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PEOPLE WE MEET
I was born in Penguin, which is a small town on the north-west coast of Tasmania. I attended primary school at Penguin, although as it was so small I had to travel to Ulverstone from years seven through to 10, and then to Burnie for years 11 and 12, where I did my matriculation. We lived on a chicken farm when I was young, although we only sold the eggs, and not the chickens themselves. Thankfully, that was done at the dairy farm up the road, and because they spent Christmas dressing the chooks, they celebrated late, so we used to cram in there afterwards for a second Christmas dinner!
I wasn't sure what I wanted to do when I was young, but I had an arch rival named Chris Allen at primary school, and one day the principal came into class and asked us to name all the planets. I had no idea, but Chris rattled them off easily, which triggered something in me. Also at the time the Parkes radio dish was often in the news due to its connection with the moon landing, and from that moment I became interested in astronomy. However, despite my aspirations, there was not much of a demand for astronomers on the north coast of Tassie, or for that matter places to study the subject, so I decided to become a teacher instead, even though deep down I still dreamed of becoming an astronomer.
I had also taken up judo during my school years, and after becoming a black belt, decided to move to Sydney because of the limited opportunities to improve my skills where I grew up. Although I missed home, Sydney was fantastic. I trained with judo Olympians at Sydney University, and took up a position at Truscott St Primary in North Ryde. I taught there for about two years, and although really enjoyed it, it was around that time that Gough Whitlam came to power and introduced free tertiary education. I thought this was my chance to follow my dream of becoming an astronomer, so I enrolled in astronomy at Sydney University where I earned honours as an undergraduate, and went on to do a PhD. During my studies I continued to teach, although more so as a private tutor than a full-time teacher, and I also worked for Choice magazine for a while, where I tested everything from microwave ovens to stockings.
After completing my degree I went to Germany where I worked at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy for two years. During my time there we made some pioneering discoveries in magnetic fields, and how they affect galaxies. I then went to work in the States where we observed and studied data from Mars probes, and after that at a South American telescope in Chile, where we concentrated on shorter radio wave lengths. Then in 1986 I was invited by NASA to work on the Kuiper Airborne Observatory to observe Halley's Comet, which was passing close to the Earth at the time. Kuiper was basically a flying telescope that flew between New Zealand and the outer edges of Antarctica.
It was not long after that I ran into an old friend who introduced me to Tony Stark (not Ironman's alter ego), from the the Smithsonian Institute of Astrophysics. At the time a group of scientists were being sent to the US base in Antarctica, but someone pulled out at the last minute, and luckily for me I was in the right place at the right time and was invited to join them. It was an unbelievable experience, and one of the most rewarding I have ever had, although it could never be called an easy assignment. You not only have to deal with the constant cold, but also the isolation, which for many can be more difficult to cope with than any physical discomfort. The atmosphere is also very thin as the base is situated 10,000 feet above sea level, which while making it an amazing place to study the stars as the telescopes don't have to see through the heaviness of the lower parts of our atmosphere, doesn't allow for easy breathing. I absolutely loved my time there, and am at the moment writing the final pages of a book about my year there.
When I'm not writing or travelling overseas, I spend a lot of time in my garden, do tai chi, and swim regularly at Beaton Park. I also volunteer once a week up at Sydney University.