A teacher at heart

Biologist and ecology expert Professor Rob Whelan believes that education is more than just academics. The president of the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) tells Shiva Kumar Thekkepat about the joys of teaching and why it's important to keep some time for oneself.

The fact that Rob Whelan belongs to the old school regime of discipline, decorum and courtesy is evident when he emerges from his office at Knowledge Village in Dubai and greets me in the anteroom instead
of having his secretary show me in.

"I am first and foremost a teacher," Whelan says at the start of our conversation. For Whelan, becoming the president of a premier Australian university is not about power. "I think for me personally academics is special because my father was a university professor and valued education. So my relationship with education is first and foremost a personal one. I see the role of the university to be a service to society."

I, ME, MYSELF

I spent the first four years of my life in Northern Ireland before my family emigrated to Australia. My father was offered a position as professor at a university in Adelaide. He firmly believed in the importance of education and passed this belief on
to his children – my brother, sister and me. He also passed it on to his students.

Discussions about education and university were common at the dinner table. The reason I chose a career in tertiary education was because I simply love teaching and learning. I was schooled in Adelaide and later attended Flinders University in South Australia, a new university at the time. As students there, we felt we were at the vanguard of change. It was that same excitement I felt when I came here to head the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD). In some respects I am in the same boat, but in a different role.

After finishing my degree in biology at Flinders, I moved to Perth in Western Australia to do my PhD. I then received a research fellowship offer in the UK. Another research position for two years followed in Florida, US. I later joined Wollongong University in Australia. So I almost completed a circumnavigation of the world. Since then, my academic career has been confined to Wollongong University – from lecturer to associate professor to professor and finally, to president of the university.

I have had a very international upbringing, as well as an international career. I've worked on my research in three continents – Vietnam, the US and Australia. In Australia, we helped the government set up the environmental science programme at the national university. One reason I chose to come to Dubai as president of the UWOD was to discover new things and experience a new environment. I think it's really important these days for everybody to have an understanding of the multicultural nature of our world. My background gives me an important perspective as an educator.

I have often wondered what triggered my interest in ecology. Again, I think it could be due to the influence of my father. When I was young, we used to drive down to rural areas around Adelaide during the summer. My father had a great interest in nature. Every time we would see an animal, we'd stop and take a look at it. We'd camp and spend our evenings around a camp fire. This nurtured my love for the outdoors.

During a recent holiday that my wife and I took in France, we visited places that were built in the 7th and 8th century AD. I often wonder what it would have been like to live during that age.

If this were another time and place, I probably would've liked to be an adventurer at the forefront of exploration.

I had a very successful research career in ecological issues. I've been involved in two main areas: one is looking at the effect of bush fires, especially in Australia, and its impact on native plants and animals. The other has been studying the way human activity affects indigenous plant and animal species, and how we can manage them so they don't become extinct. I developed a strong research programme in Wollongong.

Although my own research activity on endangered plant and animal species has been restricted to Australia, the research itself can be applied to the rest of the world. The principles of how you go about studying them, and what the solutions might be, are universal. An exciting part of coming to the UAE was being given an opportunity to commence research in this area. I am particularly interested in the development of Dubai and the landscape: with the planting of grass and trees in suburban areas, creation of water fountains and what affects bird migration. I think that there are very interesting changes happening and I'm interested in learning more about them. I've submitted a research grant proposal to the National Research Foundation in the UAE, in the hope that we can get some funding to do undertake work on these research interests here.

I had an opportunity about ten years ago, to work in Brazil, in the savannahs around the capital city of Brasilia.

It was particularly interesting because I didn't know the language – Portuguese. I discovered that the language of science, which is pretty universal, was enough to communicate with the scientists even though we didn't speak the same language.

What I've discovered in my research is that resolving the conflict between humans and the natural world is a very complicated task. Humans are competing for the same land with plants and animals. While they have evolved and developed ways of tolerating – even exploiting – fires which occur naturally, humans haven't. The biggest challenge before us is how to protect human life and property without causing the extinction of indigenous plants and animals. I don't have a solution but the work that I've done makes it easier for us to identify how we might go about finding one.

I, ME, MYSELF

Me and time management

I think most people in my position would probably say "we don't get enough time to do this or that." But it brings to mind an incident that happened when my father was interviewed after he became vice-chancellor of Liverpool University. When he was asked what his duties were, he listed a whole lot of things. The reporter then asked him what he did during his spare time. "Sleep," he said. I fall back on that answer.

I think one of the mistakes people can make in senior management is to get completely absorbed in their job. One thing I do is fight to keep some time to myself. My hobby is what we call bushwalking in Australia. It's called rambling in England, or tramping in New Zealand. It essentially means spending two or three days with a couple of friends in a national park. You pitch a tent and are self-sufficient for a few days. I discovered that many of the new ideas that I came up with took shape during such periods. I think we have to pay attention to the need to remove ourselves from managing day-to-day challenges. Thankfully, I've also managed to do some bushwalking here in the UAE.

Me and my strengths

One of my strengths is that as a scientist, I focus on evidence rather than hearsay. In making decisions, I look for evidence and consider the pros and cons of each situation.

In terms of weaknesses, I would say that I always want to do everything all at once. When you come into a new environment, you see a lot of opportunities. One of the things I find hard to do is to bring myself to accept that some things can't be done immediately. I guess you would call that impatience. That's something I need to work on. Another weakness which I've started to work on now is a lack of experience in the UAE and my lack of knowledge about the region.

Me and my research

Some of my research findings have had some significance. For instance, when I was doing research on the effects of bush fires in Western Australia, one of the groups of animals I was interested in was grasshoppers.

When I studied them, I discovered that when a fire swept through an area, you wouldn't find them anywhere for days. But a few days later, even while the trees are still smouldering, they would appear.

Where did they hide? I discovered that many insects rush to find refuge as soon as they sense a fire in the making. The grasshoppers burrowed down into the crowns of trees and other shrubs. By burying themselves deep into the holes, they managed to escape the fire and survive.

Me and my influences

My parents were my biggest influences. Though my father was a major influence, my parents worked as a team and were both committed to their work as well as their family. The attitudes that I have inherited stem from both of them. I believe that one's peers growing up also have a tremendous influence on who you become.

My supervisor in my PhD programme had a quotation on his desk which said: "He who learns from one occupied in learning drinks from a running stream; He who learns from one who has already learnt all he is going to teach, drinks from the stagnant pool." I believe in this quote.

One of my professors, the late John Harper, was head of plant biology at the University of North Wales. If you went to him with a problem, he wouldn't tell you the answer even if he knew it. He'd ask you how you would solve it and turn it into a learning experience rather than hand you the solution on a platter. I've been very lucky to have had associations with people who engaged my thinking and I hope to pass that on to my students – I too want to help them drink from a running stream.

Me and my family

My daughter is studying science and law, a combined degree, at the UOW in Australia. My two other children are 29 years old – they are twins. Lucy, who lives in Brisbane, is about to compete in the world triathlon championships representing Australia. Matthew works in London. His is a typical case of an Australian kid with a British background who returns to find his roots and gets stuck there!

My children have always been

very independent. Parenthood added a level of responsibility that I enjoyed. But one of the lessons you learn is that it is a lifelong commitment. Even though you don't know all the answers, you have to solve the problems [that arise out of raising a family]. It was a hands-on experience.

Me and teaching

I don't teach complete courses anymore because my timetable does not allow for it. But I still have a great love of teaching, so whenever I get the opportunity to give a lecture or presentation, I grab it.

Me and my Irish heritage

Sometimes I wonder if I still retain some of the Irish heritage in me. Like the Irish, I enjoy a good story and I enjoy a good sense of humour, especially in the face of adversity.

I've even developed a liking for Irish music, the Irish tin whistle in particular.

Me and my book

In 1995, I was invited to write a book to bring together the current knowledge of the ecological effects of fire. That's how The Ecology of Fire came to be written, and it was published by Cambridge University Press. One of the things I wanted to do was to make it clear to readers that this is an incomplete science. We don't know all the answers. So, at the end of each chapter I had a section on what I thought were the outstanding questions in that area. I have been getting emails and letters from people who have been researching some aspect of the subject, stimulated by the questions I put into the end of the chapters in the book. I put it there not knowing how readers would respond to it, but it has turned into a very effective tool to encourage other people, especially students, to get involved by working in the area.

I, ME, MYSELF

Has education been reduced to being primarily a business?

I think it's very important to separate business from education because in any country, not necessarily a developing country, the education of young people determines the direction of the future of the country. My feeling is that one of the key reasons for starting a private university or school is to contribute to the good of the local environment, the community, the society and the economy.

A university should provide education and promote research. It should contribute to national goals and help the country become a knowledge-based economy. But above all, education should be about improving society. In a sense it's a calling to provide high quality education.

If you ask the academic staff here at the UOWD why they are teaching, they'd tell you it's because of the positive impact that it has on young minds and society in general. They are not doing it because of a desire to maximise their income. It is a very rewarding job in itself.

Of course, as a private institution you have to run it in a way that allows it to at least break even and give you a little bit of profit that can be ploughed back for further development.

One of the things that I found surprising but very rewarding at the UOWD is that a significant number
of students and graduates are Emiratis, about 50 per cent of them are female. I came here with the belief that the university's role should be to have some benefits for the local community. It is very gratifying to see that we can do that [by educating Emirati students], as well as students from a 107 other nationalities.

What is your philosophy of life?

My philosophy has remained unchanged over the years: the importance of an open mind; of learning things for oneself; making decisions based on evidence and
not on hearsay and valuing other people's opinions. I learned those values growing up, and they have
been reinforced over the years through my experiences of the world.

My wife once found a wall hanging that reads: ‘The best things in life are not things'. It reminds me that nothing in life is so precious as life itself. We get influenced a lot by our belongings. But human relationships, the memories and the activities of our lives are what count as most important. We need to be reminded of that every now and then.