Outdoors enthusiast loved to push limits
Dr Woodrow ‘‘Woody’’ Pattinson loved the outdoors. Mountain biking and diving were particular passions. Nige Pattinson said his son had a fascination with pushing the limits. ‘‘He probably did two or three lifetimes in the time he had.’’
Pattinson died after becoming disoriented while diving at the wreck of the RMS Niagara off the coast of Northland on March 15, aged 36. Reaching the famous wreckage had been a childhood dream.
Nige Pattinson said his son was loved by many and had a good way with people.
‘‘He was great at communicating and connecting with people on any level, he was just one of those charismatic characters that [loved life]. He was a much loved and appreciated, dynamic sort of a character.’’
Woody was born in Auckland, and spent his first 12 years on a 27-acre property in Waipu, Northland, alongside his younger brother Arlo, attending Waipu Primary School. He had an active childhood, exploring local caves, climbing trees, riding bikes and rollerblading with his brother.
Parents Nige and Dawn separated when he was about 10, and he moved with his father and brother to
Nelson. There he became involved in inline skating and competed in national age-group competitions. He also picked up a love for snow sports and would frequently be found snowboarding at the Rainbow Ski Field in St Arnaud Lakes.
The family then moved to Wanaka in 1999. Woody and Arlo attended Mt Aspiring College and both competed in local snowboarding competitions. Woody joined the Alexandra 50 Squadron Air Training Corps.
He was also a passionate mountain biker, a hobby he continued throughout his life, resulting in multiple broken bones and visits to the doctor.
He left high school and in 2001 moved to Christchurch to study information technology at CPIT (now the Ara Institute of Canterbury). In 2004, he enrolled at the University of Canterbury to study psychology. However, after having doubts in his second year, he decided to take a geography paper. He soon became passionate about studying inequality and how the places and circumstances people are born into affect their lives.
He went on to postgraduate studies, which included a dissertation on the impact of rising living costs on Christchurch’s lowest-income residents.
Meanwhile, he continued work on a masters. For his thesis, he worked with Professor Simon Kingham on how modes of travel affect air quality. His work won numerous awards: the New Zealand Geographical Society best masters thesis award, the George Jobberns Prize in geography for the most outstanding masters research and the Ministry of Transport Award for outstanding achievement at masters level. His success led him to study a PhD in air pollution, again with a focus on inequality.
Following his PhD, he won a Young Talent Fellowship to take up postdoctoral research at the Federal University of Technology in Londrina, Brazil, about 500 kilometres west of Sao Paulo in 2015.
Nige Pattinson said Woody enjoyed his time in Brazil and learned Portuguese. He then moved back to Auckland to work for Air Quality Ltd (now Mote) in 2016. He also continued working on university research projects and mentoring students at both Canterbury and Auckland.
In Auckland, he rediscovered his love for diving and met Hannah Harrelson. The pair dated and shared a passion for diving and sense of adventure.
Kingham said Woody would be remembered for being ‘‘incredibly hardworking’’ and living life to the full.
‘‘He was very determined and hardworking. He was the type of guy who worked hard and played hard but was always caring, compassionate and just really good company.
‘‘He is greatly missed by all who knew him, but the footprint he left in all our lives will remain forever.’’
Woody is survived by his parents, brother, niece Aiva and girlfriend Hannah Harrelson. – By Jonathan Guildford