FIELD TRIP FRIDAY

I was invited to participate in a field trip along with several undergraduate planning students. We’re all in the same school, the School of People, Environment, and Planning. This trip gave me an opportunity to get outside of the university area and meet people outside of the city. We traveled first to the Awapuhi Bike Conservation Area, which is also I discovered the site for the recycling center. The layout of the center in relation to the conservation area was very interesting. Apart from the building, which houses the office, presentation area, and the recycling facility, the metals yard and sludge pools are also located within the vicinity. New Zealand, being so small in land space, has to be not only innovative with land management practices, but also I imagine more stringent about environmental regulations. As we drove up to and away from the facility, I noted the winding bike trail in relation to the facility and land. From the first observation, the various use purposes worked.

Afterwards, we visited the manager of Kitchener Park, a native plants park located in nearby Fielding. He allowed us to trek inside and view the large trees, and pointed out the plants that Maori’s used to live on. He pointed out the breadfruit tree, which is akin to the breadfruit found in Hawaii.

Finally, we stopped in at a dairy farm, where we were introduced to the environmental regulations governing dairy farms. This particular one had a holding pool of water, which drained the water source. It was hard to see the source of the water, but there was clearly a pipe underground leading into the standing water. Like the United States, as with all wastes including water, standing pools require a liner to prevent leachate from entering subsurface aquifers.

New Zealand is true to its reputation. Dairy farmers really dominate the agricultural industry and the landscape leading to the farm was testimony of this. There were acres of paddock all adjacent to each other.

I also noticed the hospitality of the New Zealand people. After each visit, one student stepped forward and thanked the hosts for accepting us, after which the student bestowed them with a gift. What a nice gesture, one that made me forget that grey skies loomed overhead and beyond. The weather, as usual, didn’t disappoint.

Back at the office, I dealt with housekeeping stuff – meaning administration and my research proposal. I was determined to complete both by 12:00 a.m., I managed to do so with my research proposal before 8:00 p.m, but the DRC2 still hasn't been completed. Thus, while I can now concentrate on the statement of expectations and begin preparing my schedule for the next three years, I still have to make sure that the very important DRC2 is done so I can hand it in and finally register as a doctorate student.

GREY SKIES AND COOL TEMPERATURES

Palmerston North is not a very sunny place. Rain has preoccupied the weather on most days this week. Last weekend was sunny, warm, and inviting, but the days thereafter have been disrupted by intermittent rains that are heavy at times and at other times are only light drizzles.

I’m beginning to understand the research focus of the New Zealand PhD model. Unlike the U.S., where doctorate students take two years of courses before embarking on the research topic, in New Zealand incoming doctorates begin their dissertation research at the start of the program. The initial proposal submitted with the application allows potential students to give professors a rough idea of their topic of interest. But, almost immediately after these students arrive on campus, they must begin refining their research topic. They also develop a program of study, called the “statement of expectations’, which functions like a contract within two weeks of commencing. Hence, there’s a lot of pressure in the early stages of the doctorate program.

Luckily, I anticipated the speed of progress and had begun developing my research topic early, even before I applied. There are also numerous forms to sign, which help to document our progress. Although supervisors give a lot of guidance (as I’m learning), the progress is determined entirely by the student. We have to coordinate the benchmarks that measure our progress and are signified by defined assignments that lead up to the full proposal at the end of the year. Thus, in the first six months, the methodology chapter draft has to be written, finalisaton of my research proposal (which tends to be the formulation of my introductory chapters), the draft outline of my chapters with a description of the chapters content, and then the confirmation seminar almost at the end of the first year. I also have to define my ethics framework for my fieldwork, which I anticipate beginning around the first week of October 2013, with an expected departure date of 1 October, 2013.

While all this is going on in our lives, we are strongly advised to attend workshops given by professors. The format of the doctorate is a little like the format of Goddard College in that all Goddard students attend workshops during their one week residency. But, all work is done independently and all communication is done by e-mail. Here at Massey, almost all communication is done by e-mail during the period preparing for and writing the dissertation.

The research workshops over the weekend were a tremendous help in this crucial stage of the research proposal, but needless to say, the pressure is definitely on and while I feel energized by the refinement of my research focus, at the same time, the seriousness of grey skies reflect how earnestly I am approaching my studies. With the same earnestness as a moose butting his antlers against a tree in the attempt to knock it down. Although I won't be knocking any trees down, i am determined to pass and even more determined to earn that final qualification to enter academic life - the doctorate.