities that is collecting a digital else. Christchurch is really a test bed of what we developing the software base used by the repository of information about the earthquake, could do internationally. system when the earthquakes of September gave us photographs of buildings before and “We have a related project in development 2010 provided the catalyst for an alternative after [the earthquake]. We are still getting that will allow live video feeds using mobile application. content in so it will be an ongoing project.” phones to be sent to search and rescue teams. “Two years ago we started writing software The application, released in October 2011, is free For example, you may have a team looking at that let you overlay 3D content on the real for anyone with an Android phone to download entering a building but are unsure whether it Professor Mark Billinghurst world. One of the initial applications was for and view. It is also being utilised by government is safe or not. They would be able to use their architects to walk around and see buildings agencies charged with rebuilding Christchurch. phones to take a live video feed, send it to a civil in place. We had a prototype working last year “For the public it will be a helpful way of creating engineer remotely and the expert could then “We’ve shown the software to a number of and when the earthquake happened we wanted a remembrance of the city. We are now working look at the feed and take images and provide people at the University. They have come up with to help support the rebuild of the city so thought with CEISMIC to get more historical content so feedback annotations to the people in the field.” their own ideas of how it could be applied so we The technology is not limited to cityscapes. are getting new ideas for uses and people have The software is aimed at overlaying 3D content been very impressed by the technology.” outdoors so could be used to show old Māori By Mike Anstee “We are hoping to create a platform that’s easy pa sites or battlefields onto which historical enough to take and drop into a city somewhere else. information could be superimposed. Christchurch is really a test bed of what we could do The HIT Lab NZ has already received much positive feedback, based only on a website, internationally.” an appearance on TVNZ’s Close Up and word of mouth.

Research Report 2010/2011 51 Treasures brought to light Many seldom-seen historical items belonging to the University of Canterbury are being showcased in a newly published book, Treasures of the University of Canterbury Library.

52 University of Canterbury Thirty-seven people from within the University “There are some extremely unusual items. “Sometimes this sort of material gets hidden and from around Christchurch have worked We have a 15th century English genealogical roll, away and forgotten about. What we want to do together to create the illustrated book published which is 16 feet [almost 5 metres] long. It’s an here, particularly in the wake of the earthquakes, by Canterbury University Press. unusual and unique item, a family tree written is to say ‘we’ve got this fascinating material The book details the history and significance by hand from Noah down to the English king right here at Canterbury. Come and look at it’,” Edward IV.” of about 60 of the historical items in the said Jones. University collection, including photographs, This genealogical roll, known as the Canterbury Jones said the desire to increase public books and printed material which have been Roll, was purchased by the then Canterbury knowledge and interest in the University’s given by the public over the years. College in 1918 from Sibylla Maude, better known collection was one of the main goals of the as Nurse Maude. Little is known about the roll’s The book’s general editor, Senior Lecturer in project. history between 1483 and the early 20th century. Medieval History Dr Chris Jones (Humanities), “It’s not intended to be academic-light. It’s said the University’s collection differs from Another interesting item was the Tokyo War intended to be solid stuff but absolutely jargon- that of many universities’ collections in that it Crimes Collection, the only item, along with free, absolutely comprehensible. That’s the had come in the form of many small donations the Treaty of Waitangi and Women’s suffrage guiding principle.” over the past century, rather than the usual petition, that is recognised in UNESCO’s Asia/ Accompanying the book’s official launch in method of one large donation coming from Pacific Memory of the World Register. May 2012 will be a three-month exhibition a single donor. The collection — the Pacific’s equivalent of of treasures featured in the book, called the Nuremberg Trials — contains almost 380 “That’s often been regarded as a sort of Canterbury Tales, which will be run jointly with volumes and nearly 110,000 pages from the disadvantage because it doesn’t give an the Canterbury Museum. Jones hoped the trial of Japanese war criminals held between obvious structure to the collection. But, exhibition, which will run from 20 April to 22 actually, the great strength of this is that you April 1946 and November 1948. The papers were donated to the then University of Canterbury July, would help establish the importance of the can write the history of Christchurch and the College by Justice Erima Harvey Northcroft, University’s collection. Dr Chris Jones whole community based on the items we’ve New Zealand’s representative on the “We’re aiming to take some of these fascinating accumulated over the years,” Jones said. International Military Tribunal for the Far items out of our vaults, explain them to the Another bonus was that it gave the University’s East, after the trial ended. public and say to people these are things that collection a great range of items from diverse Other items surveyed include medieval are uniquely Canterbury. Together they tell the backgrounds. Jones said they had not realised manuscripts, Māori whakapapa books, an story of both the University and the community.” how rare several items were until they original printing of the 1611 King James Bible, researched them for the book. • Treasures of the University of Canterbury the papers of the philosopher Karl Popper, a Library, edited by Chris Jones and One of the discoveries was a rare 1494 Lubeck 15th century copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle, Bronwyn Matthews with Jennifer Bible, the only one in the southern hemisphere the Pacific Leprosy Foundation Archive, a Tudor Clement, published by Canterbury and one of only 72 known copies in the world. statute book, a signed author’s edition of Leaves University Press, 2011, RRP $40, It was donated to Christ’s College by Arthur of Grass (1882) by American poet and journalist paperback, ISBN 978-1-9277145-04-3. Perceval, chaplain to Queen Victoria, who Walt Whitman, and documents, photographs was given the bible in 1846. Christ’s College and watercolour paintings from the Ursula • By Martin Moore subsequently presented it to the University. Bethell Collection. •

Research Report 2010/2011 53 Unpicking communication

Professor Jennifer Hay, Director of NZILBB aims to produce a complete model of Speaking to someone who appears in a certain This collection — known as the Origins of New the New Zealand Institute of Language, how people communicate in differing social socio-economic class, gender, or age can affect Zealand English project — facilitates research Brain and Behaviour (NZILBB), contexts. New research shows that how we you. For example, a recent PhD study involving into how early settlers’ accents have blended interact is more than just acoustic; it’s about both psychology and linguistics gave participants over time to what we now call the New Zealand describes University of Canterbury’s the subtle combination of perception, an opinion-based questionnaire regarding dialect. NZILBB continues to grow its collection decision to fund the institute as surrounding influences, gesture and memory. social issues. A change in the voice asking the of recordings — studying language across the “insightful”. Associating related fields Looking at the entire system of how a person questions elicited differing responses — a female entire lifespan, and including high quality under one umbrella has enabled 30 conveys and understands information is both voice evoked more supportive feedback. video — in order to understand the relationship fascinating and enlightening. Immediately the academics from 11 different departments Five major themes are being researched at between speech and gesture. potential application of these studies becomes to “nudge towards one another to be able NZILBB — language and ageing, language and Studies of bilingualism are headed by Associate apparent — speech language therapies, bilingual social cognition, language variation and change, Professor Jeanette King (Māori and Indigenous to focus on ideas we would never have studies, multimedia and digital industries, language acquisition, and bilingualism. Studies). Working with Te Kura Whakapumau i researched independently”. advertising, psychiatry, the list is endless. Associate Professor Megan McAuliffe te Reo Tuturu ki Waitaha, NZILBB is looking at Our brains store patterns or strategies to (Communication Disorders) is leading the how Māori language is acquired. The group is NZILBB was first formed in 2010. Since then it help us understand speech and words. language and ageing projects. Studying hearing particularly interested in the whole-body effects has hired postdoctoral researchers, recruited Experiments conducted by NZILBB are loss and neuro-degeneration in the elderly is of bilingualism. How does what language you new graduate students, and set up new labs. honing in on these, exploring our perception one of the major research themes of the NZILBB. are speaking affect how you gesture or how Hay (Languages, Cultures and Linguistics) is mechanisms to see how people respond in They are focused both on normal ageing and on you walk? happy to say they are “really hitting their different circumstances. For example, Hay’s conditions like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s or stroke. stride now and conducting exciting research, funded by the Rutherford Foundation, The research into language acquisition looks The relationship between language and social multidisciplinary work”. asks questions such as: Who do you think you at the development of language in children. cognition is being led by Professor Lucy Johnston NZILBB has many external partners, are listening to? What do you think you have One aim is to produce data that can be used (NZILBB). A ubiquitous view of language — including MARCS Auditory Laboratories in heard? What has been added to this by by health professionals, speech language speech, gait, gesticulation, emotion and expression Sydney. A joint postdoctoral fellow has your preconceptions, your surrounding pathologists, teachers and parents. Studies is closely tied to the other research themes. helped cement the relationship with MARCS. impressions, or through the non-verbal are being undertaken on the speech of NZILBB’s expertise, impressive laboratory language of the speaker? One such study Language variation and change looks at normal children and those with disorders equipment, and a unique depth of historical involved candidates being influenced in their how language varies across speakers and time, such as autism, dyslexia, apraxia, multi- and multimedia recordings and resources perception of vowel sounds. The participants and how listeners cope with this variation. system developmental delay or brain trauma. have also been a drawcard for international who viewed a stuffed kangaroo toy in the The University of Canterbury is lucky to have NZILBB also works with early intervention visitors and fellows to UC — all substantiating corner of the room heard more Australian more than one thousand hours of audio at The Champion Centre — funding an a new, more “open” approach to research and vowels than the people who could see a recording, capturing the entire history of observation laboratory for children with severe contributing to their knowledge. stuffed kiwi. New Zealand English. developmental delay.

54 University of Canterbury “We have a lot of exciting new toys that really change the way we can look at a lot of these questions”, says Hay, referring to the institute’s new 3D suit to track inertial movement. They also have equipment for tongue tracking, eye and motion trackers, an ultra-sound, an electromagnetic articulograph, an EEG machine, and state-of-the-art observation laboratories all capable of capturing the nitty-gritty of “mouths, minds and movement”. Much of this equipment is unique in New Zealand. Institute researchers also make use of the Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab NZ) on campus, using augmented or immersed realities. Human/robot interaction is also recognised, with humans learning ROILA, a robot interaction language. Hay says research findings will be published in international journals and released as annual reports. What’s more, this innovative research is already trickling down into the community, with work under way with TAIT Communications on a project aimed at optimising communication in noisy and stressful circumstances. This sort of collaboration is part of the future challenge for Hay and her team: viable applications, new interfaces for video or voice recognition, speech synthesis devices, refined recognition systems that identify speaker dialects. “Our research is answering questions that can feed directly into this technology,” says Hay. “It’s a big leap.” By Amy McDaid

Professor Jennifer Hay

Research Report 2010/2011 55 “With increasing developments in biological microelectromechanical systems and medical devices, understanding how cells interact with surfaces and materials is becoming very important.”

Associate Professor Maan Alkaisi (left) and Dr Volker Nock 56 University of Canterbury Bioimprints provide valuable research platform

A computer engineering laboratory is exceptionally fine atomically sharp probe would processes such as exocytosis at various stages. The project epitomises collaborative, the last place one would expect to find get contaminated by the cell media, with a The work is very exciting and the applications multidisciplinary research. Alkaisi, an electrical subsequent loss of resolution, or the cell surface could obviously be far-reaching,” says Alkaisi. engineer, leads the project with researcher biological cells, but at UC they are an would be damaged as the probe drew across it. Dr Volker Nock at his side. Nock is also an intrinsic part of an innovative project “As a new medium for studying cell processes, The initial impulse, therefore, was to replicate they may well replace the traditional petrie electrical engineer with substantial training led by Associate Professor Maan Alkaisi cells to maintain the high-resolution imaging dishes or glass slides used by medical in biological processes. Associate Professor (Electrical and Computer Engineering). of the AFM and offer snapshots of events researchers. But we see a major future John Evans, a cell regulation scientist from the Christchurch School of Medicine and Health happening on the cell membrane. application in improving the success of Sciences at the University of Otago, is biologist Using nanotechnology, Alkaisi and his team “We can now make three-dimensional images, medical implants. Nanostructured materials on the project, providing the cell lines and the are able to produce synthetic bioimprints — somewhat like taking a three-dimensional which mimic the nanometric topography of knowledge on how to culture, observe and platforms with structures that exactly mimic photograph of the cell itself and then replicating the native tissue show improved biological analyse them. Dr John Mitchell, a chemist from biological cells. They use these imprints to the surface. The surfaces themselves are passive, responses and result in better integration in the Plant and Food Research Centre in Hamilton, investigate how cells interact with different but there are certain shapes on them that medical implants. provides the biocompatible polymers. materials and different patterns and to resemble biological tissue. These are made out “With implants, there is always the issue of study how the imprints affect cell growth, Three PhD students have been involved in the of a special type of plastic, or biocompatible acceptance or rejection. It is therefore very differentiation and various other processes. project: Lynn Murray has worked on micro- and polymer, that resembles biological tissue down important that implants are biocompatible nanoscale patterning using bioimprints; Fahmi “With increasing developments in biological to the finest detail. to increase the probability that they will be Samsuri on single cell analysis using atomic microelectromechanical systems [BioMEMs] “These platforms are utilised as culture growth accepted. They are also much more successful force microscopy; and Siti Noorjannah Ibrahim and medical devices, understanding how cells surfaces. They can be made to have flat, if they are bioactive, meaning that the implant on integrations of the biochip/bioimprint for interact with surfaces and materials is becoming lithographically defined patterns or bioimprinted itself will encourage the living cells in the single cell analysis. very important,” says Alkaisi. cell patterns. The soft lithography technology recipient body to grow on it. We can see that An international collaboration has also recently The technology for the imprints evolved out used to define patterns is similar to that used if our bioimprints were used as surface coatings been established with researchers from National of another project employing high-resolution to produce electronic devices. Firstly, living cells on implants they would greatly improve both Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, whose interest microscopy to observe cells at the nanoscale. are placed on slides and a special polymer is their biocompatibility and their bioactivity in the bioimprints is prompted by their own work To do this, researchers were using an extremely applied over the top. The slide is then rotated and we are now exploring replication of other in fabricating 3D cell structures. In the future, powerful atomic force microscope (AFM) which rapidly while being exposed to UV light. The biological specimens for bioactive coatings Alkaisi hopes this collaboration will shed light comprises a cantilever with a sharp probe at result is a hardened polymer platform which can with this in mind. on how the cells interact with the surrounding its end to scan the surface of specimens. The then be peeled off. This platform exactly mimics “We have also incubated individual cells and environment and how patterns affect or guide aim of the original project was to probe for cell the micro-nanoenvironment of the original groups of cells on other substrates designed organs in forming their final shape and size. It abnormalities in an attempt to detect cancer at biological cells. These platforms can then be to mimic certain physical elements of the will help in developing a model for cell-surface an exceptionally early stage. used as casts to produce further copies on physiological environment and compared the interface interactions and to differentiate different materials. Explaining what led them to create the results to substrates patterned by our bioimprint between the roles of chemical and topographical imprints, Alkaisi says: “In imaging biological “To date, we have replicated many different types method. The bioimprint is a unique capability environments in cell growth. cells with the AFM at very high resolution we of cells including pituitary and muscle cells. We that we have developed and it has not been used By Jann O’Keefe came across two particular problems. Either the have also been able to capture images of cell before in this context.”

Research Report 2010/2011 57 Toxicologist Professor Ian Shaw (Chemistry) exposure to DBP to reduced levels of testosterone to help us,” said King-Turner, who served in the Chemical has been working with members of the New and cryptorchidism — where the testicles fail to air force so did not come into contact with DBP. Zealand Malayan Veterans Association to descend into the scrotum — and hypospadias, a He said the aim of the project was to ensure study the effects of exposure to the chemical birth defect where the opening of the urethra is veterans’ descendants had access to the best linked to dibutylphthalate (DBP). on the underside of the penis. In addition some possible medical advice, if they needed it. EDCs have been linked to breast cancer. During the Malayan Emergency, DBP was used by “It’s been excellent working with Ian and he development soldiers as an acaricide to avoid contracting bush “Researchers worldwide are convinced these has found that our suspicions are justified. typhus, which was transmitted by ticks. It was chemicals are causing these changes in sexual We were very lucky to have found the right painted onto the seams of their uniforms where development but it’s been very difficult to prove man for the job.” it came into contact with their skin. absolutely because we can’t give DBP to people disorders As well as the survey, Shaw and honours and A survey of veterans found the incidence of and wait 20 years to see what happens. So the summer scholarship student Matt Carran looked A chemical used to prevent reproductive disorders associated with exposure DBP-exposed veterans have been an interesting, at how much of the chemical was needed to New Zealand soldiers from contracting to DBP to be high compared with the incidence though small, cohort to study — we know they were exposed and we know how much they were cause defects, tested how much of the DBP was a tropical disease during the Malayan of the disorders in the population as a whole. exposed to — and it was 10 per cent higher than likely to pass through the soldiers’ uniforms, and “These findings were very, very interesting and Emergency of the 1950s and 1960s the minimum amount known to be needed to how much could be absorbed through the skin. are incredibly controversial. We found that those has been linked by a University have an effect,” he said. “As best we can, and with the data we have, exposed to DBP didn’t suffer any effects but of Canterbury chemist to sexual we’ve shown that it is very likely the veterans’ their children did, particularly the male children,” “This is also the first time research has shown exposure to DBP did have an effect on them and development disorders in the Shaw said. that exposure of a human male to an EDC can lead to defects in his children. The implications their children. The huge question we have now is soldiers’ descendants. DBP belongs to a group of chemicals known as of this are huge. EDCs are present in the food we how these chemicals affected their DNA.” endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDC), some of eat so we have no choice as to whether we are Shaw said one idea he had was that the which affect the balance of male and female exposed to them or not.” chemicals affected the DNA in the sperm hormones in the body by either mimicking the chromosomes. When the ovum was fertilised the female hormone, oestrogen, or slowing down the Former serviceman and member of the altered DNA had an impact on the developing production of the male hormone, testosterone. Canterbury branch of the Malayan Veterans They do this because they have similar structures Association, Ray King-Turner, said members had child. To follow this up, Shaw is now working to hormones and so they can fool the body into long been concerned with the possible effects with Professor Martin Kennedy, from the believing it is reacting to a normal hormone of DBP as there had been a lot of health issues University of Otago Christchurch, and MSc rather than a foreign chemical, leading to a among veterans’ families. student Hannah Acram to find out what effects disruption of normal body functions such as DBP has on genes. Shaw hopes to extend the “One of our members, Jack Stanaway, wrote to survey to the descendants of the veterans and sexual development. In men, high levels of our national body suggesting we find someone oestrogen or their chemical mimics, or low levels to the soldiers of the Auckland area who also who could do some scientific research for us. served in Malaya. of testosterone can cause feminisation. We saw Ian in the paper talking about a book Shaw said lab tests in animals carried out he’d just written on the effects of chemicals on By Stacey Doornenbal by researchers around the world had linked humans, so we called him and he was very keen

58 University of Canterbury (From left) Professor Ian Shaw with Malayan veterans Ray King-Turner and Jack Stanaway.

Research Report 2010/2011 59 Celebrating innovation Mechanical engineering associate professor Keith Alexander — well-known for his “spring-free” trampoline invention which is sold around the world — has been honoured with the 2010 University of Canterbury Innovation Medal.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Ian Town Alexander said he had a rocky start to his own improved steering system for another Alexander’s greatest success so far is his said there was very strong competition for engineering career, “failing miserably” in his first jet company. Springfree trampoline. the medal and he was “delighted to see the two attempts, but a trip exploring for gold in the During a university summer break he worked The project began in 1987 when Alexander’s breadth and depth of innovation at UC as South Island confirmed his love of the subject. in England on Alan Gibbs’ Aquada amphibious wife felt a backyard trampoline would be evidenced by the nominations received”. “I made a pump system for getting gold out of vehicle. unsafe for their young daughter. He identified He said Alexander was a very worthy recipient rivers. I liked doing that stuff — although I only the main causes of trampoline-related injuries: of the inaugural award. Alexander said one of his most enduring found enough gold for a filling, I think.” memories of this time was “driving around in the steel surround, the springs and the risk “Many people may not be aware of his many Alexander started his engineering degree at winter, in the dark, on a little lake in England, of falling off. other ideas which are in various stages on the UC in 1975, during which he developed a new with this incongruous feeling of sitting in an way to commercialisation. These innovations His first commercial partner required that amphibious vehicle with bladed wheels, which open-topped sports car. There’s the steering range from jet boat steering mechanisms, “it could be assembled by a solo mum with wheel and the dashboard. Outside is all the snow probes, ‘nifty lifters’, through to later became his PhD study. no tools in half an hour”. While he never water going past and the headlights are microhydro plants. “I think the staff were somewhat bemused.” achieved this ease of assembly it has become pointing up into the sky.” a commercial success. “In the case of the Springfree Trampoline, his He funded much of his PhD by winning Radio innovation creates both wealth — selling well Avon’s “walk on water” contests. Many of Alexander’s ideas became final year “We now have 14 patents in seven different in a competitive international market — and projects for his students including a “nifty lifter”, countries.” “They offered $1000 dollars to the person who a device to help a polio sufferer transfer from his beneficial value to the community by cutting Alexander is on the Trampoline standards could walk the furthest on water so I developed wheelchair to his car, as well as a quieter fan for down on the number of trampoline injuries. It committee in the US and has contributed to shoes to win the competition, won it two years a hovercraft. has been estimated that if all the trampolines in running and used them to rescue prototypes the Australian standard and sees this as a the US were spring-free there would be 34,000 of my amphibious vehicle from the middle They also developed a snow probe after career high-point. fewer children going to emergency departments being approached with the original concept of lakes.” “At the moment they are looking at mandating each year,” said Town. by Arthur Tyndall, former president of the At his first job at an Auckland engineering the standard in NSW, Australia, using a lot of my “Keith’s invention has created many jobs in Broken River Ski Field. The device is used to consultancy he developed a new design input which is hugely satisfying.” New Zealand. All of the special rods for the test the shear strength of snow layers, thus for the wool dumping presses which trampolines are made by a firm in Gisborne that identifying areas prone to avalanche. Data Alexander has received numerous international compressed three bales into one thus ships out more than 10 containers of product collected is transmitted directly to a PDA awards including 2010 Product of the year USA, per year. Furthermore, the Chinese company enabling treble the amount of wool to be enabling quick assessments and records 2010 Product of the Year Canada, 2010 New which makes the trampolines has employed 10 exported in one container. for future use. In a recent final year project Zealand Engineering Innovator of the Year, 2009 UC graduates to help improve the design and Alexander then worked at Hamilton Jet and he had students working on a Martin International Design Award Australia and the manufacture of the product.” later, while teaching at UC, developed his Jetpack simulator. 2009 Parents’ Choice Award, USA.

60 University of Canterbury “Many people may not be aware of his many other ideas which are in various stages on the way to commercialisation. These innovations range from jet boat steering mechanisms, snow probes, ‘nifty lifters’, through to microhydro plants.”

He said his most meaningful was the 2010 Currently Alexander is working on microhydro Children’s Product of the Year, USA, for his plants — small hydroelectricity systems — Springfree trampoline. continuing the work of the late Peter Giddens. “When I had originally made it, my vision was so Power is generated from a combination of head small. I thought we would sell maybe 30 a year (the height from which the water is falling) in New Zealand. For it to not only get to America multiplied by flow. In mountainous areas such as but to win product of the year was a big boost.” Nepal, head is large so required flow is minimal Alexander played an integral part in establishing meaning necessary pipes and turbines are small the University’s Product Innovation Centre and is and therefore low cost. Giddens believed sites the current director. with low head while more costly were much more common, but turbines had not been “The idea of an innovation centre has been around designed for them. A project was started to for a long time. It is an internal consultancy which develop suitable turbines. specialises in providing services for people (both within and outside the university) developing new Over a dozen honours students and one PhD products they want to get to market.” student have worked on the project. Once the project is completed a website will be set up to These services include mechanical engineering provide free information. By entering specific site analysis, computer assisted design, and details, the necessary drawings and system parts mechanical design. The knowledge-rich lists will be provided, thus making the plant environment provides access to a huge range of more economically available. expertise in one place and is particularly valuable if there is a research component to the project. Alexander is also working on a patient lifter. One example to use the Product innovation “We need a piece of machinery that is simple, Centre was the “instrumented climbing hold” small and light — no batteries, no hydraulics, — a training aid that identifies climbers’ hold no electrics — to help carers transfer someone techniques and necessary adjustments for from one place to another so elderly people improvement. can stay at home longer. This started in 1996. “We are close to getting there. This would be my “Our role was to design something that would fit most demanding project. Prototype 16 is in my inside the hold and give out an electrical output garage now!” that indicated what the forces were.” By Vicky Cran Associate Professor Keith Alexander and his daughter, Kate.

Research Report 2010/2011 61 “Although stronger, the buildings were other in an earthquake, but then settle back brittle and inflexible, and thus destined to fail in into place — undamaged. The system allows for Modern a severe earthquake, almost as if they were made longer spans, thinner slabs, fewer beams and of glass. The lesson learnt was that we should a lower overall building height for the same not try to play arm wrestle with nature and floor-to-floor height, all of which translates earthquakes, we will never win, but we can try to into a lighter foundation load that is a major technology built find smarter solutions.” advantage in seismic areas. It has also proven The University of Canterbury connection with cost-comparable if not more economical than the new technology began in the 1990s when conventional construction. upon ancient a much younger Pampanin travelled to the The potential of PRESSS systems motivated University of California in San Diego to join Pampanin to take back and further develop Professor Nigel Priestley under a Fulbright the technology in his native Italy. He was then Visiting Researcher Scholarship. Born in New drawn to the University of Canterbury through Zealand, educated at UC and then a seismic an international concrete committee connection knowledge engineering lecturer here, Priestley was co- with Professor Robert Park. Park and his UC ordinating the PREcast Seismic Structural System colleague, Professor Tom Paulay, were already (US-PRESSS) Research Programme. The work world-renowned for introducing the concept of Associate Professor Stefano Pampanin (Civil and Natural Resources Engineering) was aimed at designing high-performance, capacity design into earthquake engineering low-cost seismic-resisting solutions for multi- in the 1960s. This visionary concept, which is current champion of a seismic engineering legacy that originated with European storey precast concrete buildings. The design calculates a hierarchy of strength into a building ancestors and continued through his predecessors at the University of Canterbury. incorporated prefabricated elements that could so that it performs in the best possible manner He recognises his research today is founded on the work of many great engineers withstand seismic forces by lifting up or rocking during an earthquake, is universally accepted who have come before and acknowledges that he is standing on mighty shoulders. back and forth before returning into place with as a milestone in seismic design philosophy. no damage to the structure. Pampanin could not have chosen more fitting The project culminated in a successful test and inspirational predecessors from which to Pampanin observes that historically, the system with the potential to revolutionise on a five-storey structure which proved the continue his own research. ancient Greeks excelled as earthquake earthquake-proof construction, and with strong effectiveness of what is now well known to Multi-storey concrete buildings using PRESSS engineers, protecting the columns of their University of Canterbury connections. structural engineers around the world as PRESSS technology have now been constructed or are beautiful Doric and Ionic temples by placing “What we have is modern technology built Technology. Based around ductile rather than under design in Wellington and Christchurch. marble blocks on top of each other. upon ancient knowledge of earthquakes that rigid reinforcement of concrete and other The Southern Cross Hospital in Christchurch “In an earthquake, these blocks would can produce the damage-free buildings of the building materials, the success of the system was constructed using this system and came rock one against the other before settling future,” says Pampanin. relies on the use of post-tensioning techniques through the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes and all back into place intact. Structures like the Until recently, modern seismic engineering to connect prefabricated (precast) elements. subsequent aftershocks basically unscathed. Parthenon, the Temple of Hephaestus and worked on the principle of maximum strength. Post-tensioning reinforces building materials After many years of research and during a recent the magnificent columns at the Sanctuary For decades, the traditional approach has been with high-strength steel bars or rebars, sabbatical, Pampanin completed the PRESSS of Apollo bear testimony to this efficacy of to construct stronger and stronger buildings reminiscent of a rubber band threaded through Design Handbook, a code of practice for the New design by standing proud for 2500 years to withstand earthquakes. Unfortunately, the a series of wooden blocks. It operates very much Zealand Concrete Society, on how to design with or more.” 1995 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, and other more like the ancient Greek marble block columns but the new technology. Pampanin says the new These early design principles were the recent seismic events, highlighted the error of with additional tensile reinforcement through design guide is intended to assist designers and inspiration for a pre-cast seismic structural this reasoning. the core. The components still rock against each contractors to adapt to a new way of thinking,

62 University of Canterbury with the primary aim of lessening the economic commercialise the system in Australia and impact of major earthquakes in New Zealand. New Zealand. Collaboration with Andy Buchanan, Professor of Investment in the consortium by the timber Timber Design at UC, seemed a natural advance industry is represented by Carter Holt Harvey, in the development of the technology. Together Nelson Pine Industries, Wesbeam, Forest with their colleague Dr Alessandro Palermo and Wood Products Australia, and the Pine (Civil and Natural Resources Engineering), they Manufacturers Association. Other shareholders managed to demonstrate that, using the same include the University of Canterbury, the technology, engineered timber can compete University of Auckland and the Building Research with concrete and steel as a construction Association of New Zealand (BRANZ), all of which material for large structures up to six storeys have research contracts, alongside the University tall. Since 2004, they have tested the system of Technology in Sydney. using LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) assembled In February 2011 STIC launched a range of on site with steel connection devices and pre- prefabricated timber technologies that will stressing cables. enable commercial and long-span industrial This led to the development of the Pres-Lam portal frame buildings to be easily designed (Pres-stressed Laminated) system, a timber and rapidly constructed using engineered system that was similar to precast concrete and timber products. of which Pampanin, Buchanan and Palermo The new timber technology illustrates are the registered inventors. After a visit to the the power of collaboration between research programme in 2007, the then Minister industry, academia and of Forestry, Jim Anderton, was motivated to government and the strength release three initiatives to promote the use of each in bringing innovative of wood or wood-based products as the main solutions to life and into structural materials in commercial buildings. the economy. Timber can Buchanan recognised that a major reason there now effectively compete were so few large timber buildings was the lack structurally with concrete of engineers who knew how to design them. and steel, but with superior In order to give a real timber alternative to the performance in earthquakes marketplace, there needed to be more research that New Zealanders are now into timber structures. In 2008, $10 million acutely aware of. in external funding, half from industry and By Jann O’Keefe matched by government, made this possible. A major collaborative enterprise saw government, academia and industry joining forces to establish the Structural Timber Innovation Company Ltd (STIC) with the intent of developing innovative solutions to promote the construction of large- scale timber buildings worldwide. The three UC inventors placed their LVL IP on the table at no cost, to enhance the potential for STIC to

Photo: Dreamstime

Research Report 2010/2011 63 Nikki Evans with her four-legged companions (from left) Brutus, Flynn and DJ.

64 University of Canterbury Understanding human-animal relationships in a disaster

The relationship between a pet- “But after the February 2011 earthquake I Evans says owning animals can also create owner and their animal companion became more aware of the issues surrounding habits of a lifetime. The 7am jog along New “We know that there were can sometimes be as intense and as companion animals. Because people know I Brighton beach or the 11am walk around Hagley rewarding as the relationship the pet- have researched animal-human relationships Park with friends or similar, is a daily event people breaking cordons and used animal-assisted therapy in my practice, owner has with other people. So, when for many Christchurch residents. When the to save animals.” they began telling me about their experiences. environment is altered by earthquakes and the dynamics of that human-animal Then news stories began to appear about people these walking routes become inaccessible or relationship are thrown into turmoil breaking cordons to rescue animals, about contaminated, people can experience further by an event such as a natural disaster, people who were distressed at losing their pets stress-evoking change. She says the loss of overseas after Hurricane Katrina destroyed what happens? or having to re-home them while also having to social contact, exercise opportunity and routine large parts of New Orleans and after the 9/11 deal with the trauma of damaged homes and should not be underestimated — nor should the terrorist attacks in New York, showed that even This is the question University of Canterbury aftershocks,” she says. impact on a dog that has not had a walk. internationally there were no clear policies social work lecturer Nikki Evans (Social and to manage human-animal relationships in a “It really got me thinking about the processes Evans, whose research interests include the ethics Political Sciences) is currently investigating. disaster situation. that were, or weren’t in place, and the and practice of animal-assisted intervention and Spurred into action by the Christchurch psychological impacts these events would have therapy, says she is also interested in the issues “I’m aware that there are people now working earthquake of September 2010, Evans says it on people who lose animals to an event that’s surrounding the co-ordination of services by on these issues in New Zealand and I believe became clear that New Zealand had little in out of their control.” animal welfare and rescue groups. some things will change as a result of the the way of a clear set of policies or processes to Christchurch earthquakes.” Evans says animals often provide strong “They did a phenomenal job under the deal with issues surrounding the human-animal emotional and psychological support for people, circumstances. Documentation of the actions Evans says she would like to contribute to relationships during or after a major disaster. and are regarded as members of the family. So people and services took during these times those changes by interviewing people in “After the September earthquake this became what happens when this support is removed or will help in the ongoing development of policy Christchurch about their experiences during particularly clear in relation to people dealing the nature of the relationship is altered? and protocols. and after the earthquakes — to find out how with the disaster in rural settings around She says that the changes caused to the their relationship with their companion animal “We know that there were people breaking Canterbury. While large-scale farms generally had dynamics of such a relationship after a disaster has changed, stressors that have arisen, how cordons to save animals and people putting access to networks and semi-formal supports, are largely unexplored. Changes to an animal’s they’ve managed since the earthquakes, if they themselves in danger by refusing to leave there was nothing in place to help small-holding behaviour may be difficult to manage: living in had any emergency plans in place for their condemned homes or buildings until their animal or lifestyle block owners who had fences temporary accommodation that is overcrowded animal such as extra food and water, and what down from fallen trees, collapsed buildings, or not suited to the animal’s needs may result in was found. We also know that following the they’ve put in place since. lost animals through injury or stress or had to crisis period many stranded animals were lost.” “inside” animals becoming “outside” animals or By Stacey Doornenbal relocate stock. Stock losses in this context can vice versa. In other situations, the support that Evans is interested in looking at who decides impact on multiple levels, not the least if the people have sought and that animals have given what priority animals have under emergency animal was of significance financially. during these difficult times may have increased. conditions. She says research carried out

Research Report 2010/2011 65 Helping late talkers

Late-talking tots who fail to catch up The Marsden-funded study, being done in Stokes explains that in their longitudinal study UK in 2008 did the same. A recent study of 1766 to their peers by the age of four in New collaboration with PhD student Jayne Moyle, children are seen twice, first with an initial visit children in Perth, Australia, found that factors Zealand are the focus of a new study is studying 200 healthy 24 to 30-month-old then again in 18 months. Parents complete a such as low birth weight and prematurity, male children, 100 of whom are late in learning vocabulary checklist three times. The testing is gender, and family history of late talking were all at UC’s Child Language Centre by to talk. In New Zealand, early hearing and comprehensive, measuring vocabulary as well as associated with late talking. Interestingly, things Co-Directors Professor Thomas Klee medical screening streams children with memory skills, using a non-word or “nonsense” like soothers, tongue ties or being a second and Professor Stephanie Stokes, and hearing impairment or conditions, such as cleft memory game. sibling did not affect long-term speech and palate or cerebral palsy, into Special Education Associate Professor Catherine Moran. Simple mimicry has been identified as a core language development, nor did being raised in a Services. This leaves children with speech or Information gathered will provide feature of language learning in most children multilingual family/whānau. language delay in the “typically developing” and begins at about 12 months. There is a the opportunity to catch and correct group. Without data to disprove this, speech Communication is a basic human trait with suggestion that late talkers may not be so good this high-risk group with speech and and language therapists, teachers and health some children sadly struggling to ever “crack at mimicry/imitation of new words. Recently professionals often advise parents that “they’ll the code” of language learning. Stokes poses language impairments before they enter published research by Stokes demonstrates catch up”. questions as to why some children have the school system. that many late talkers get “stuck” in learning maladaptive learning mechanisms: what is the Klee and Stokes cite research findings that new words that sound like many other words root cause which pauses the rapid acquisition indicate that as many as one-third of late-talking “There is currently limited service provision for they have heard their parent say (for example, of a native language? Potentially, factors include toddlers will not catch up by school age. Their late-talking children in New Zealand,” Stokes cat/hat/sat). Children who are good language poor memory skills, neurobiological reasons (the current research focuses on predicting which says. This is a situation the researchers plan to learners rapidly progress to learn “sparse” brain not processing language as it should), poor rectify. “There is very limited data on the early children are likely to have prolonged problems, vocabulary, for example words such as “mouth” from an earlier age than is currently possible. intra-uterine growth, or malnutrition. There is language development of children growing up in or “fish”, which have fewer like-sounding words. evidence of genetic or familial links in studies of New Zealand and our study is looking to address Diagnosis to date is episodic — a snapshot Stokes’ research has demonstrated that 200 five-year-olds and up. Stokes says these are the that, says Klee. “Most of the research our health of how a child performed at a specific point English, 200 French, and 900 Danish children all “next” questions for a potential follow-on study. and education services currently use is based on in time. Children are currently defined as late show similar findings. talking if they have fewer than 50 words in their “We are a product of our experience and US studies.” Klee and Stokes plan to summarise their findings vocabulary or are not combining two words environment. What you give to your child as a This research is not just interesting, but also periodically on the Child Language Centre’s by the time they are two years of age. Other learning experience has a very powerful effect overdue. “Parents want answers,” says Klee. website (www.cmds.canterbury.ac.nz/clc) and cues include using gestures to communicate across time,” Stokes says. She recommends less the full results will be published at the end of the Children with speech and language delay who rather than what should be rapidly developing TV and more storybook reading. More reading, three-year project. enter the school system often find it hard to vocabulary. By 30 months of age the average talking, listening and face-to-face interaction assimilate socially and have learning issues, child knows between 400 to 600 words and can In the meantime, awareness of the importance also helps brain, and therefore language, particularly with respect to literacy, and they put short sentences and questions together such of research to provide data for health development. can be disruptive. Many go on to have adult as “Daddy go” or “more ice cream?” Stokes notes professionals is spreading. In 2006 the US By Amy McDaid communication difficulties, higher rates of some children progress their vocabulary but Preventative Services Task Force recommended anxiety disorders, and lower rates of education are still not forming sentences or conversations more research into early diagnosis of speech and attainment and occupational status. correctly on entering school. language disorders. The Bercow Report in the

66 University of Canterbury Professors Stephanie Stokes and Thomas Klee

Research Report 2010/2011 67 Professor Angus Hikairo Macfarlane

68 University of Canterbury Facilitating Māori research

It has been a very busy and rewarding Pae Tawhiti Award, which he counts as a personal Teaching that provides students with both a In 2010 he was part of a team that won the few years for Professor Angus Hikairo career highlight. strong appreciation of specialist teaching as an UC College of Education Research Team Award Macfarlane. He also feels very honoured by his recent interdisciplinary field of practice and the ability for a project that required it to synthesise key appointment by the Tertiary Education to apply their specialist knowledge and skills in information from four New Zealand Ministry diverse cultural contexts. of Education Best Evidence Synthesis reports Macfarlane, who is based in the Assistant Commission as a member of the Māori as well as kaupapa Māori research associated Vice-Chancellor Māori Office and the School of Knowledge and Development panel for the A recent high point on the publication front was with the ministry’s Ka Hikitia Māori Education Māori, Social and Cultural Studies in Education, Performance-Based Research Fund 2012 Quality the October 2011 launch of a book he co-edited Strategy. was appointed the University of Canterbury’s Evaluation. with Dr Valerie Margrain from Massey University inaugural Professor of Māori Research in 2009. On a university level and on an international titled Responsive Pedagogy: Engaging Restoratively “The key messages outlined in the report were scale, Macfarlane says the signing in 2011 of a with Challenging Behaviour (New Zealand Council translated into an academic paper, which offered His role is to facilitate Māori research and for Educational Research, 2011). It was described a tool for educators to assist whānau and iwi to scholarship throughout the University, providing memorandum of understanding (MOU) between UC and Macquarie University in Sydney was a by respected leadership consultant Professor Jan actively engage in New Zealand schooling.” academic leadership across the disciplines and Robertson as a text that should be “compulsory across cultures and he has certainly been active definite highlight. Macfarlane is also part of a team of five reading for every teacher and teacher trainee in researchers — including two fellow UC in doing that. “Under the MOU we have introduced a staff Aotearoa New Zealand”. and student exchange programme, providing academics, Professor Letitia Fickel (Māori, Social In the past two and a half years, since taking up Parallel to encouraging research and driving and Cultural Studies) and Sonja Macfarlane the UC position in April 2009, he has organised the opportunity for our emerging postgraduate students and academic staff to gain access to strategy, Macfarlane is leading by example, (Health Sciences Centre), and two Te Tapuae o two very successful Māori research wānanga leading Australian research and thinking with a pushing out significant research that is Rehua researchers — that secured a Ministry on campus, been involved in a number of high- uniquely indigenous context. informing and impacting classroom practice. of Education research contract in July 2011 to profile Ministry of Education research contracts, He received a Good Practice Publication Grant investigate the effectiveness, sustainability and helped facilitate a new alliance with Macquarie “This international alliance will see our two (GPPG) from Ako Aotearoa (the National Centre possible replication of four special education University, Sydney, added to his extensive universities enhance relations by developing for Tertiary Teaching Excellence) in 2010. The service delivery teams based in the Auckland publication list — with two edited books, 14 academic co-operation and exchange of GPPG scheme is a key mechanism by which region known as Kaupapa Māori Teams. chapters in books and six journal articles — and information in respect of indigenous research in good tertiary teaching and learning practice “Our research will seek to unpack such intricacies delivered almost 40 keynote presentations. Plus Australasia and beyond.” is shared, celebrated and promoted across the as the strategic planning that has driven the he has received some notable awards, grants and Macfarlane, who has a background in education sector, with written summaries and multimedia teams’ structure to date, staff perceptions key appointments. psychology, says a feature from 2011 was presentations published in tha Ako Aotearoa and professional development needs, schools’ In December 2010, he was honoured for his the inaugural offering of a new specialist Good Practice Publication Grants e-book on the perceptions, whānau perspectives and the commitment to Māori education and prolonged qualification in special education. Ako Aotearoa website. Macfarlane’s contribution impact on student outcomes.” research achievement with the New Zealand In partnership with Massey University, UC now to this is entitled Huakina mai: Doorways towards By Maria De Cort Association for Research in Education’s Te Tohu offers a Postgraduate Diploma in Specialist culturally responsible education (2012).

Research Report 2010/2011 69 sea but has proven a valuable and almost pure then stack on top of each other to form long Proteins promote source of protein. After simple manipulation structures as well as interconnecting structures. in the laboratory, elaborate nanostructures are It is these capabilities that attract us, from a formed from this material — long, thin fibrils protein engineering point of view, and that about 50 nanometres across, much thinner than we think can be engineered into something a human hair but with the strength of spider useful — perhaps to make nanodevices or self- partnerships healing materials. So we are both researching silk. These fibres can then form the foundation for strong materials or be used as biosensors in the same protein but have different end uses in The same spirit of cooperation that brought the Biomolecular Interaction Centre nanodevices and as nanoscaffolding upon which mind. When we have engineered changes into to arrange other molecules. the proteins, Hampton can test these altered (BIC) at UC into being in 2007 is at work again in a major new research fellowship proteins in his cellular systems to help unravel “We are exploring these fibrils as a framework programme which is collaborating with industry in a search for new and different how structure affects function. It is a very to put enzymes on,” explains Gerrard. “Enzymes ways to use proteins. beneficial partnership.” are catalysts with many applications but they are not very stable. Attached to a nanoscaffold, Another medical application of Gerrard’s work The IRL Industry and Outreach Fellowship is 12 people at UC and three more in Wellington however, the result is a really high surface area was harnessed in a collaboration with colleagues held by Professor Juliet Gerrard, a biochemist working directly on the programme, as well coated in enzymes which increases activity and from the University of Melbourne. This group specialising in the structure, function and as input from other BIC researchers who stability. We have done this both in solution and used the fact that proteins cluster together in reactivity of proteins. Gerrard was one of the would total about 50 all up. on substrates of glass or cotton in an attempt a bacterial cell differently from how they group within human cells. They designed new drugs original researchers who helped establish BIC at to make activated surfaces with the enzymes on “We are in search of novel and innovative that prevented the bacterial proteins forming UC in 2007, together with Professor Conan Fee, them. We’ve also used them to make a strong uses for proteins,” says Gerrard. “At one end of their clusters, thereby killing the bacterial an engineer who applies novel technology in film, and then combined the two processes — the spectrum, we look at really fundamental cells, but hopefully leaving the human cells the bioprocessing field of chemical engineering, put enzymes on fibrils, then put the fibrils into properties of proteins — how they fold up, untouched. This approach is being used to find and Associate Professor Emily Parker, a biological the film, to produce antimicrobial films.” what their structure is and how that enables new ways to combat diseases like tuberculosis chemist with an interest in drug design. BIC their function within the body. Then we find The mutual benefits of this collaboration and meningitis. was made one of UC’s two premier research ways to apply that knowledge outside the cells. are obvious in a new project with Associate If anyone can drive this new partnership to its institutes in 2010 along with the New Zealand We are bridging the gap between science and Professor Mark Hampton from the University of full potential and ensure both the quality and Institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour. engineering. If we find an interesting protein, Otago Christchurch Medical School. Hampton quantity of research outputs are equalled by the “The IRL Fellowship Programme is all about we will explore what we can do with it, and is particularly interested in peroxiredoxin, an industrial applications, it is Gerrard. making connections,” says Gerrard. “It’s about how it might be used in a totally new and antioxidant protein which helps protect the Co-director of BIC at UC and principal different context. body from free radical damage, and is currently bridging the gap between fundamental and investigator at both the MacDiarmid and Riddet applied research and strengthening the links “The work is taking us into so many exciting working on the structure of the protein and how Institutes, she has recently been appointed Chair between institutional researchers and industry. areas that a major challenge is in choosing this might be related to its function. of the Marsden Council. She has worked for Crop It’s also about applying both scientific and the ones that show the most potential. One of “Hampton is seeking to understand how and Food Research Ltd and done research for engineering knowledge in the creation of our stronger areas is in making biomaterials, peroxiredoxin helps prevent the buildup of Fonterra, AgResearch, and now IRL, so has strong structures from biological materials. taking waste proteins and using them to create hydrogen peroxide that occurs in the body under credentials in industry collaborations as well. “The fellowship is funded for five years and aims interesting structures that can be applied in a free radical attack,” says Gerrard, “whereas Besides all this, her passion for both proteins and to establish an integrated programme across bionanotechnology.” we are looking at using the protein outside the partnerships is patently apparent. BIC and IRL with collaborating students and a In one project the group uses fish eye lenses, cell. The protein has an amazing structure with By Jann O’Keefe postdoc in each organisation. In all, there are a waste product that is usually thrown back to several units arranged in donut like rings. These

70 University of Canterbury “The work is taking us into so many exciting areas that a major challenge is in choosing the ones that show the most potential. One of our stronger areas is in making biomaterials, taking waste proteins and using them to create interesting structures that can be applied in bionanotechnology.”

Professor Juliet Gerrard

Research Report 2010/2011 71 College of Arts

Research productivity in the College of Arts proceeded Academic Departments/Schools Centre for Fine Arts, Music and Theatre at an impressive pace in 2011, despite the interruptions from earthquakes and temporary loss of library Humanities resources. Researchers in the College engaged in Languages, Cultures and Linguistics explorations spanning the globe and embracing wide Māori and Indigenous Studies aspects of social, creative and humanistic pursuit. Social and Political Sciences In the Centre for Fine Arts, Music and Theatre, for instance, 145 outputs were chronicled, including Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies compositions for Ensemble Selish (Frieburg) and the Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra (Beijing), conference 2010 2011 papers on photography and theatre studies in Greece Academic staff1 135 136 and Canada, and concerts and exhibitions in Thailand, Adjuncts and research fellows2 43 46 the US, Germany and Turkey. Post-doctoral fellows3 1 1 The College’s research centres contributed significantly to its international profile, with the New Zealand Outputs4 734 660 Institute for Language, Brain and Behaviour (including Postgraduate degrees completed5 PhD 12 PhD 14 staff from the School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics) involved in approximately $3.7 million in MA 33 MA 22 grants, and the Te Awatea Violence Research Centre MFA 5 MFA 8 (in the School of Social and Political Sciences) MFA MFA engaged in three major externally funded projects (Creative Writing) 3 (Creative Writing) 2 Professor Ed Adelson on community violence. Pro-Vice-Chancellor, College of Arts MMus 1 MMus 1 In the School of Humanities, research spanned areas such as Medieval European history, the American Civil Research Income $1,084,133 $1,211,778 War, New Zealand literary/cultural criticism, Hellenistic poetry, art in literature in 19th century France, and a 1 FTE; includes continuing and fixed-term staff members employed throughout the year commentary on the 4th century B.C. historian Ephorus. 2 FTE; includes adjuncts and research fellows employed for greater than one year during the year The School of Social and Political Sciences highlights 3 FTE; includes fellows employed for greater than one year during the year 4 Outputs may be counted under more than one College due to co-authorship contributions to a substantial (more than 5 Theses are listed under the supervisor(s)’ College and may be counted under more than one College $1 million) grant studying the lives of young due to co-supervision Norwegians, and a large longitudinal survey of children and adults sponsored by the United Nations.

www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/arts

72 University of Canterbury College of Business and Economics

The College of Business and Economics remains Academic Departments Accounting & Information Systems committed, notwithstanding the impact of the Canterbury earthquakes, to providing a Economics & Finance supportive, vibrant research environment, Management which allows the production of outputs with National Centre for Research on Europe both significant impact and relevance. 2010 2011 Despite this challenging environment the College has been able to provide funding Academic staff1 83 87 to support individual staff research, to host Adjuncts and research fellows2 23 23 several international conferences, and to 3 support the application for external research Post-doctoral fellows 12 5 grants. Over the period College staff have Outputs4 492 461 been undertaking research with the support Postgraduate degrees completed5 PhD 5 PhD 9 of three Marsden grants and have received external funds to support other research and MA 3 MA 3 consultancy activities. In line with the College’s MCom 5 MCom 6 goal of incentivising, supporting and celebrating MSc 5 research excellence, the College has recognised emerging researchers through the Early Career Research Income $598,588 $824,974 Award. A number of academic staff have also 1 FTE; includes continuing and fixed-term staff members employed throughout the year received recognition of their research through 2 FTE; includes adjuncts and research fellows employed for greater than one year during the year Professor Adrian Sawyer best paper awards. In 2011 the New Zealand 3 FTE; includes fellows employed for greater than one year during the year Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Experimental Economics Laboratory was 4 Outputs may be counted under more than one College due to co-authorship College of Business and Economics officially launched. The College continues to 5 Theses are listed under the supervisor(s)’ College and may be counted under more than one College due to co-supervision (The previous PVC, Professor Nigel Healey, support the annual series of memorial lectures left in July 2011) to showcase research in the areas of accounting, economics and management, respectively through the Pallot, Condliffe and Hight lectures. The National Centre for Research on Europe (NCRE) moved to become part of the College of Arts from 1 January 2012.

www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/bsec

Research Report 2010/2011 73 College of Education

The College of Education is committed to research Academic Departments/Schools Educational Studies and Human Development excellence in educational studies and human development, teacher education and health sciences. Literacies and Arts in Education Key areas of scholarly strength include, but are not Māori, Social and Cultural Studies in Education limited to, those represented by the College’s recently Science and Physical Education established research labs: the e-Learning Research Lab, Health Sciences Centre the Inclusive and Special Education Research Group, the Health Sciences Assessment Collaboration Research 2010 2011 Lab, the Olympic Studies Research Lab, the Early Years Academic staff1 139 117 Enquiry Hub, the Language and Literacy Research Lab, the Creative and Participatory Research Lab, the Adjuncts and research fellows2 15 14 Science and Technology Education Research Lab, the Outputs4 593 474 Educational Theory, Policy and Practice Research Hub, Postgraduate degrees completed5 PhD 9 PhD 5 the Wayne Francis Cancer Epidemiology Research Group, the Te Rū Rangahau: Māori Education Research MEd 7 MA 1 Lab, the Education History Research Lab, and the MHealSc 4 MEd 24 Teacher Learning and Innovations in Practice Research MSLT 1 MHealSc 7 Hub. These research groups are contributing to research of international significance as well as fostering the MTchLn 11 MSc 1 development of emerging research in areas of local and MTchLn 10 national priority. Research Income $1,003,955 $502,314 Professor Gail Gillon Pro-Vice-Chancellor, College of Education 1 FTE; includes continuing and fixed-term staff members employed throughout the year 2 FTE; includes adjuncts and research fellows employed for greater than one year during the year 3 FTE; includes fellows employed for greater than one year during the year 4 Outputs may be counted under more than one College due to co-authorship 5 Theses are listed under the supervisor(s)’ College and may be counted under more than one College due to co-supervision

www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/educ

74 University of Canterbury College of Engineering

Research in the College of Engineering covers Academic Departments/Schools Chemical and Process Engineering a broad range of disciplines, from large scale structural engineering to nano-technology. Civil and Natural Resources Engineering Together with research encompassing Computer Science and Software Engineering mathematics, forestry engineering and computer Electrical and Computer Engineering science, the College aims to carry out research in Mathematics and Statistics areas that will be of benefit to society. This has been put sharply into focus in the last year or Mechanical Engineering so, with many of our researchers being actively Forestry involved in Christchurch-based activities to Human Interface Technology Laboratory (HIT Lab NZ) support the city’s rebuild. Our staff attract considerable external research 2010 2011 funding and many renowned international Academic staff1 132 139 researchers choose to come and work with us. Adjuncts and research fellows2 61 69 This year national recognition was given to Dr Christopher Hann (Electrical and Computer Post-doctoral fellows3 23 26 Engineering) who was awarded a Rutherford Outputs4 1,054 910

Discovery Fellowship for five years to enable 5 him to continue his research on control Postgraduate degrees completed PhD 36 PhD 43 systems for rockets. MA 1 ME 21 A priority for College academics in the near ME 20 MEFE 2 Professor Jan Evans-Freeman future will be to provide engineers and scientists Pro-Vice-Chancellor, College of Engineering MEFE 13 MEM 15 to support the local and national infrastructure, MEM 19 MET 5 to enable the development of the high-value manufacturing sector in New Zealand, and to MET 2 MSc 10 provide expertise to the growing energy sector in MForSc 2 this country. MSc 9 External Research Income $11,427,882 $11,101,787

1 FTE; includes continuing and fixed-term staff members employed throughout the year 2 FTE; includes adjuncts and research fellows employed for greater than one year during the year 3 FTE; includes fellows employed for greater than one year during the year 4 Outputs may be counted under more than one College due to co-authorship 5 Theses are listed under the supervisor(s)’ College and may be counted under more than one College due to co-supervision www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/eng

Research Report 2010/2011 75 College of Science

Science research at Canterbury experienced one of Academic Departments/Schools Biological Sciences its most challenging years in 2011. Chemistry Having successfully recovered from the September 2010 earthquake, it was to the great credit of our staff and Communication Disorders postgraduate students that we quickly regained our Geography high levels of research activity after the February and Geological Sciences June earthquakes in 2011. A particular highlight was the award by the Royal Society of New Zealand of the third Physics and Astronomy Rutherford Discovery Fellowship in the College to Psychology Dr Anthony Poole of the School of Biological Sciences. Gateway Antarctica As we move forward, we aim to enhance our already strong international reputation in a number of key 2010 2011 disciplines through further exploiting the potential for collaborative partnerships with external partners Academic staff1 128 135 such as Crown Research Institutes and diversifying our Adjuncts and research fellows2 100 105 funding sources, particularly in the private sector. Our greater emphasis on developing an innovation culture Post-doctoral fellows3 21 24 will also continue. Overall, science research at the University of Canterbury is well placed to justify the Outputs4 1,104 981 University’s claim that, as science researchers, we are Postgraduate degrees completed5 PhD 48 PhD 26 “people prepared to make a difference”. Professor Paul Fleming MA 4 MAntaStud 1 Pro-Vice-Chancellor, College of Science MAud 10 MA 8 MHealSc 1 MAud 10 MSc 58 MSc 58 MSLT 9 MSLT 5

Research Income $8,778,609 $9,237,333

1 FTE; includes continuing and fixed-term staff members employed throughout the year 2 FTE; includes adjuncts and research fellows employed for greater than one year during the year 3 FTE; includes fellows employed for greater than one year during the year 4 Outputs may be counted under more than one College due to co-authorship 5 Theses are listed under the supervisor(s)’ College and may be counted under more than one College due to co-supervision www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/sci

76 University of Canterbury School of Law

Despite the disruptions caused by the 2010 2010 2011 and 2011 earthquakes and their continuing Academic staff1 22 23 consequences, staff in the School of Law 2 continued to research and publish widely. Adjuncts and research fellows 6 7 4 In 2011 there were 99 outputs by law academics, Outputs 172 99 of which a third were in overseas publications Postgraduate degrees completed5 PhD 4 LLM 1 or at international conferences. While the Law External Research Income $25,284 $14,023 School’s traditional strength in “black letter law”, core law areas such as public law, criminal 1 FTE; includes continuing and fixed-term staff members employed throughout the year law, torts, land law and family law, continued to 2 FTE; includes adjuncts and research fellows employed for greater than one year during the year be a focus of much of the published research, 3 FTE; includes fellows employed for greater than one year during the year there were numerous substantial pieces dealing 4 Outputs may be counted under more than one College due to co-authorship with broader fields such as international law 5 Theses are listed under the supervisor(s)’ College and may be counted under more than one College and environmental law. The year has also seen a due to co-supervision continued growth in the publications of results of externally funded research — and a number of successes in attracting such funding which will bear fruit in future years. Professor Jeremy Finn, Associate Dean of Research, School of Law Associate Professor Richard Scragg Dean, School of Law

www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/law

Research Report 2010/2011 77 Research Institutes and Centres

Biomolecular Interaction BIC researchers seek to understand the Health Sciences Centre (HSC) Human Interface Technology Centre (BIC) molecular interactions vital to biology and Laboratory (HIT Lab NZ) harness them in a wide range of applications. The Health Sciences Centre was established in The Biomolecular Interaction Centre (BIC) is BIC has a number of principal, partner, associate 2004 to develop postgraduate programmes The Human Interface Technology Laboratory a multi-disciplinary centre dedicated to the and affliated investigators, together with post- and associated research activities in the health New Zealand (HIT Lab NZ) is a human-computer study of molecular interactions critical to doctoral fellows, Postgraduate students and sciences. The centre will foster health-related interface research centre hosted at the University biological function. Understanding biomolecular technicians from the University of Canterbury, interdisciplinary and collaborative initiatives, of Canterbury. The lab is a partner of the world- interactions is central to a range of fundamental as well as other national and international within the University, with other tertiary leading HIT Lab US based at the University of sciences, new treatments for disease, and a wide institutions. Many of these investigators directly education providers in Canterbury and beyond, Washington in Seattle. range of highly functional products. support the research themes of the centre while and with the health sector. HIT Lab NZ is revolutionising the way people The centre includes University of Canterbury others have related research projects that benefit These new initiatives will complement the interact with computers, by creating cutting- researchers from the Colleges of Science and from BIC support. University’s existing programmes in clinical edge interfaces to: Engineering, as well as Education and Arts, www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/bic psychology, social work, child and family • enhance human capabilities and partners with several New Zealand Crown psychology, counselling, speech and language • vanquish human limitations Research Institutes and universities. Gateway Antarctica therapy, and medical physics, as well as health • increase the flexibility and utility of industry’s The centre was founded in 2007 after being sciences programmes available through the existing products awarded funding from the Innovation and Gateway Antarctica is a centre for Antarctic University of Otago’s Christchurch School of studies and research at UC. Medicine and Health Sciences. HIT Lab’s multi-disciplinary approach to research Development Fund from the Tertiary Education and education facilitates an entrepreneurial Commission (TEC). The primary investment of The purpose of Gateway Antarctica is to www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/hsc climate, which fosters a wealth of innovative $1.85 million was used to purchase a suite of contribute to increased understanding and more ideas. Currently the lab is working on a range state-of-the-art equipment that was supplied by effective management of the Antarctic and the of projects in collaboration with industry and Bio-Rad Laboratories. BIC has recently received Southern Ocean by being a focal point and a academia. a multi-million dollar investment from the catalyst for Antarctic scholarship, attracting University of Canterbury to become one of two national and international participation in One of HIT Lab’s key goals is to expedite new premier research institutes on campus. collaborative research, analysis, learning and economic development within New Zealand networking. by transitioning breakthrough interface technologies to industry. www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/anta www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/hitlab

78 University of Canterbury Research Institutes and Centres

Macmillan Brown Centre for National Centre for Research New Zealand Institute of Waterways Centre for Pacific Studies on Europe (NCRE) Language, Brain and Behaviour Freshwater Management The Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies In 2000, the forerunner to the National Centre (NZILBB) A joint venture between the University was founded through a bequest from the late for Research on Europe (NCRE) — the Centre for The New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain of Canterbury and Lincoln University, the Professor John Macmillan Brown (1846-1935), Research on Europe — was founded at UC. In and Behaviour is a multi-disciplinary centre Waterways Centre for Freshwater Management a founding professor of the University of 2002 a grant from the European Commission dedicated to the study of human language. is a focal point for improving knowledge-driven Canterbury and a former Vice-Chancellor of was awarded and at this time the centre became The researchers come from a wide range water resource management in New Zealand. the University of New Zealand who spent a the National Centre for Research on Europe. of disciplines, forging connections across The centre offers undergraduate courses considerable time travelling and studying the NCRE remains the only EU-dedicated tertiary linguistics, speech production and perception, and postgraduate degrees in water resource countries of the Pacific. level centre in New Zealand. Since then, NCRE language acquisition, language disorders, social management, to serve the ever increasing Under the terms of Professor Macmillan has developed significantly in both academic cognition, memory, brain imaging, cognitive demand for graduates in this field. A strong Brown’s will, the centre was established in 1988 and outreach activities, involving a variety science, bilingual education and interface connection is maintained with private sector at the University of Canterbury to facilitate of roles and mechanisms. Since 2006, NCRE technologies. This highly interdisciplinary team and water research organisations to ensure the the “investigation and research of the history, has managed the EU Centres Network of New is working together toward a truly unified skills, knowledge and awareness conveyed in traditions, customs, laws, and ideas of the Zealand incorporating all eight New Zealand understanding of how language is acquired, the classroom, is relevant to the whole water peoples of the Pacific generally”. universities and has formal links with similar EU produced and understood in its social and sector. The centre also acts as first point of centres in the Asia-Pacific, including Monash, physical contexts. contact for external groups seeking research The main areas of research of the centre are the RMIT and the ANU in Australia, Waseda and Keio expertise and community or professional www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/nzilbb societies and cultures, past and present, of the universities in Japan, NUS in Singapore, and development education in the field. It is an indigenous peoples of Oceania (including New Fudan and Tsinghua in China. example of strong co-operation between the Zealand). In developing its research programme, The main focus of NCRE is on research into Ngāi Tahu Research Centre two universities, leading to better education the centre is responsive to concerns expressed outcomes for the country. by these people. how the European Union impacts on the Asia- (NTRC) Pacific region, with special emphasis on media www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/waterways The Ngāi Tahu Research Centre (NTRC) was www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/pacs perceptions, development policy, trade and established in August 2011 as a joint initiative regional integration. between Ngāi Tahu and the University of www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/ncre Canterbury. NTRC was founded for the purpose of being a leader in indigenous scholarship and to provide a centre for the intellectual capital and development of Ngāi Tahu. www.canterbury.ac.nz/spark/ntrc

Research Report 2010/2011 79 We have a vision of people prepared to make a difference – tangata tu¯, tangata ora.

Our mission is to contribute to society through knowledge in chosen areas of endeavour by promoting a world-class learning environment known for attracting people with the greatest potential to make a difference. We seek to be known as a University where knowledge is created, critiqued, disseminated and protected and where research, teaching and learning take place in ways that are inspirational and innovative. Looking towards 2023, the 150th anniversary of our founding, the primary components of our strategy are to Challenge, Concentrate and Connect.

University of Canterbury Statement of Strategic Intent

80 University of Canterbury The Research 2010/2011 CD contains an electronic copy of this publication and lists of 2010/2011 research outputs.

Research Report 2010/2011 81 University of Canterbury Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha Private Bag 4800 Christchurch 8140 New Zealand Telephone: +64 3 366 7001 Facsimile: +64 3 3642999 Email: [email protected] www.research.canterbury.ac.nz