Musical Chairs

Somewhere in the 80’s, at a time of austerity, a thriving Zoology Department at Newcastle University was closed. This came as a great shock to us zoologists. We were a strongly motivated lot in a department with large numbers of high quality students and active research programmes. We also enjoyed the inspired leadership of Robert Clark and John Shaw, eminent scientists both. Someone in management appeared to have blundered leading to relocation of all zoologists to various other departments across the campus. At least we still had jobs which were not always the case following closures. After a brief tumultuous period in a Biology Department, to my horror I found myself in something called Agricultural and Environmental Science (AES). I say to my horror because, ever since my early experience in universities in tropical Africa I have had a strong antipathy for applied science, yet here I was in an agriculture centred department! To explain my negative feelings for applied science: biological work in tropical Africa was dominated in the 60’s by fisheries research. Here the ethos demanded the prohibition of any ideas not leading directly to better fish catches. Such trivialisation of research may be excusable in cash-strapped research institute but is totally unacceptable in a university. In this I follow Baron Noel Annan (Annan 1999). To quote him while he was provost of University College London, “Universities exist to cultivate the intellect. Everything else is secondary”. The attitudes to science in Africa affected me deeply. Though my attitude to applied science is indefensible it is an attitude that stays me to this day.

After some years I was able to get out of AES and into the department of Marine Science and Coastal Management. This made no better sense but it enabled me to work closely with David Golding, another displaced zoologist, who was running the zoology degree. The zoology degree had survived closure of the Zoology Department and was an outstandingly successful degree. Hence working with it  was an excellent experience.

 Throughout the whole post-zoology period I managed to contrive to be ‘sidelined’. This is a term used to describe the action taken against colleagues who will not cooperate. It is intended as a punishment but the outcome was that I could get on with the pursuit of my research and teaching interests without the massive administrative distractions integral to this period. In this connection, I am reminded of the words of a Roman consul over 2000 years ago….” We trained hard…but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganised. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganising; a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion inefficiency, and demoralisation”. So, things haven’t changed much. Incidentally, I have just discovered that  E.O.Wilson shares my antipathy for endless committees, I quote..." Avoid department-level administration" (Wilson 2013). So I am in good company. 

Overriding all this was the generosity of the University in allowing me long sabbaticals to pursue a key research interest in tropical Africa. I enjoyed a wonderful and fulfilling time at Newcastle University for 35 years and was privileged to work with some outstanding scientists, both student and colleague.

Annan, N. (1999). The Dons: Mentors, Eccentrics and Geniuses. London, Harper Collins Publishers.
Wilson, E. O. (2013). Letters to a young scientist. Liveright/W.W. Norton.