Lifelong service to science, history
Growing up in the rich landscapes of Nelson has led Dr Michael Robert Johnston to become an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to geological science and history.
For as long as he can remember, Johnston has been interested in geology, seeing his role as someone understand ‘‘why
New Zealand, and particularly Nelson, is how it is’’ while sharing that information with the general public through groups, talks and books.
Johnston said that when he was young, family outings around the region sparked his enthusiasm for earth science – being fascinated by fossils, rocks and the terrain.
‘‘Pa would take us up to the Brook Dam . . . and he used to point out this old railway line going up to copper mines.’’ His dad was also a keen fishermen, so Johnston would ‘‘trail along behind him in the rivers’’.
‘‘I was more interested in looking at the different rocks.
‘‘Back in those days . . . in the Baton River, there was still old miners eking out an existence there. I used to stop and talk to them.’’
Since the days of Sunday afternoon drives packed in the car with his family, Johnston has become a leading authority on the geology of New Zealand, being in the profession for more than 50 years.
He has written numerous publications, including books and papers on New Zealand geology, geologists, mining history, early European exploration of New Zealand, and Nelson history.
Johnston said one of his greatest achievements during his career was ‘‘getting to understand what makes Nelson’’, including Dun Mountain as a prominent attribute.
‘‘That’s a very unusual place geologically, and it’s got a lot of history from the copper and chromite mining that went on there in the 1860s.’’
Johnston has been a member of the Geological Society of New Zealand and its successor, Geosciences Society of New Zealand, since 1962.
Currently working on his seventh book, he said it was geology that kept him alive, and he would be involved in it until the day he died.
‘‘It keeps the brain ticking over.’’