Learning lessons in leadership

In 2006 Fulbright alumnus Gary Wilson (1991 New Zealand Graduate Student), an Associate Professor of Geology at the University of Otago, was named as one of six Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leaders in recognition of his work as Chair of the multi-national Antarctic drilling project ANDRILL. He was the first scientist recognised by the awards, which are bestowed annually upon “younger leaders of considerable potential” by The Sir Peter Blake Trust in memory of the legendary New Zealand yachtsman, environmentalist and leader.

One of four esteemed alumni invited to speak at the Fulbright New Zealand leadership panel held in Wellington on 1 August as part of New Zealand Leadership Week, Gary took the opportunity to reflect on the year that has passed since he received his award, and ponder what it means to be a leader.

Gary Wilson

Academic pursuit is often a lonely trial by fire. We spend many years training to become researchers in our own right in a somewhat artificial and protected environment. We look to our tutors to provide guidance for what we pursue and they are always there in some form or other leading the way. Then overnight, we’re no longer training, we’re launched, competing with our tutors for publication success and financial support (often for our own income as well as for research funds). And any success is hard won. There’s often not enough money to go around and peer review can be a very critical process. Perhaps there’s some truth to the old adage “if it doesn’t kill you it will make you stronger”.

New Zealand is a particularly hard place to develop an academic research career as the funding pots are so limited that artificially large competitive barriers are formed at institutional as well as personal levels. A dedicated researcher will often find himself or herself undertaking just plain hard, solitary and often under-recognised work for many years. So how is it then that I now find myself in a position where others look to me for the next step? It’s not until someone asks “What do you think it takes to become a leader?” that you take a breath and think “How on earth did I get here?”

Well, what’s the answer? Clearly I had no plan to develop leadership skills, nor did I take any particular course on the subject. But, one thing that has made quite a difference to what I have been able to achieve since graduating is my relationship with United States researchers and research institutions. This began in 1991 with a Fulbright New Zealand-sponsored visit to the University of Nebraska, followed by an extended stay at The Ohio State University initially sponsored by the Byrd Fellowship and then by US National Science Foundation sponsored research. Despite having left the US some time ago, spending time teaching in England and now in New Zealand again, my collaborations with the US continue to form the backbone of my research career.

So, what have my associations with the US taught me? While New Zealanders are proud, and rightly so, of their “can-do” approach with minimal resources, the US has taught me that with the right resources significant leaps in progress and understanding are possible. In fact, I distinctly remember sitting on a panel of experts at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the early stages of planning for the Europa mission, as an advisor on detecting life in extreme environments. We had been discussing the potential value of isotopic measurements and had all but given up on the idea because a mass spectrometer is obviously too large to be built into a space probe. At that point, we were treated to a look at NASA’s latest matchbox-sized prototype... The lesson: focus on the requirements, not the hurdles - the hurdles can all be overcome.

Gary Wilson in Antarctica

Another lesson from my links with the US is the importance of collaboration. I don’t wish to downplay the importance of individual research pursuit, but in my field of global paleoclimate research the resources required for success are large and the important results come from joint efforts by an integrated team of specialists. Such an approach is far more common in the US than in New Zealand, through major initiatives such as the US Antarctic and Ocean Drilling programmes with large investment in infrastructure. However, the investment is not based around political expediency, rather fundamental investigator-driven research initiatives. These programmes are often taking care of the basics, rather than worrying about “marketing” the potential findings on a case by case basis, and the investigations are not limited by available resources, but by the vision of their programme leaders.

So, what have I done with the past year? Number one focus for me this year has been family. Kate and I were blessed with a new son, Adam, in September and along with his three year old brother, Jacob, they give me many more reasons than I need to focus my work efforts and get home each day before they go to bed. They give me a daily reminder that we all start life with no preconceptions about what can be achieved.

Apart from family, this past year has seen the first successful season of drilling in Antarctica under the multinational ANDRILL programme and early this year the University of Otago launched its new research vessel Polaris II, which provides a unique platform for New Zealand student training in the ocean sciences. The Polaris II has already spent five weeks away working in the Fiordland and Stewart Island areas and we are planning an expedition to Campbell Island before the year is out.

But, most importantly this year, the Sir Peter Blake Emerging Leader award has allowed me to travel full circle and re-establish my links with US and UK institutions at a Research Dean level, which I hope will ultimately bring a new set of collaborative links between our institutions.