John is a Professor Emeritus from Massey University, and has been the
leader in developing the vegetation history of Easter Island through
pollen studies of crater sediments from the main three craters. He
began this research with a visit to the island in 1977, and has
visited repeatedly. It is John's work that confirmed forests once
thrived on the island, and that the deforestation process was
associated with human settlement. With Paul Bahn, he's also written
one of the most useful books on Easter Island.
When I originally discussed this project with John, he put me
immediately in touch with Mark, who takes over John's role of pollen
analysis in this project. In addition to pollen, Mark specializes in
starch grain microfossils, which provide a promising tool for
understanding the extent of past agriculture. Mark lives in Auckland,
and is associated with Auckland University, but organizes his research
as small consultancy business specializing in microfossil analysis.
John and Mark are great team, and love discussing all aspects of
botany. But I have to say, these long discussions about plants and
pollen often exceed my attention span, and David's too.
