Professor, University of Otago
Current Project
I am working on the reconstruction of the New Zealand grasslands 1850s-1920s—a large team project funded by the Marsden fund involving two historical geographers, five historians and a scholar from Maori Studies. Tow are based at the University of Canterbury, five at Otago and one at Lincoln.
Best Place for an Agricultural History Conference
University of Otago-Dunedin, New Zealand!
Hobbies
Golf, walking, food and wine tasting, music
Favorite Historical Figure
Richard John Seddon (New Zealand's longest serving Prime Minister—as I'm writing a biography of him!) Overseas it's a toss up between Mathama Gandhi and john Kenneth Galbraith!
Favorite Agricultural/Rural Movie
"My Brilliant Career" (Australia), "The Go Between" (English), "Little Big Man" (USA), and "Ngati" (New Zealand and "Pumicelands"—on solving the problems of cobalt deficiency in New Zealand's volcanic plateau in the central North Island—a 1954 overconfident classic!)