CSIRO in Western Australia Musings of Some Former Staff Disclaimer The compiling editors of these musings, Peter Hick and Adrian Peck, have made only format and grammatical changes to the original contributions. These were freely provided by members of the WA Chapter of CSIRO Alumni and other former CSIRO staff. The authors have had the opportunity to amend or alter their contributions where clarification was considered to be desirable, or where there appeared to be a possibility of causing offence. Photographs are attributed to authors or separately acknowledged where a source can be traced. The authenticity of certain dates, people and events may be subject to some conjecture, but in all cases the material has been submitted in good faith. Acknowledgment. Sue Smith provided professional help in preparation of this document from from day one. Her continual encouragement and ideas of where the CSIRO Alumni network could help has been of great help. Thank you Sue CSIRO Alumni WA Chapter Revised June 2013 FOREWORD That science is a profoundly human activity is too often hidden by its neutral outward surface. When we scientists report our work in scientific papers there is frequently a sense of understatement as we strive for objectivity and rigour. Yet science draws from many wellsprings of human creativity and inspiration, as everyone involved in it knows deeply. Sometimes when one of its practitioners stands in front of an audience or a camera and speaks from the heart something may be heard of the exhilaration, but I regret that too little of this wonderment is made evident to those outside our domain. The accounts in Musings go a good way towards redressing this gap by revealing the human side of science in a significant segment of the most important scientific agency of our country, CSIRO. The stories that follow are spirited personal ones, focused on the daily and the year-by-year experiences of working in the Western Australian arm of CSIRO during its earliest and then its rapid growth phases. Three aspects stand out to me. Firstly, doing science is fun! These stories pull aside the curtain of earnestness that dominates many public perceptions of the scientific community. Life for a CSIRO staff-member is frequently a sequence of amusing and entertaining events. This is not to say that disappointments and tensions never occur – life is a balance of yin and yang, after all – but the joy of working with passionate people in exciting and ground-breaking endeavours comes through superbly in these tales. The second theme to emerge from the Musings is that CSIRO’s Western Australian laboratories were full of ‘characters’. There is a decent argument to be had as to whether or not the earlier eras of our Organisation allowed more such idiosyncratic individuals to prosper than is the case today, but that is for another place. What matters here is that these stories are full of high-spirited activities and personalities. My favourite comes from Peter Hick. It concerns one Bob Millington, an old friend of mine from Alice Springs who happened to be visiting the Perth laboratories at a time when everyone had been told to tighten their belts. The mischief-makers decided that this instruction demanded a response. Given that Bob had the same surname and initials as the Chief of a sister division in Canberra, a requisition form for a Cessna 206 with an attached Hasselblad camera was slipped into the system late on a Friday afternoon, with the apparent endorsement of ‘RW Millington’. The purchasing officer went so far as to obtain quotes before other staff-members smelt a rat. After a newspaper spilled the beans, the trick was out. As Peter comments, “We never got our plane!” Finally, these stories are imbued with pride. Everyone writes with satisfaction and fulfilment about the value of the work that they were doing, an outlook permeating stories not only from senior scientists but also from those whose efforts were devoted to administrative and technical support. Within this shared aspiration and pride lies the persistent strength of CSIRO. The team spirit and the sense of communal purpose, I believe, are as important today as is so evident in the Musings from past times. CSIRO approaches its centenary in a decade or so, and I dare say that more formal accounts of the Organisation will be prepared as that notable event draws near. The reports herein are not intended to be official or balanced or comprehensive. Their strengths are elsewhere, in the emotional, the everyday, the human and the informal, and in this manner they will stand as evidence behind the formal histories. Read them and enjoy their colour, candour and vitality. Steve Morton President, CSIRO Alumni CONTENTS FOREWORD PREFACE 1. SOME HISTORY ................................................................................ 6 BEFORE CSIRO .............................................................................................................. 6 THE BEGINNINGS OF CSIRO IN WA ........................................................................... 6 EARLY DAYS .................................................................................................................. 7 ADMINISTRATION AND GROWTH ............................................................................... 8 THE STATE COMMITTEE .............................................................................................. 9 FLOREAT PARK ........................................................................................................... 11 THE FIRST CHIEFS BASED IN WA ............................................................................ 11 2. PEOPLE............................................................................................ 13 GEOFF ANDERSON (1957 to 1992) ............................................................................ 13 DES BACCINI (1954 to 1969, 1971 to 1980 and 1991 to 1993) ................................ 23 JIM BARROW (1961 to 1992) ...................................................................................... 24 Epilogue ................................................................................................................. 26 GREG BARTLE (1966 to 2001) .................................................................................... 28 DAVID BENNETT (1961 and 1970 to 1984) ................................................................ 31 Clover Disease, or How I got my PhD ................................................................... 31 ERIC BETTENAY (1960 to 1986) ................................................................................ 33 JOHN BROPHY (1952 to 1985) ................................................................................... 39 BARRY CARBON (1964 to 1980) ................................................................................ 40 RON COUPER (1965 to 1986) ..................................................................................... 42 ARTHUR GASKIN (1978 to 1983)................................................................................ 43 ROBERT GERRITSE (1983 to 1998) ........................................................................... 47 PETER HICK (1966 to 1968 and 1970 to 2001) and WORKMATES ......................... 53 Bill McArthur and the Pedology Group .................................................................. 54 Ray Perry’s LRM .................................................................................................... 55 Frank Honey and Ian Tapley ................................................................................. 56 Wednesday BBQs .................................................................................................. 58 Minesite Rehabilitation ........................................................................................... 59 FRANK HINGSTON (1953 to 1995) ............................................................................. 61 A Quest to Achieve Something .............................................................................. 61 Early Days in CSIRO ............................................................................................. 61 Study of the Effect of Tannins and Other Polyphenols in Eucalypt Leaves and Litter on Soil Formation .......................................................................................... 63 Cyclic Salt and Salinity in the Southwest of Western Australia ............................ 64 Specific Adsorption of Anions ................................................................................ 67 The National Soil Fertility Program(NSFP) ........................................................... 69 Division of Land Resources Management ............................................................ 70 Forest Ecosystems of the Southwest of Western Australia .................................. 71 Establishment of the Laboratory for Rural Research ............................................ 72 Modelling Plantation Growth and Water Use ........................................................ 72 Bits and Pieces ...................................................................................................... 73 Bowing Out ............................................................................................................. 74 DENIS HURLE (1972 to 1982) ..................................................................................... 75 PHIL JACK (1952 to 1954) ..........................................................................................