1975 – 2003 NATURE AND SOCIETY FORUM

I had no hand in starting this group – credit for that goes entirely to Professor Stephen Boyden who started it around the mid-1970s when at the ANU. I joined it while at ANU. I must confess to being somewhat disappointed in its initial lack of outgoing action toward resolving the looming climatic crisis which was beginning to penetrate society’s consciousness.

My attendance at meetings lapsed a little following my retirement from ANU in 1977 when I devoted my attention to building the house at Little Burra and starting the New Millwrights (see 1978 entry in this section).

I was also busy starting TAD in Canberra in 1979 which also seemed an urgent necessity demanding my design skills, so that and building Ben’s house at Burra put NSF on the back burner.

Around 2000 I again became interested in the NSF proposal for an Australian National Biocentre spearheaded by John Schooneveldt who suggested I become interested in the development of ANB which I did. NSF/ANB had the loan of a laboratory building from ANU at Weston and thus I started a 3 year daily ride on my electric bike to start the planning of the ANU as its Design Coordinator – (see 2000 ANB entry in this section).

Professor Frank Fenner was one of the early founders of NSF and a generous patron for many years and after he died in 2010 NSF changed its nature and also its name, becoming the Frank Fenner Foundation.

Since this changeover coincided with some deterioration in my own health I reduced my night driving and attendance at many meetings – my world was beginning to contract.