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For Associate Professor Philip Jennings there is no 'fine line' separating the work he does in physics at Murdoch University and the voluntary work he does with community groups trying to save the planet... or more localised parts thereof. It's all part of a spectrum that merges scientific research with everyday life in the real world.
 Professor Jennings, a foundation member of staff at Murdoch, took up a position in the University's Physics Programme in 1975. He had previously lectured at the University of New South Wales and at Flinders University in South Australia.
A Science graduate of the University of Western Australia, Professor Jennings completed his PhD at Harvard University. Upon graduation, still in the United States, he took up a position as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Bell Laboratories in New Jersey, where he worked on low energy electron diffraction.
In addition to his other appointments, Professor Jennings spent two periods of six months as a guest scientist at the Institute for Solid State Physics at the German Research Centre in Juelich, West Germany.
His current research interests are in such areas as condensed matter physics, surface science, photovoltaics, radioactivity and environmental physics.
Prominent among these is his work on finding ways to improve the efficiency and stability of amorphous silicon solar cells in the conversion of solar energy into electricity.
Many members of the wider community will be more aware of Professor Jennings through his role in promoting conservation in Western Australia. A former President of the Conservation Council of Western Australia, Professor Jennings has also been a prominent member of a variety of other community groups including the Wetlands Conservation Society, the Pollution Action Network, and Scientists Against Nuclear Arms.
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| "I think it's a great challenge for scientists to be able to explain what they're doing and the way scientists see things, and to be able to use that science for the benefit of the community." |
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One may wonder how the author of such pure-science papers as 'Computation of LEED Intensities for Muffin-Tin Models with Application to Tungsten (001)' can regularly appear in the public eye commenting on a wide range of environmental issues.
For Professor Jennings the answer is simple.
"Many of us here at Murdoch became involved in environmentally-based research during the oil crisis of the 1970s," he said.
"When I arrived here -- which was around the same time as the global oil crisis -- there were quite a number of Murdoch researchers with interests in energy-related issues. Energy is a central part of physics -- energy and matter -- and we were looking at what we could contribute to energy research.
"In those days we felt that oil would probably be priced out of the market by the 1990s and that, as scientists, we should be looking for viable alternatives. Some of us got involved in battery research, others in solar cells and others in biomass. There was a whole range of energy-related studies that began at Murdoch because of the particular time in history that the University was established.
"In my mind, that's the basis of Murdoch's strength in renewable energy today. A lot of those people who started out in the 1970s have stayed in the field. The field has developed and Murdoch has become a national leader in renewable energy research."
For Professor Jennings and many of his colleagues, taking that research to the community has been a logical process.
"I don't see any fundamental difference in the work I do at Murdoch from that which I do with community conservation groups. It's all part of a spectrum. Community work is an outgrowth of scientific work.
"Where I have scientific skills that are applicable to the community I've used them there. I believe it's a worthwhile way of applying the knowledge I've gained -- there's a great need in the community for scientific knowledge and technical support.
"I think it's a great challenge for scientists to be able to explain what they're doing and the way scientists see things, and to be able to use that science for the benefit of the community."
Among other positions, Professor Jennings is currently the Chair of the Murdoch University Energy Research Institute Board of Management and of the Program Managers Committee of the Australian Co-operative Research Centre for Renewable Energy. He is also the President of the Wetlands Conservation Society and Treasurer of the Conservation Council of Western Australia.
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