cc: David Taplin <d_taplin@hotmail.com>
date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 11:08:02 -0700
from: Tom Wigley <wigley@ucar.edu>
subject: Taplin
to: Mike Hulme <m.hulme@uea.ac.uk>

Dear Mike,

I suspect that you are incredibly busy, and probably not able to act on
this at the moment. However, a friend of mine (for some 25 years), David
Taplin, recently emailed you, so I thought I might try to fill you in on
some of the details.

The bottom line is that he is seeking some formal, but unpaid
affiliation with UEA, preferably with the Tyndall Ctr. 

Here is some history. David is a metallurgist (Oxford PhD) who I met
when I taught in the Mechanical Engineering Dept. at the University of
Waterloo in Canada. He had a pretty spectacular career in Canada -- one
of the youngest people ever to be promoted to Full Professor. Since then
he has done a lot of things and been at a lot of places, most recently
in Singapore and Queensland. He lives now in Plymouth. I plan to visit
him there in mid December to discuss some of his ideas with him.

Some years ago he became interested in what might be called the holistic
side of engineering, more commonly referred to as 'Industrial Ecology'.
This happened about the same time when a book I produced on the subject
came out: 'Industrial Ecology and Global Change', edited by Rob. Socolow
et al. (Cambridge University Press, 1994). [If you want a copy of this
book, let me know.] The idea is to look at industry as an ecosystem and
consider all the down the line aspects of industrial activity -- and
their feedbacks. There are aspects of this that are closely parallel to
integrated assessment; and there are clearly important two-way links to
climate change. From this point of view, I think a formal tie between
David and the Tyndall Ctr. would be mutually beneficial.

What David wants to do is bring in research funds to pursue his
industrial ecology work and, at the same, time, better incorporate
climate aspects. He needs an appropriate base from which to do this. He
does have an honorary Visiting Professorship at University College,
Cork, and an Adjunct Professorship at Queensland University of
Technology in Brisbane. These affiliations give him some credibility for
his goals, but nowhere near what he would get from being associated with
UEA and the Tyndall Ctr.

So, what are the possibilities, and how should he proceed?

As I said, I will see him in December, and both he and I can fill you in
further after that. In the meantime, can you give the matter some
thought and let me know your impressions?

Cheers, Tom.