Currently: Croucher Brewing Co.
Previous Job Titles:
ARC Postdoctoral fellow at Monash University, Australia;
Lecturer in Chemistry, Charles Sturt University, NSW, Australia;
Lecturer in Pharmacy, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand
I began my studies in 1989 at Otago University with not much direction. After being accepted into a few courses I had to make a decision which career path I wanted. Chemistry, as a fundamental subject, appealed to me as it meant that I would not specialise myself into an area that I may eventually dislike yet would be useful in any number of careers; management, academia, pharmaceuticals, mining and teaching to name a few. Having said that, chemistry at Otago offers a broad range of subjects allowing students to tailor their courses to specific career paths.
I enjoyed my undergraduate time at Otago and despite the temptation of the mighty dollar I dug deep and enrolled for a PhD, under the supervision of Dr. Sally Brooker. During this time I was part of a successful research team and we published articles in the (British) Royal Society of Chemistry journals which have high international standing. This success was to breed success and the year following my graduation I was awarded a very prestigious Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship to study the research of my choice at one of the best chemistry schools in Australia. Together with Professor Colin Raston at Monash University, Australia, I researched the host-guest chemistry of fullerenes in the hope of preparing devices, such as switches and wires, on a nanometer scale (such devices could lead to the ultimate in computer miniaturisation).
I was then appointed as a Lecturer in Chemistry at Charles Sturt University in Australia. As an independent researcher, my research direction changed considerably and I started investigating the chemistry of wine and olive oil, in particular the chemistry of the polyphenolics and tannins which act, amongst other things, as antioxidants and are reputed to have considerable health benefits. My other interests included the controlled delivery of drugs using cage molecules attached to biopolymers. A move to a Lectureship at Auckland University followed.
For each of my appointments the high regard for the Otago School of Chemistry and the publications from our research group were important factors. Studying chemistry at Otago was definitely a positive move for my career. This work allowed me to travel extensively, including a trip to Poland, where I conducted an extensive study on Bohemian Pilsners and Hungarian wine.
Click here to read about my most recent career move: http://www.croucherbrewing.co.nz/about.html
Contact: Dr. Paul D. Croucher, Croucher Brewing Co., Rotorua, New Zealand, http://croucherbrewing.co.nz/
