Previous job title: Royal Society Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Otago (2002-3)
PhD: with Professors Jon McCleverty and Mike Ward at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom (1998–2002)
I am so glad that I took the opportunity to live and work in New Zealand. On the professional side, it was a real pleasure to work for Sally. She was always enthusiastic, supportive and full of ideas. I started some work on lanthanide chemistry – it was quite daunting making the change from PhD student to “group expert”, and I can’t imagine many other academics having the courage, like Sally, to start something so different to their previous studies. I hope I gave you a decent start! Certainly the completion of our ‘monster’ review for Advances in Inorganic Chemistry, written with Associate Professor Jean S. Fleming (Anatomy and Structural Biology), “Potential applications for the use of lanthanide complexes as luminescent biolabels”, was immensely satisfying.
Personally it was an unforgettable year too, and having proposed to Katie in the Gardens, there will be a corner of Dunedin that is forever ours. The view from the house (kindly found by Sally), the proximity to the penguins, my first snowy (June) birthday, finding seals and sea lions on deserted beaches just outside the city; just some of the delights of Dunedin that stay with me. The rest of the country was just as wonderful – at least as beautiful as everyone says, and an amazing place to visit. Memories that come to mind as I write include waterfalls in the Catlins, keas in the mountains, the gorgeous coastlines of the Abel Tasman national park and the Coromandel, and early morning in the thermal areas of the North Island… The list is endless!
Dr’s Graham Motson and Katie Heslop
