P-cubed Newsletters

Contents HeadsUp I hope everyone was able to take at least a few moments to appreciate the sun and other mid-winter pleasures such as the night sky over Matariki weekend. A time for looking back and forward. Lengthening days from now. So much more of a logical time...

Contents HeadsUp I write from home, rain pelting down, under the weather both literally and metaphorically. Thankfully, one of the downstream effects of the Covid years for workplace culture has been an acknowledgement that being at the office with even a moderate...

Contents HeadsUp One of the traps of science is excessive reductionism. To an extent, of course, it’s necessary. The crystals in a rock specimen, for instance, might not be seen without the tunnel-vision of the microscope. The trick is achieving balance: to focus on...

Contents HeadsUp An impending farewell It’s with mixed feelings that I open with the news that some of you be aware of: our friend and colleague Giovanni Coco will be leaving ‘Team Environment’ to return to the Northern Hemisphere from the end of October. Giovanni has...

Contents HeadsUp So soon after the Easter/Anzac/Mid-semester break, it’s a case of heads-down rather than heads-up as we move into the business-half of the semester. I hope you all were able to take at least part of the break as a bona fide break. Some rough weather...

Contents HeadsUp I can almost feel the collective catching of breath with the mid-semester break upon us. As we take stock at the semester’s halfway point, there is much to be thankful for – we’ve had no interruptions of the scale of epidemics and floods as in recent...

Contents HeadsUp I’ve been having annual performance review discussions with senior colleagues earlier this year, ahead of the salary review process in late April. It’s been a pleasure to meet  and have a sustained korero about how things are going and what the year...

Contents HeadsUp Along with Tom Baker, over recent months I’ve had the pleasure of participating in a leadership programme named Puhoro. One of its brilliant aspects is that the kaleidoscope of senior university staffing has been given a shake and cohorts are mixed in...

Contents HeadsUp There’s pedestrian traffic down Symonds St, so it must be Week 1!   Wishing everyone a good start to the semester.  And in the spirit of wishing: may your lecture theatres, labs and tutorials be filled with actual students, and your assignment...

Contents HeadsUp The email traffic has increased and meeting frequency heightened. It must be Semester One approaching! At this time, I’d like to thank three groups of colleagues.  First, the ‘course build’ teams for the new suite of ENV-codes stage 1 courses. These...