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to give grants to medical staff and they would employ a scientist to do the work. We were seen as 'support staff' rather than leaders in our own right, and we were almost an invisible group within the University structure.'' This situation has gradually changed. Christine's success in attaining her own grants over the years helped provide projects for up-and-coming researchers to work on. "I was really fortunate in that three of my PhD students (Professor Tony Kettle, Associate Professor Margreet Vissers and Associate Professor Mark Hampton) have stayed with me and become independent scientists. Together our work has evolved into the Free Radical Research Group (FRRG),'' Christine says. "The Free Radical Research Group developed gradually over the years, but has become really big in the past 10-15 years.'' Today, Christine leads a group of about 25 researchers who make up the FRRG. "We work together very much as a group, and I think that's important for the successes we've had. In New Zealand it's a small scientific community and the Christchurch community is even smaller. So it's really important to have a critical mass, not only for strength in numbers for getting the resources you need but also to have people to bounce ideas off.'' In her Rutherford Medal acceptance speech Christine urged young scientists to follow their dreams, as she had done. "Science is an exploration ... be curious and excited on a day-to-day basis. A lot of major advances have come when people are trying to satisfy their own curiosity and their own burning interest". "Science is unpredictable – you never know what direction it's going to go. This is certainly true of research, but I think it is also true of careers. People often end up in a direction that they never anticipated at the start. I know a lot of young people agonise long and hard over what do, but my advice is make the best decision you can at the time ... and see what happens!" "I have enjoyed my life with free radicals and I hope I can keep instilling the value of curiosity in the talented people who work with me.'' Kim Thomas www.uoc.otago.ac.nz Photo courtesy of LanzaTech The World's Energy Crisis The world is currently facing three critical energy needs: 1) supplying sufficient and secure sources of energy to enable the doubling of the global energy pool over the next 40-50 years, 2) the introduction of >30% zero carbon fuels into that pool to stabilise atmospheric CO2 levels, and 3) ensuring that through this growth we achieve energy democratisation, enabling everyone access to clean, affordable energy without impacting food, land or water resources. To achieve energy democratisation, diversifying the primary energy mix is an imperative. During the next 20 years, over which global energy demand will grow by more than 40%, the International Energy Agency projects that >75% of energy will still be supplied by fossil fuels. This challenge is an opportunity for New Zealand company LanzaTech. In 2005, LanzaTech started with nothing more than a great idea and a test tube of data. Today the company offers a fully integrated sustainable fuels and chemicals platform that uses local, highly abundant waste and low cost resources. The patented process uses a microbe to convert gas (rich in CO and CO2) into fuels and chemicals. These gases are the lowest cost, most readily available resources, such as: industrial flue gases from steel mills and processing plants; syngas generated from any biomass resource (e.g., MSW, organic industrial waste, agricultural waste); and coal derived syngas and steam reformed methane. Using these readily available resources, LanzaTech's process provides a strategically important route to eliminating the controversial food versus fuel issue associated with traditional biofuel, notably ethanol production. To be able to produce fuels and chemicals from non-food feedstocks, and at the same time mitigate reliance on petrochemicals and fossil fuels, has huge ramifications for industries around the world that are seeking to reduce their greenhouse gases and find ways to make their processes more economic. Dr Jennifer Holmgren www.lanzatech.com www.hermagazine.co.nz | 29