Comment from the President
I hope these comments find you well, now we have moved out of winter into spring in the Southern Hemisphere. As the days become longer and warmer and the fragrance of blossoming flowers fills the air, I am reminded of how chemistry helps me enjoy this time of the year through my daily doses of fluticasone to prevent hay fever. Alongside the budesonide and formoterol fumarate dihydrate which make up my asthma medication, I truly appreciate how chemistry provides me with a quality and duration of life that would not have been possible before these medications existed. Indeed, if I think back to my childhood, it was the regular relief provided by my asthma inhalers that encouraged my curiosity about chemistry. Once I learnt more about chemistry and the treatments it made possible, from antibiotics to cancer treatments, anaesthetics to anti-psychotics, it was inevitable that I would choose a career in chemistry. The application of chemistry (and of course biology) to developing treatments for HIV, transforming it from a typically lethal infection to a treatable disease over a period of 25 years was something I saw firsthand, having grown into adulthood in the 1980s. The development of HIV treatments stands out to me as one of most significant triumphs of chemistry in the past 50 years.
Speaking of triumphs in chemistry, I am very much looking forward to the NZIC and the ChemEd /Biolive conferences taking place in November 2026. Conferences are a great opportunity to get our members together and share research and teaching practices. I find our conferences both inspirational and energising and appreciate the efforts of all of those who have worked to make these conferences happen. I am hoping that when we get to our centenary celebration in 2031, we will be able to have a combined NZIC/ChemEd conference to celebrate the complementary research, teaching and industry facets of chemistry in New Zealand.
When I agreed to be president of the NZIC for 2025 to 2026 I hadn’t anticipated the political changes which were about to hit the science sector. The removal of over 700 scientific roles was a terrible shock to our community and led to the creation of the Save Science Coalition. I have appreciated the Save Science Coalition’s efforts in highlighting the problems in science funding and employment in New Zealand and I attended the pre-election forum they organised on the 18th of August in Wellington. The forum provided each party with the opportunity to present their views and commitment to science in New Zealand. On the day, the Greens, Labour, NZ First and The Opportunity Party chose to turn up while ACT, National and Te Pāti Māori did not. Questions included asking representatives about their views on the current science reforms, how science should be funded, and the value of fundamental versus applied research. A recording of the forum can be found here.
I’m not sure if I came away from the forum with a clear “winner” in terms of which party best supports science and research in New Zealand, but it was interesting to hear their views and their priorities. Support for science and research will factor heavily into who I choose to vote for in November as I think there is abundant evidence that shows investment in science provides long term benefits to a country’s economy and social stability. If only we could convince our politicians of this. Perhaps we need a few more scientists as MPs to balance the over-representation by those with corporate/management (36%) and legal (14%) backgrounds?
This will be my last column as President, with Professor Viji Sarojini taking over as NZIC President for 2027-2028. I hope she will enjoy the presidentship as much as I have – meeting members from around the country, working with those enthused about chemistry and using chemistry to make the world a better place. I think I am the first person to hold the presidency twice (my first time was in 2013) and I am one of the few (only?) non-academics to take on the role. I think this has provided me with a unique perspective. We continue to be a largely university-centric organisation, and I think we would benefit by connecting more often with industry and with teachers. I am thrilled that the organisers for the upcoming NZIC conference have included industry and education sessions and would strongly encourage everyone attending the conference to make the most of these sessions. I also think that we could benefit from more efforts communicating with the public about the importance of chemistry (and science in general) and I hope to spend a little more time working in this space once I hand over the mantle of NZIC President to Viji.
I would like to finish by thanking those I have had the opportunity to meet and talk to over the past two years, and all of those who participate in the activities and running of the NZIC – branch committees, the NZIC Council, the team at Chemistry in New Zealand, and all our members. I would also like to thank Ashley Trerise who steps down this year as our Treasurer for her sage advice and guidance, and Ian Torrie who has stepped down as one of the Chairs of the Secondary Chemistry Educators of New Zealand (SCENZ) for his commitment to chemistry education. And of course, Sam Eason our NZIC administrator without whom the NZIC would achieve only a fraction of what we do.
Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa
Let us keep close together, not far apart
Michael Edmonds
NZIC President
