Born: 1936, Sydney NSW Australia
Present position: Honorary researcher in biophysics,
University of Tasmania
Why I became interested in physics
I was always interested in how things worked. I enjoyed taking things
apart and putting them together again. I wondered about becoming an engineer
but decided to do science at university because I was interested in how
things worked in a fundamental sense, and in doing completely new things.
I was at school at a time when nuclear physics was the most exciting frontier
of science. I found the new information about the basic workings of atoms
and therefore of living things and the universe fascinating. At school
I had a physics teacher who encouraged our asking difficult questions and
pushing our understanding. After I graduated, I became specially interested
in how plants grow and why electricity is so much involved.
What is my work like?
I do research, and lead a research
group, in plant biophysics. We are finding out about many electrical
processes in plants. The uptake of nutrients by roots depends on the electric
voltage between inside and outside the cells. We can measure that voltage,
and we can measure the currents the nutrients carry. We have developed
the MIFE
system to make these ion flux measurements and we have sold MIFE systems
to other researchers in Australia and overseas.
Before retiring in 1998, I taught physics applied in biology and to
our everyday life. I most enjoyed teaching in the laboratory where students
are thinking about how the physical world works and are gaining skills
in use of instrumentation.
I designed an energy efficient house to live in and I talk in public
about physics-based issues like energy policy, mobile phones and electricity
and life.
Future prospects
In the crucial areas of plant, animal and human growth and development,
and our environmental interactions, biophysicists will be working in interdisciplinary
scientific teams in collaboration with biochemists, molecular biologists
and many others. Find out more about biophysics and its wide range of relevance
from the Australian Society
for Biophysics.
Career path components
I studied mathematics, physics and chemistry in years 11 and 12. I
did a BSc degree with emphasis in mathematics and physics, and including
plant science. I concluded with an Honours project in biophysics. I then
began work as a tutor in physics while working and studying for the Doctor
of Philosophy degree. After that I continued as an academic staff member
doing teaching and research in physics and biophysics. After retiring from
teaching, I can still enjoy finding out how things work.