21 November, 2006
When soil scientists from around New Zealand descend on Rotorua next week they’ll learn all about the city’s most precious asset – its mud.
Don Stafford, an historian and writer who has carved out an extensive career researching Rotorua’s history, is a keynote speaker at the Soils and Society 2006 Conference which is being organised by Ensis – a joint venture between Crown Research Institute, Scion and CSIRO in Australia.
Dr Stafford will speak at the conference about the importance of Rotorua’s mud and the special place it has in the history of the city.
“The soil, or in this case mud, is tied into the history of our city. Maori people used the mud in a tremendous number of ways long before Europeans came to New Zealand. That included understanding it had medicinal purposes and even helped record their history.
“From then, right through until the present day, our boiling bubbling mud has been important. There’s an amazing amount of stories throughout history about Rotorua mud, from royal people sitting in it, through to the illnesses it can cure,” he says.
Dr Stafford says he hopes to entertain the soil scientists with stories from the past.
“The conference is all about the importance of soil to New Zealand. In Rotorua it’s obvious to see the impact that soil – or in our case mud – has on the local community and industry.”
Dr Stafford has lived and worked for most of his life in Rotorua. He has written numerous books about the area. In 1980 Dr Stafford was awarded the MBE and in 1992 he received the CBE. He also has an honorary doctorate from the University of Waikato.
The Soils and Society 2006 conference is being held in Rotorua from Novermber 27-30. The conference is organised by Ensis on behalf of The New Zealand Society of Soil Science (NZSSS) and is supported by the Rotorua Charitable Trust, Environmental Bay of Plenty, Environment Waikato, Ministry for the Environment, SLURI, Massey University and Ballance Agri-nutrients.
The conference includes technical sessions and a full-day field trip and has attracted scientists from New Zealand, Australia and the United States.
For more information on the conference, visit the New Zealand Society of Soil Science website www.nzsss.rsnz.org
For more information contact:
Jacky James
Group Manager Marketing and Communications
Scion Research
Phone: 07 343 5705
Mobile: 021 579 457