Dr. Rupert Tipples - Team Leader
David Lucock - Field Research Manager
Sharon Lucock - Webmaster
Dr. Rupert Tipples - Team Leader
Where do I come from ?
I was brought up on a hop and fruit farm, ten miles south of Maidstone in the Weald of Kent, England.
There were always staff employed on the farm. My grandfather got on well with his staff but my father had more problems from his more demanding style. There were about 12 full-time men, with their wives employed at peak seasons, such as fruit or hop picking. Then, there were also a lot of casual staff. When I was small, every September we were invaded by about a hundred families of Londoners '...come for the hoppin...'. Those were the days before mechanisation. We had our first hop picking machine in 1955, followed shortly by a second. Then few Londoners were needed, but some casuals were. They were often gypsies or other itinerants.
After ten years away at boarding school, in 1967 I went up to Cambridge University to read Land Economics. While there, I recruited students for hop picking for my father. We developed a cumulative bonus that operated after two weeks employment and increased rapidly if staff stayed for the whole hop picking period. Workers who left early really frustrated my father.
After Land Economics I became interested in those working the land. I was encouraged by one of my academic mentors, Dr. Ruth Gasson, who always placed a high priority on the social dimension in agriculture. During my Ph.D research, I moved from land policy in the EEC to a policy study of why French farmers took early retirement. Then after Cambridge, I was employed as a Research Officer by the England and Wales Agricultural Training Board. After three years of training research and becoming a union delegate to represent my disaffected colleagues at the Training Board, I saw an advertisement for a Lecturer in Labour Management in the Department of Horticulture, Landscape and Parks at Lincoln College. By early 1978 my wife, Kiwi baby and I were living in House 67, Ellesmere Junction Road, Lincoln College.
Over thirty years and several restructurings later I am in the Faculty of Commerce, working as a Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations. My more recent history is described on my Lincoln University webpage.
What am I doing now?
Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations, Agricultural Management and Property Studies Department, Faculty of Commerce, Lincoln University
What are my academic qualifications?
M.A. (1974) and Ph.D (1978), Land Economics, University of Cambridge
How many years have I been working as a practising researcher?
40 years.
What have I done in the past?
- From 2008 Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations and Postgraduate Course Advisor, Agricultural Management and Property Studies Department, Faculty of Commerce, Lincoln University
- 2009-2011 Academic Programme Manager (Students), Faculty of Commerce, Lincoln University.
- 2004-2008 Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations, Agriculture Group, Agricultural and Life Sciences Division, Lincoln University
- 1999-2004 Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations, Applied Management and Computing Division, Lincoln University
- 1995-1998 Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations, Department of Farm and Horticultural Management, Lincoln University
- 1994 Visiting Fellow, School of Industrial Relations, Griffith University, Queensland (still employed by Lincoln University)
- 1983-1993 Senior Lecturer in Management, Department of Horticulture and Landscape, Lincoln University
- 1977-1982 Lecturer in Management, Department of Horticulture, Landscape and Parks, Lincoln College
- 1974-1977 Research Officer, Agricultural Training Board (UK)
What other roles have I had?
Elected to Lincoln University Council by academic staff for 2001-2002.
Which professional societies do I belong to?
- Vice President (NZ) of Pacific Employment Relations Association (from 2005)
- Fellow of NZ Institute of Industrial Relations Research Inc. (FNZIRR - from 2004)
- Vice President (NZ) and Member of Executive Committee, International Employment Relations Association (IERA) (1996 - 2005)
- Member of New Zealand Institute of Primary Industry Management (NZIPIM) (from 2000)
What are my present research/professional specialities?
- Employment Relations
- Legal and psychological contracts
- Staff management
- Rural businesses and general
- Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs)
- Primary sector labour markets, supply problems and careers
- Education and training of primary industry staff
- Work contests - skills, learning and motivation
- Primary industry history
David Lucock - Field Research Manager
Where do I come from?
Born in Cheviot, in the days when they had a hospital, I grew up in numerous places around the South Island and Seoul, Korea. My first job was sheperding at Porangahau in the Hawkes Bay. The farming bug caught me and I also farmed in the Wairarapa and the Waikato. In the Waikato, I 'jumped the fence' and started milking cows, which I was still doing 8 years later in Canterbury. After 20 years of farming sheep, cattle, deer, dairy and asparagus and reaching my goals of managing these systems, I decided it was high time to pursue and finish a Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences degree at Lincoln University. The expected outcome was to reposition myself so that I could use past experience, plus the structure learnt at Lincoln, to do some “good” to the agricultural industry.
I am now thoroughly enjoying my “tailor-made” job that fulfills my desire to help enhance the New Zealand agricultural industry.
What am I doing now?
I am the Field Research Manager for sheep and beef farms in the ARGOS project. ARGOS (Agriculture Research Group On Sustainability) was formed to undertake a long term research programme called “Pathways to Sustainability in Primary Production”. It is an unincorporated joint venture between three parties - The Agribusiness Group, Lincoln University and the University of Otago. In ARGOS, I coordinate the on-farm research, and manage the relationships between the farmers, researchers and other stakeholders.
What are my academic qualifications?
- B.Ag.Sci. (Honours) (2003), Lincoln University NZ Cert. in Farm
- Busi. Mgmt. (1991), The Open Polytechnic (NZ)
What have I done in the past?
- Sheperding
- Studmaster
- Stock manager
- Manager - sheep/beef
- Supervisor, contract milker, lower order sharemilker, and manager - dairy
How many years had I been a farmer?
23 years.
Which professional societies do I belong to?
- Member of New Zealand Institute of Primary Industry Management (NZIPIM) (From 2005)
- Member of Grasslands Association (From 2003)
What are my present research/professional specialities?
- Farm management systems
- Rural employment relations
- Facilitation and extension
Sharon Lucock (née Xiaomeng Sun) - Webmaster
Where do I come from?
I come from China! I grew up in Beijing, and went to school and university there. Actually, I didn't travel much at all, until 30 June 2002, when I jumped onto a plane and landed on the other side of the planet - New Zealand. At university in China, I studied horticultural science, majoring in ornamental horticulture. We grew and studied flowers. But because of my nine years of drawing training, I ended up spending the last year of university doing my thesis project on landscape design. Coming to New Zealand, I began learning horticultural business management, but later found myself doing a master's thesis on the management of botanic gardens using more qualitative research methods. Although the focus of my study had been changing all the time, I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed all the above. In fact, I am also interested in computers, particularly image designing programmes. I guess this is why I find being the webmaster of this website so enjoyable. During the course of my studies in the Management Division at Lincoln University, I fell in love with a 'burned out' farmer and got married at the end of 2004.
What am I doing now?
I am a lecturer in agribusiness management at Lincoln University. In 2012, I will be teaching MGMT 318.
I am also a self-employed translator (Chinese to English) and interpreter (Mandarin to English).
What are my academic qualifications?
- B.Agronomy (2001), Ornamental Horticulture, China Agricultural University
- Graduate Cert. in Commerce (2002), Lincoln University
- M.Appl.Sci (Honours) in Horticultural Management (2006), Lincoln University