Margaret Austin
Shining light in dark sky
The science teacher in Margaret Austin, CNZM, is never far from the surface. The dew has yet to evaporate from her close-cropped lawn on another hot Christchurch February morning. She highlights the corn growing in her vegetable patch and explains it is monosexual – with flowers of both sexes on the one plant.
‘‘But not that one,’’ she points. ‘‘That one’s decided to be bisexual for some reason.’’
Austin’s study is just what you would expect from someone with many years of service to the community, education, politics and science. Groaning shelves are packed with books, decades-old diaries and photo albums. Walls are covered with framed certificates, degrees, diplomas, and family photos. It must be a duster’s nightmare.
‘‘There is nothing on a shelf that has not been read,’’ Austin says. She always has at least three books on the go – one in the study, one in the living room and one on her bedside table.
‘‘I’m waiting for the delivery of a new bookcase. I can’t bear to get rid of anything.’’ Austin turns 86 this year.
‘‘I’ve had to live with my birthday all my life,’’ she says enigmatically, before pausing mischievously. ‘‘Yes, the first of April,’’ and she cracks up.
A former head of science at Christchurch Girls’ High School and senior mistress at Riccarton High School, she was a Labour MP for the now defunct Yaldhurst electorate. Before Labour’s 1990 loss to National she was senior whip, minister of internal affairs, minister of research, science and technology, and minister of arts and culture.
Austin has been an inspirational figure in the education and science sectors. From the late 1990s until about eight years ago she worked for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), and between 2003 and 2007 was president of the chairs of Unesco national commissions worldwide. She was chancellor of Lincoln University from 2000 to 2005.
Austin graduated with a BSc in botany and zoology from the University of Canterbury in 1954 and received an honorary doctor of science from Lincoln University in 2006. She received the New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal in 1993, was elected a companion of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2007 and was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) in the 2008 New Years’ honours.
Those three paragraphs barely make a dent in her complete list of achievements.
More recently, Austin has shone in the dark-sky world.
She led the project which culminated in the Aoraki-Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve receiving gold status from the International Dark Sky Association in 2012.
When that happened, the 4300-squarekilometre reserve, which includes Canterbury University’s Mt John Observatory above Lake Tekapo, Twizel and Aoraki-Mt Cook village, was only the fourth in the world and the second in the southern hemisphere. Its ‘‘gold rating’’ meant the darkness of its night skies was almost unbeatable.
‘‘It all goes back to the Unesco world heritage committee opening up the whole issue of astronomy and archaeo-astronomy at their annual conference in Durban in 2005. Out of that came a commitment to look at the issue.
‘‘The major observatories of the world were experiencing the consequences of light pollution and realising their ability to use astronomical gear was getting limited.
‘‘The first Starlight Conference was in La Palma in the Canary Islands in 2007. By then, Graeme Murray and Hide Ozawa [the owners of Earth & Sky in Tekapo] had come to the realisation of what could be achieved in Tekapo.
‘‘The two of them got together with the people at the observatory up Mt John and started to think about it. They knew I was involved in Unesco, and got me on board.’’
The detailed case was submitted to the Dark Sky Association in January 2012.
‘‘We hoped it would come through by June, when we had the third International Starlight Conference scheduled for Tekapo. And there I was at the end of April, sitting in Sydney Airport waiting to come home, opened up my laptop and there it was: ‘We are very pleased to say we have awarded you gold status . . .’. It took them 21⁄2 months to get there.
‘‘That was pretty exciting. I looked all around me and I couldn’t see a soul I knew. And I thought, ‘oh, this is too exciting’, so I applauded myself. And of course people looked, but fortunately I was in a seat looking out the window, so I wasn’t too conspicuous.
‘‘You have to take your hat off to the Mackenzie District Council, who, back in 1981, agreed with the university to put in place lighting ordinances which meant that the lighting was controlled so the observatory was not going to be affected by light pollution. They were very diligent at making sure people adhered to it.’’
When it comes to bringing astronomy to the millions, she hasn’t finished yet, even though it has been a lengthy process so far. Austin is concerned about the loss of darkness and refers to United States writer Paul Bogard’s book The End Of Night, which discusses the implications of the disappearance of true darkness due to light pollution.
‘‘What is particularly interesting is his assessment of the way Homo sapiens has been conditioned into thinking you have to have light for safety. He argues you’d be much safer in the dark – with lighting when you need it.’’
Of course, safety lighting is still important at foot level to stop people tripping in the dark, she says.
‘‘What have they got all around Tekapo and Twizel in the new housing developments? Bollards. The bollards are less than a metre tall and the lighting is directed downwards at your feet.
‘‘Here’s a disc that you can have on your footpath. In the daytime it will absorb light and at night-time it will shed the light. I have suggested to them at Regenerate Christchurch that, instead of lighting the walkways around the [Avon] river, they put discs in to show the way at night. They were quite interested.’’
She says the New Zealand Starlight Conference in Tekapo in October will feature presentations on lighting design and ways to keep lighting unobtrusive.
‘‘NZTA is now putting LEDs all across the country and they have been wanting to put in [lights of] 4000 Kelvin, and they have agreed to put in 2300s in the Mackenzie and that is a major, major triumph.
‘‘The mayoral forum is extremely important in persuading the mayors to put their oar in to make sure lighting is directed downwards to offset, or at least minimise, the light pollution.’’
As a science teacher, Austin always gave her year 10 students astronomy work.
‘‘It was just amazing how excited they became when you set them a task to go out at night and find the constellations that they could recognise from what we had done in class, and then use hand measurement to determine exactly where the South Pole was from the pointers. Because they were so excited you’d really get most interested.’’
She still looks up on some nights to wonder at the stars, even in suburban Christchurch. ‘‘If it’s a clear night, with no moon, in winter, then you can stand and be absolutely inspired, just out here.
‘‘When we had the [Unesco] world heritage meeting here in Christchurch in 2007, we all went to a CSO concert one evening, then I had arranged for the Unesco people to come home here for supper after.
‘‘I had laid on mini-buses to get them here, and I couldn’t make out what was taking them so long, because we’d all left together. In the end I got a bit anxious and went out into the driveway and what did I find? There they all were, gawking at the sky.’’
Austin’s adventurousness extends to the Lime craze sweeping Christchurch. The scooters are often parked on the streets close to her home. ‘‘I’d love to try one of those things,’’ she says wistfully.
Her last words to Stuff this day show she clearly remains a strong believer in the power of education. ‘‘This daughter of a railwayman has lived a very privileged life, having been advantaged by a New Zealand education.’’
‘‘If it’s a clear night, with no moon, in winter, then you can stand and be absolutely inspired, just out here.’’