5
RESEARCH, INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WAIKATO
The secrets of honey
and glass composition
THERE’S a real buzz going on around
honey at the moment – its health giving
properties when eaten and for medicines – but
there’s still much to learn.
University of Waikato PhD student
Megan Grainger spends all week in a chemistry
lab testing honey samples; commercial
product and artificial honey she makes herself.
Her aim is to better understand how the
dihydroxyacetone (found in flowers) converts
to methylglyoxal (bioactive) in mānuka
honey. Methylglyoxal (MGO) is the major
contributor to antibacterial honey.
“We know that honey undergoes
substantial change once it leaves the hive,
but for beekeepers we need more detail,” says
Megan. “Not every honey is the same; we need
to understand how time and temperature affect
conversion in different honeys and how long
the MGO remains before it starts ‘falling off ’.”
The higher the antibacterial activity, the
better the price for the beekeeper. “At the
moment beekeepers have to pay for regular
testing, but if we can come up with a model
that will provide accurate information, tell
them categorically that their honey will be
right at specific time, then they wouldn’t have
to test their samples as often.”
Megan is the recipient of a Claude
McCarthy Fellowship which will assist with
her travel to the University of Montana to
work more closely with her PhD external
supervisor, University of Montana Professor
Emeritus Richard Field – a physical chemist
who specialises in nonlinear dynamics.
At the same time she will use a Fulbright
New Zealand Travel Award to present her
masters research to American audiences. It’s
totally unrelated to honey.
“For my masters degee, I researched
the discrimination and categorisation of
automotive glass by laser ablation inductively
coupled plasma mass spectrometry.” It was
commissioned by ESR in Auckland and
required Megan to study the composition of
glass from 12 different countries. To do that,
she used laser ablation inductively coupled
plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS).
“Waikato Uni is one of the only places in
the country to have the laser for solid sample
introduction, which meant I could ‘ablate’
[analyse] the glass without having to break it
down first.
“What I found is that you can categorise
glass into country of origin; information
that could be useful in forensic cases and
car accidents for example. It’s a bit like a
fingerprint for glass. And I can also tell you
that Australian glass differs greatly from any
other I tested – it’s related to the silica and
other trace elements found in the sand.”
Megan has presented her research at a
forensic conference in Sydney and her work
has been published in the
Journal of Analytical
Atomic Spectrometry
.
She came to Waikato University in 2006
planning to do a degree in Japanese and
Biology. “But to do a BSc I was required to do
four different science papers in my first year;
I chose chemistry as one of these and Associate
Professor Merilyn Manley-Harris also offered
me work in one of the research laboratories.”
From there Megan discovered she enjoyed
research, and made the decision to switch to a
Chemistry major.
“When I look back, I’ve always been doing
experiments…even before I went to school
I’d set myself up with different household
products, like soap powder, hard soap and
dishwashing liquid, and play around to see the
effect of different combinations. I’m always
curious to know what happens and why.”
During her time at Waikato University
Megan has earned many accolades. She has
received the award for top chemistry student
in her year for three years in a row, has been
awarded 10 scholarships throughout the
years and is also the recipient of a Shirtcliffe
Fellowship. Only one Fellowship is awarded
each year to assist a student of outstanding
SWEET AS: Doctoral student Megan Grainger is the recipient of a Claude McCarthy
Fellowship that will allow her to extend her study into the antibacterial properties
of honey, at the University of Montana.
ability and character who is a graduate of a
New Zealand university in the continuation
of his or her doctoral studies.
Megan leaves in June this year for the
US and will spend two months at the
University of Montana working with Emeritus
Professor Field.
Mg50@waikato.ac.nz
ORGANISATIONS stand to gain if they’re a registered
charitable trust, able to secure, where appropriate, tax
and rates relief and often, improved public support.
Now the pressure is going on for a law change in
New Zealand that could see organisations with
substantial political focus become registered charities.
Australia recently amended its law within the
field of political purposes, which has potentially
opened the floodgates for registered charitable trusts
to have substantive political focus.
Waikato University Senior Law Lecturer
Juliet Chevalier-Watts keeps a close on eye on
New Zealand’s charitable trusts and the decisions
surrounding registration. For the past few years
it’s been her role, inter alia, to assess whether the
law has been applied appropriately when the
Charities Commission, (as was) and now the
Department of Internal Affairs – Charities, make
their registration decisions. She says New Zealand
has stringent laws pertaining to charitable trusts
that have evolved in line with social, political and
economic pressures.
“There’s a feeling in some New Zealand
organisations that we should follow Australia,” says
Ms Chevalier-Watts. “Already, organisations including
Greenpeace, which clearly has overt political
objectives, have been challenging the status quo,
An independent and objective view of charitable trusts
and it is now very likely that Greenpeace will be
registered as a charitable trust.
“I’m a bit of a lone voice in that I support
New Zealand’s stance to refuse registration to political
lobbyists and am diligent about keeping abreast of
how organisations are able to find ways with current
legislation to achieve charitable trust status.”
Ms Chevalier-Watts has been at the University
of Waikato since 2008, coming from Southampton
Solent University in England.
Her research focus is international human rights
and charitable trusts.
“In particular, I research the interpretation and
jurisprudence of charitable trust law and I’m an
independent and objective voice who assesses the
robustness and accuracy of decisions made by the
Department of Internal Affairs – Charities.”
Ms Chevalier-Watts says having charitable
status, as recognised at law, can be fundamental
to organisations because holding charitable status
offers a number of benefits to the organisation itself,
as well as to donors and beneficiaries.
“Such benefits, including tax relief, transparency
and quality assurance, mean that obtaining charitable
status can be key in an organisation’s objectives to
further its status and opportunities. So it’s vital that
the means by which organisations are given charitable
status are governed and monitored strictly to ensure
that the benefits and purpose of being charitable are
given meaning and value.”
Ms Chevalier-Watts is about to embark on study
leave to continue her research on charitable trusts.
Included in that leave will be a visit to Vancouver,
Canada later this year to present a paper about the
challenges facing charitable trusts and public benefit,
and that will be followed with some time spent in
a couple of Australian universities to research key
Australasian issues pertaining to charitable trusts.
julietcw@waikato.ac.nz
PLEASE GIVE
GENEROUSLY:
Senior Law Lecturer
Juliet Chevalier-Watts
keeps a close eye
on New Zealand’s
charitable trusts
and the decisions
surrounding registration.