THE CAMBRIDGE AUSTRALIA
TRUST
2007 NEWSLETTER
Patron: Emeritus Professor Peter Karmel AC CBE FASSA
Chairman: Dr Simon Longstaff
Hon Secretary: Professor Nicolas Peterson FASSA
Hon Treasurer: Professor Allan Barton FASA
I am sad to report that on the 4th September
last year, Professor Iain Wright, CAT’s
Deputy Chair and previous Hon Secretary,
died. Iain occupied the position of Hon
Secretary from 1998 to 2002. He was
deeply committed to the work of the Trust,
devoting considerable time and effort to
encouraging
students
to
consider
Cambridge as an option and liaising with
them once there. His outstanding
contribution was to negotiate settlement of
the Orde Poynton bequest, which has
placed the Trust on a truly solid
foundation, in perpetuity. An obituary for
Iain is published below.
On a happier note we received the
following message from Gareth Forde,
now of the Department of Chemical
Engineering, Monash University, who was
funded by a Cambridge Australia Trust
Poynton Scholarship:
“I was hoping that, through this message, my
thanks could be conveyed to the Cambridge
Australia Trust for allowing me the opportunity to
study towards my PhD at Cambridge. By studying
at Cambridge I have been given opportunities to do
things that most certainly would not have otherwise
been possible. These extend not only to the
afternoons of punting with friends that I will
cherish for life, but having the chance to mingle
with intellectual giants, being able to learn in an
environment where the serendipity is thicker in the
air than anywhere else, and also the sporting
opportunities like being able to represent the
university. I wrote to Dr Orde Poynton at the start
of my tenure, as I was told that I may have been
one of the last scholars to formally receive an Orde
Poynton bursary. …I would finally like to reiterate
my thanks for the opportunity to study at
Cambridge.”
As a point of clarification, Dr Forde is
certainly not the last person to benefit from
Dr Orde Poynton’s great generosity. His
endowment has ensured that at least six
scholars will be funded each year in
perpetuity, and the generosity of others,
has endowed, or is in the process of
endowing a further five scholarships in
perpetuity, in addition to the Alumni
scholarship that depends on annual
donations from a large range of people.
Patrick Moore coursework Masters
scholarships
As a result of a most generous benefaction
from Patrick Moore of Melbourne, CAT is
able to expand the range of scholarships it
offers to include two one year coursework
Masters degree scholarships for graduates
from a university in Victoria. The purpose
of these scholarships is to provide young
graduates from Victoria with the
opportunity to further their studies so as to
foster their intellectual, ethical and
spiritual life, to enable them to become
effective leaders in their community. If the
size of the scholarship fund increases so
that it is possible to support more than two
scholarships, eligibility will be extended to
graduates from the other states. Like all the
other CAT scholarships these coursework
scholarships are funded in collaboration
with the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust.
Postal address: c/- The School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, ACT 0200. Telephone:
61-2-61254727 and Fax 61-2 61252711.
Web: http://www.cambridgeaustraliatrust.org.au
1
Obituary: Iain Richard Wright
Professor of English, ANU. Life Fellow,
Queens’ College Cambridge
Iain was born in Edinburgh on December
27th 1944. Like his father and grandfather
he attended (1953-64) the Latymer
grammar school in North London; an
outstanding scholar, he was the first in the
family to go to university. At Cambridge
he continued to excel, taking a double first
in the English Tripos (1964-7), and then
becoming successively Research Fellow,
Fellow, Director of Studies in English, and
(recently) Life Fellow, of Queens’ College.
His affection for the College was deep,
open and abiding.
On arrival in Cambridge in 1964 he
joined the Cambridge University Players, a
touring company based on the Bats, the
Queens’ College dramatic society, in
which he was also a leading light. He was
regarded as a fine actor, both vocally and
physically, even by the high standards of
Cambridge at the time; he played many
leading roles including Troilus, Edgar and
Hal, notably for the Players’ summer tours
to the Minack Theatre in Cornwall.
As a senior academic at Cambridge
Iain taught widely in the modern novel
(including the Russian: he was proud of his
reading ability in the language), Greek and
century
Renaissance
tragedy,
17th
literature, modern drama, critical theory
and—of course—Scottish literature. He
wrote principally on E. M. Forster and on
modern criticism and cultural theory. He
also became Senior Tutor at Queens’,
giving, as ever, a great deal of his time to
administrative and pastoral work. He was
Keeper of the Old Library and Archives.
He also found time for the World
University Service, of which he was UK
Chairman from 1975-78 and International
President from 1978-80. He was from
1969 to 1973 editor of the Cambridge
Review, attracting Noam Chomsky among
others to its pages. Politically speaking he
was deeply affected by his first-hand
witnessing of the events in Paris in 1968,
and of the fall of Allende in Chile in 1973.
He always remained a committed man of
the left.
1982 was a turning point in Iain’s
life. He married Penelope Pollitt, and
became the devoted stepfather of
Madeleine and Davey. Penelope and Iain’s
daughter Catriona was born that year. So
was Iain’s association with Canberra and
the Australian National University, with a
Visiting Fellowship at the Humanities
Research Centre.
In 1991 Iain arrived with his family
to take up the ANU Chair in English.
During his fifteen years in Canberra and at
the University Iain held numerous senior
posts on campus, including staff
representative on council, Head of English,
Head of the School of Humanities, and
Deputy Dean of Arts. His research and
intellectual interests were diverse and
wide-ranging, from the contemporary
literary-cultural theorist Edward Said to
the Welsh physician, playwright and
musician, Matthew Gwinne, whose life
Iain recently wrote for the New Oxford
Dictionary of National Biography: or from
Forster, on whom he wrote an as-yet
unpublished book-length study,
to
Postal address: c/- The School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, ACT 0200. Telephone:
61-2-61254727 and Fax 61-2 61252711.
Web: http://www.cambridgeaustraliatrust.org.au
2
philosophical hermeneutics, a recent
school of literary theory in which his is a
respected name. But it was as a teacher
that Iain made his greatest contribution to
the life of the University. As a lecturer, a
tutor and a PhD supervisor his enthusiasm,
generosity, range of reference and use of
new multi-media techniques, as well as his
warmth and his occasionally wicked sense
of humour, left an unforgettable
impression on a generation of students.
In his last few years Iain found
great happiness with Caroline Bradshaw.
They had all too little time together. He
died in Melbourne on 4 September 2006,
leaving Caroline; Penelope and Catriona;
Madeleine and Davey; two stepgrandchildren, Harry and Leila; Caroline’s
daughters Jo, Olivia, Madeleine and
Alexandra; his sister Sheila; and his many
friends, colleagues and students. (This
obituary is provided by courtesy of Dr
Simon Haines of the School of Humanities
at the ANU).
Reports from scholars
Although the number of application for
scholarships was up from the previous year
it was disappointing that there were no
applications received by CAT from
Victoria, South Australia or Tasmania in
the 2006 round. This does not mean that
there were no new scholars from these
states at Cambridge as there are a range of
college and other scholarships that they
may have been awarded. It is also relevant
that a majority of students taking one-year
coursework degrees, mainly in the area of
law, come from Victoria.
Matthew Yih Han Kuo (CAT Poynton
Scholarship): Offshore geotechnics is an
area in which much research and
development is currently taking place.
Currently, there is interest in the
installation of offshore pipelines into soft
sediments (clays and muds). Pipelines
generally require embedment into the
upper layers of sediment to prevent scour
and disruption to services by dragging in
environmental loads. Within the top few
meters of clay, a ‘hard crust’ of increased
undrained shear strength is observed
before decreasing in strength to an
essentially normally consolidated profile
with increasing depth.
This poses
problems with the installation of pipelines,
firstly due to difficulties in achieving the
required embedment, and secondly, as
‘punch-though’ failure may occur where
the pipeline uncontrollably penetrates the
hard layer. The phenomenon of the ‘crust’
is not yet understood, and will likely
incorporate my interest in geology as well
as geotechnical engineering.
A possible reason that has been suggested
is that cementation occurs between the soil
particles, similar to the precipitation of
calcite in calcareous sediments. However,
this does not explain why the cementation
is only observed within the upper few
meters of sediment. If this were generated
by a geological process, one would expect
Postal address: c/- The School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, ACT 0200. Telephone:
61-2-61254727 and Fax 61-2 61252711.
Web: http://www.cambridgeaustraliatrust.org.au
3
to observe such cemented layers
throughout the clay profile, and not only
limited to the top couple of metres. The
research will, therefore, require knowledge
of and an interest in geology as well as
geotechnical engineering.
Firstly, I
propose to undertake detailed geological
analysis of the sediments in question,
including a consideration of the possible
depositional environment, for example,
whether they are analogous to present-day
sediment deposition that have been subaerially exposed. This may be able to
provide reasons for why such ‘crusts’ only
appear at shallow depths.
Scanning
electron microscopy (SEM) work is likely
to be required, with which I have received
extensive training through the University
of Western Australia. Secondly, I would
like to consider the prevalence and
continuity of the ‘crust’ on a regional
scale, for example, whether it is limited to
particular geological units within the
sediment profile, or if it is influenced by
water depth or temperature, or if it can be
associated with particular species of
marine fauna.
development of a predictive conservation
science.
To date, limited progress has been
made with respect to understanding the
relative and interacting effects of species
biology and environmental factors on
extinction risk. Also, while many studies
have addressed variation among species,
few have considered the variation with
species. One way forward is to study
populations rather than species.
The main aim of my doctoral
research is to generate a greater
understanding of extinction processes via
the analysis of such mechanisms at the
population level. Through the development
of ecological models using a global-scale
data set, I will construct hypotheses about
the
interplay
of
biological
and
environmental factors on extinction risk.
These hypotheses will be tested using a
regional-scale data set of population
extinctions. The use of complementary
data sets will permit novel insights into the
way that ecological processes are
expressed at different spatial scales and
will also reveal the degree to which global
risk status, as measured by The World
Conservation Union Red List categories, is
an accurate representation of what is
occurring at the population level. Finally,
for the best-studied species, I will
construct spatial models of the areas
suitable for occupancy under current and
future scenarios of human population
growth and land-use change.
Savrina
Carrizo
(CAT
Poynton
Scholarship):
Towards
a
deeper
understanding of extinction – a
population
level
approach.
Understanding why some species are at
high risk of extinction, while others remain
relatively safe, is important in guiding
conservation strategies and is central to the
Postal address: c/- The School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, ACT 0200. Telephone:
61-2-61254727 and Fax 61-2 61252711.
Web: http://www.cambridgeaustraliatrust.org.au
4
Christopher Wright, (CAT Poynton
Scholarship):
How
is
labour
immigration policy determined? An
analysis of considerations of states in the
determination of policy outcomes in
Australia and Britain.
Despite
its
centrality
to
the
macroeconomic objectives of modern
states, very little research has been
conducted into labour immigration,
particularly in regard to how policies in
this area are made and determined.
Australia and Britain are two states with
rather distinct labour immigration legacies
in historical terms, but whose policies have
converged in recent years. Since the end of
World War II in particular, Australia has
pursued sustained policies of economic
and population growth through liberal
immigration programs. Britain, by
contrast, has had a much more restrictive
approach to the regulation of migration
inflows. The period since the late 1990s,
however, has seen the emergence of many
similarities in their labour immigration
policies and programs, with governments
in both states aiming to attract large
numbers of mainly temporary skilled
immigrants as a means of meeting labour
market demand. In this context, my
research is seeking to decipher the factors
and interests that have driven labour
immigration policy in Australia and
Britain. In particular, it aims to examine
how and why their labour immigration
policies have converged since the late
1990s, and to assess whether this has
impacted upon or been impacted by policymaking processes. Furthermore, the extent
to which labour immigration policy
outcomes are shaped by the level of
political sensitivity of or amount of public
attention drawn to immigration-related
issues in public discourse is a central
theme of my research.
Melissa
Wood
(CAT
Poynton
Scholarship):
Disruption
of
reconsolidation of drug memories as an
adjunct to behavioural treatments for
drug addiction
The research I will be undertaking will be
focused on improving the efficacy of
existing treatments, and developing novel
treatments, for drug addiction. One of the
greatest problems with current treatments
of drug addiction is the high rate of relapse
observed among individuals after the
conclusion of what appears to be
successful rehabilitation. This relapse often
occurs when former addicts again
encounter stimuli (e.g. places, people, drug
paraphernalia) that had previously been
associated with drug use.
Recent developments in the field of
fear learning have suggested a possible
means of reducing the potential of these
stimuli to elicit relapse. According to
theorists, after a stimulus is presented, the
memory for the stimulus becomes
temporarily labile allowing the memory to
be changed or updated. In order for the
memory to return to a stable state (to be
reconsolidated), intracellular mechanisms
must be employed that result in protein
synthesis. Importantly, if this protein
synthesis is blocked, the memory is not
reconsolidated and the stimulus will no
longer be capable of eliciting a fear
response.
More recently, Professor Barry
Everitt’s group at the University of
Postal address: c/- The School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, ACT 0200. Telephone:
61-2-61254727 and Fax 61-2 61252711.
Web: http://www.cambridgeaustraliatrust.org.au
5
Cambridge has applied this model to
stimuli associated with drug use and have
demonstrated
that
disrupting
reconsolidation for a drug stimulus
prevents that stimulus from controlling
drug-seeking behaviour.
My research will be aimed at which
aspects of a memory are affected by the
disruption
of
reconsolidation
and
determining how this phenomenon may be
best utilised in developing methods for
reducing the potential for drug-related
stimuli to elicit relapse, thus making
treatments for drug addiction more
effective in the long-term.
Nicholas Carr (CAT Poynton Scholarship):
An intellectual history of American
historical writing in the second half of
the nineteenth-century, focusing on
three classic authors: William H.
Prescott, Francis Parkman and Henry
Adams. I am tracing, in these writers, a
transition in American historiography from
a “romantic” method and sensibility to
what might broadly be called an
incipiently, but recognisably, “modern” (if
not modernist) one. In a sense it is an
exercise in treating “history as literature”,
seeking to situate historical writing within
the broader cultural and artistic movements
of the time. Thus it will seek to relate
romantic historiography to the more wellknown poetry, novels and other cultural
products of that era, and likewise with the
literature of “modernity”. But in doing so
it also seeks to sharpen our understanding
of what sets off “history” as a discipline by
relating how historical writing and
methods uniquely responded to the
intellectual challenges thrown up by both
romanticism and modernity. Thus, the
study is also informed by some of the more
abstract, theoretical scholarship in the field
and by philosophies of history. Ultimately
I hope my research results in a contribution
not only to a particular field of intellectual
history but also to the contemporary
debates surrounding history’s place in a
“post-modern” world and how its form (as
a particular style of writing) impacts on the
content it can, as a discipline, convey.
Ben Roberts (CAT R.A. Fisher Science
Scholarship): Applications of the crossentropy method in operations research.
The cross-entropy (CE) method was
developed in 1997 by Reuven Rubenstein
for the estimation of rare event
probabilities, and in recent years the CE
method has been applied to many other
areas for both estimation and optimization
purposes. The CE method is a stochastic
technique, and it works by iteratively
generating random samples from some
distribution, and updating or ‘improving’
this distribution after each step. I will
investigate the possible uses and
practicality of the CE method in the field
of operations research from real world
estimations and optimization problems.
Postal address: c/- The School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, ACT 0200. Telephone:
61-2-61254727 and Fax 61-2 61252711.
Web: http://www.cambridgeaustraliatrust.org.au
6
Cambridge Australia Trust is grateful to the following for their
generous support.
Donations of $500 and over:
Dr S Barnett
Prof A Barton
Dr C Chabril
Dr C Croft
Dr B Cragg
Mr A Gosling
Mr M Gregson
Mr M Hamar
Mr A Harrison
Mr H Heuzenroeder
Dr G Lefroy
Prof J Love
Prof B Low
Mr G McGregor
Mr D Meadows
Mr N Minogue
Mr B Myer
Dr T Pascoe
Dr G Phillips
Mr J Platt
Dr A Pring
Dr C Ward
Dr B Young
Other Donations :
Mr P Adams
Prof J Bennett
Prof P Bellwood
Mr C Billington
Dr K Boardman
Prof R Borland
Dr H Burnley
Dr J Cannon
Mr J Caro
Ms E Carvalho
Prof A Christie
Mr I Coghill
Mr J Cooper
Dr H Cron
Mr H Dakin
Mr E Denny
Dr A Duguid
Mr W Eddows
Mr R Edgar
Dr J Emberton
Mr R Frechevill
Dr J Forrest
Mrs P Garnett
Prof J Gascoigne
Mrs J Halman
Dr B Hardie
Mrs C Harris
Dr P Herbst
Dr R Hillier
Dr G Hobday
Prof B Holmes
Hon P Howson
Mr C Hone
Prof P Karmel
Mr A King
Dr A Knights
Mr N Laing
Mr R Leeming
Prof H Love
Prof A Low
Dr F McCarthy
Prof A McComb
Mr J McDowell
Dr A Mayo
Dr A Millerd
Prof P Musgrave
Dr M Nelson
Mr L Netherby
Prof J Newton
Dr R O’Keefe
Mr R Paine
Prof M Paterson
Postal address: c/- The School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, ACT 0200. Telephone:
61-2-61254727 and Fax 61-2 61252711.
Web: http://www.cambridgeaustraliatrust.org.au
7
Dr S Pillbeam
Rev L Randall
Mr R Roche
Mrs I Russell
Prof F Sear
Dr I Sinclair
Mr P Solomon
Mr R Topham
Mr I Thompson
Dr P Tregear
Dr R Ward
Mrs U Ware
Mr J Weber
Prof B West
Dr R Wilson
Mr D Young
Prof L Zimes
Postal address: c/- The School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, ACT 0200. Telephone:
61-2-61254727 and Fax 61-2 61252711.
Web: http://www.cambridgeaustraliatrust.org.au
8