MASSEY RESEARCH the Rebirth of Plastic Research, Scholarship and Creativity Evolution at Work September 2009 the Joy of Sects ISSN 1177-2247
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MASSEY RESEARCH The rebirth of plastic Research, Scholarship and Creativity Evolution at work September 2009 The joy of sects ISSN 1177-2247 Fire and ice Living with volcanoes MASSEY RESEARCH 1 Why science matters sk Professor Peter Gluckman about how New Zealand’s truth statements from scientists, who themselves are socially powerful, reporting of science stacks up, and he will make no arbitrary, unelected authority figures”. bones about it. “Right now the general quality of science But, let us spare a thought for mainstream media – the MSM, as reporting in New Zealand is terrible by international it is sometimes referred to – which has pressing concerns of its own. Astandards; there is no coherent attempt to explain the issues of the The Trademes and Seeks have run off with its advertisers. Bloggers day or to explore what New Zealand science is delivering,” the and news sites have pilfered its paying readership. The industry has newly appointed Chief Science Adviser told an audience on Massey’s had to cut its suit according to its somewhat shabbier cloth. Struggling Manawatu campus in July of this year. publications have folded and there has been a steady attrition of I agree with him: we are not as well served as we should be by the reporters from the newsrooms. At times such as these, high-mindedly media’s coverage of science, and the lack of serious coverage both calling on the members of the fourth estate to provide critical, fair diminishes the richness of our understanding of the times we live in and comprehensive science reporting will only yield so much. – as extraordinary, in their way, as the Renaissance or Enlightenment What can we do about this? Some measures have already been – and materially damages New Zealand’s prospects as a nation. taken. Professor Gluckman’s own appointment will I believe help How so? The obvious and well-used argument is that by redress the balance, and the Science Media Centre (set up in June undervaluing science we are undermining our future prosperity. If 2008 and modelled on equivalents in Britain and Australia) is working New Zealand is to lift its GDP ranking among the OECD nations, to improve the links between the media and science. then the application of science and technology will be key. Yet, in the face of the technological and economic challenges But there is another way in which we lose out if we fail to give faced by the mainstream media, even this will only go so far. In an proper weight to good science: we will make bad decisions about article in The Nation, Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirschenbaum write important issues. Should folate be a mandatory addition to bread to reduce the [perhaps] the answer lies outside the free market: with the creation incidence of spina bifida? Should 1080 be used to control possum of not-for-profit sources of science journalism and commentary, numbers? At what age should national superannuation kick in? Is meant to last for long periods safely insulated from market upheaval. smacking a legitimately useful way of disciplining children? What Scientists themselves and the institutions they work for, they write, should we do to address the problem of drugs – of which alcohol is need to do more to put their work before the public. one – in society? What about obesity? What about climate change, At Massey, we value public engagement; it is part of our defining its reality and our response to it? ethos. Take Professors Paul Rainey and David Parry. You can read In the sphere of public discourse, opinions abound, not all of them soundly based and not all of them disinterested. Special interests will about their work in this publication, or you can hear them directly: use whatever tools are to hand – pseudoscience, conspiracy theory, Professor Rainey’s Darwin Year lecture is available as a Radio New misdirection and misinformation – to twist matters to their advantage. Zealand podcast; Rutherford medal-winning Professor David Parry So to whom should you look to when forming your thoughts? has been touring New Zealand on a national lecture tour. Every In matters that are complicated, that do concern subtle distinctions day you will see Massey academics making themselves available for in uncertainty and risk, I suggest your first recourse should be to comment, informing debate and explaining their work. formally qualified specialists: to epidemiologists, medical practitioners And the university itself does its bit, making the work of its staff and food scientists; to ecologists and veterinarians; to economists and known through its website and an array of publications: MASSEY demographers. I am not suggesting that the answer to all of life’s magazine, the monthly magazine DefiningNZ and, of course, the problems is ask-the-expert, but we should give them due weight. publication you hold in your hands. Sometimes the folk wisdom, the gut instinct, the easy answer, the In it you will find all the proof you need that science is neither seductive story line, turns out to be at odds with the evidence, and remote nor too complicated to explain, but the most human and when they are, the evidence should win. Should, but doesn’t always. fascinating of endeavours. Matters aren’t helped by the media’s tendency to run stories to a certain template in which, as Ben Goldacre writes in his book Bad Steve Maharey Science, “science is portrayed as groundless, incomprehensible, didactic Vice-Chancellor evolution at work 2 MASSEY RESEARCH Doctorates in the house agmar Knoflach is one in a thousand. Or at least that was what the rather surprised Austrian postgraduate student found herself to be for few days in May 2009, with tea and cake being brought out to mark the momentous occasion. DIn case you haven’t guessed, the number is the count of currently enrolled doctoral students at Massey – a number that, as I write, has topped 1018. They Editor Malcolm Wood [email protected] include candidates for PhDs – a research degree whose abbreviation derives from the Latin philosopiæ doctor, or Doctor of Philosophy – and for the named Feature writers Mark Amery doctorates: Doctor of Business Administration, Doctor of Education, and Doctor Kereama Beal of Clinical Psychology. Kathryn Farrow Jennifer Little At most English-speaking universities the doctorate sits at the apex of Malcolm Wood academic achievement, and it is through doctorates that academic excellence is perpetuated. This is the gateway qualification to becoming a tenured researcher Photographers Graeme Brown or professor. Mark Coote Geoff Dale Massey began offering doctoral degrees in 1949. The first doctoral thesis in Dionne Ward the Massey library was penned by a certain William Anderson McGillivray who David Wiltshire graduated in 1950, his topic being the conversion of carotene into vitamin A in the animal body. Since then, the university has conferred more than 1830 Design Grant Bunyan doctoral degrees, and, with another 120 or so conferred each year, the 2000 Thanks to Kate Arentsen, Lindsey Birnie, Victoria Bradley, mark is expected to be passed in the next 18 months or so. Sue Foley, Doug Franz, James Gardiner, Bryan Working in the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Gibson, Jennifer Little, Amanda McAuliffe, Dagmar is researching the reproductive development of nematode parasitic Jayne McQueen, Paul Mulrooney, Lana Simmons-Donaldson, Lynda Williamson worms. Professor Heather Simpson, her supervisor, is herself the second woman to be awarded a PhD by Massey. (The first woman to be awarded a PhD by Massey was Christine Winterbourn in 1969.) Dagmar’s topic is one with which William would probably identify. Like his own, it is based around science and agriculture and it promises to have practical application. But many other things about how his alma mater has developed might astonish him. I suspect the PhD graduate of 1950 would be bemused at the range of disciplines in which Massey now offers postgraduate study – 28 per cent of Massey doctorates, for example, are now in the humanities and social sciences, disciplines not taught at Massey during his day – and he would certainly marvel at how international postgraduate study has become. As a European – an Austrian in this case – Dagmar is far from unusual. Thirty Massey conferred its first doctoral degree in 1950, a PhD per cent of Massey’s doctoral students hail from overseas, particular sources being on William Anderson McGillivray. McGillivray, a Massey lecturer, went on to gain a DSc from the university in 1964. Europe, Asia, North America, and the Middle East. One reason they come to Massey is the calibre of staff. If you want to, say, With Dagmar Knoflach’s arrival in May 2009 Massey had study volcanism, you could hardly do better than to have Professor Shane Cronin 1000 currently enrolled doctoral students. as your supervisor; for fine arts, Professor Jeremy Diggle; for neuropsychology Professor Janet Leathem. Another reason is the value the university places on academic rigor and the Want to know more? regard in which its postgraduate qualifications are held. A Doctoral Research Research Management Services Committee oversees entry to each programme and monitors each student’s Tel +64 6 350 5341 Fax +64 6 350 5690 progress, and a Graduate Research School, itself headed by an active researcher, E-mail: [email protected] administers doctoral degrees. I wish Dagmar Knoflach all of the very best for her time with Massey, that For media enquiries contact: she enjoys her time here and achieves great things, and I look forward to many External Relations others like her choosing Massey to pursue their academic aspirations. Tel +64 6 350 5255 Fax +64 6 350 5786 Professor Nigel Long E-mail: [email protected] Assistant Vice-Chancellor Research www.massey.ac.nz MASSEY RESEARCH 1 Contents HERE & NOW 5 CHRONICLE A sampling of significant moments from the last year.