6 December 2010 Soil science adjunct appointments to Lincoln University acknowledge contributions of AgResearch pair

Significant and valuable contributions by two non-staff scientists to soil science research at Lincoln University have been acknowledged with their appointment to adjunct professorial positions in the Soil and Physical Sciences Department.

Dr Richard McDowell from AgResearch, Invermay, has been appointed an Adjunct Professor and Dr Maureen O'Callaghan of AgResearch, Lincoln, has been made an Adjunct Associate Professor. Their past and on-going contributions have been primarily in the areas of funding and the joint supervision of postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Dr McDowell has expertise in soil science, hydrology and limnology and leads multi-organisational  freshwater research within AgResearch. As part of a collaborative commitment between AgResearch and Lincoln University to build science capability and encourage fundamental research, Dr McDowell has been active in the funding and supervision of doctoral students within Lincoln University. He is himself a graduate of Lincoln University and holds a PhD in Environmental Chemistry from Cambridge University. He has also worked for the Agricultural Research Service of the US Department of Agriculture.

Dr O'Callaghan is a senior research scientist and leads a team working on a range of projects in  agricultural microbiology, particularly the application of soil molecular ecology techniques in understanding the role of micro-organisms in soil function and the exploitation of beneficial soil micro-organisms. These projects are funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology and by industry. She is a former recipient of a Marsden Fund grant and is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Otago. In collaborative work with Lincoln University Dr O'Callaghan is committed to the development of young scientists through her role as a project leader with the Bio-Protection Research Centre, and in the funding and supervision of postdoctoral fellows and PhD students in the Department of Soil and Physical Sciences.

(Adjunct appointments are auxiliary positions created outside existing staffing levels in order to utilise particular skills and abilities an individual has demonstrated, and to publicly acknowledge and formalise collaborative associations. Adjunct appointees have the status of a staff member but do not become a member of any faculty or centre.)