BSc, MSc, PhD
Current Job Title: Organic Chemist
Employer: National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Hamilton, New Zealand
Previous Job Title: Postdoctoral Fellow (NZ Science and Technology), University of Otago.
I arrived in Dunedin, and was subsequently inducted into Brooker’s Bunch, in early February 2000 – summer so I thought. However, a couple of 11-12 degree C days soon put an end to any thoughts of long lunches, lazing around in the sunshine. So it was into the Brooker laboratories to investigate transition metal complexes of Schiff-base macrocycles incorporating new heterocyclic head units. The research went exceptionally well producing many new and very interesting monomeric, oligomeric and polymeric macrocylic complexes. Plans to investigate any potentially interesting magnetic properties of these complexes were cut short as I was offered an organic/environmental chemist position at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, in Hamilton, NZ (which is where I am today). Research now is a far cry from the Brooker Bunch days of X-ray crystallography, metal perchlorates and overnight refluxes. I am now working on more applied areas, such as mitigating the effects of urban contaminants on streams and estuarine environments.
In short, on a good day, I think Dunedin is one of the loveliest cities anywhere, and I would thoroughly recommend an academic stay with the Brooker Bunch for longer than my 9 month stop-over (it’s worth going just to enjoy the great views from the lab windows). If you decide to join the productive Brooker Bunch, just tell Sally that Craig sent ya – she’ll look after you.
Contact: Dr Craig V. Depree, NIWA
