Friday, October 17, 2008

You're looking at Dr David Drew


In August Dave submitted his PhD thesis titled "Describing and predicting temporal growth and wood property variation in plantation eucalypts". People immediately began to congratulate him, but he was reticent to accept their commendations. Why? The thesis had been submitted for assessment, which allowed for the possibility that it would be rejected.

Well, now the suspense is over.

In the words of one examiner:

"The project described in the thesis was a very ambitious one. The known range of environmental variables influencing xylem development is enormous, and it is clear that there may well be others which are not yet recognised or understood. The difficulties involved in developing a model taking account of these variables would deter many people from even attempting to do it. However, I was most impressed by the logical and reasoned way in which the candidate has approached the problem, and by the level of success achieved."

"This report is relatively short because I have found little to fault in the thesis. It represents a lot of hard, painstaking work. The candidate demonstrates his clear understanding of the scientific problems involved and a comprehensive grasp of the techniques he has used. He has demonstrated the ability to analyse critically his observations and to set them in the context of the relevant literature. In thirty years of examining I have seldom encountered such a well-written, carefully prepared and readable thesis."
Since others may not be as interested in this as I am, I'll spare you quotes from the other examiner! We are thrilled with this result. After watching the huge amount of hard work Dave did, including many evenings and Saturdays, I have some idea of what it has cost. What a blessing that the work has been rewarded. Thank you God!

Officially, Dave is not a "Dr" until his formal graduation ceremony. I'm not going to worry about that little detail though. Some of you may remember that Anne of Green Gables later became Mrs. Dr. Blythe. Her domestic help, Susan, often called her "Mrs. Dr. Dear". As far as I'm concerned, I could now take on the title Mrs. Dr. Drew - if I wanted to, that is!

5 comments:

  1. Fantastic! You must both be so relieved! I'm supposed to be submitting my thesis before Christmas, but I think I'm going to be struggling to make that deadline!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well, congratulations to both of you. I don't know what thesis reports normally say, but it certainly sounds like high praise indeed.

    When's the graduation ceremony?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow Lara, that is soon . . . I've just said a prayer for you that you will be able to bring it to completion and that you will not be too stressed!

    Hi John, I think it is going to be in March. Hopefully they'll still let me on a plane at that stage of pregnancy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Congratulations to you both!! What a fun post...I know you're so excited and thankful about this accomplishment!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations, Dave! My husband worked on his doctorate part-time for 9 years. It was long and sometimes very discouraging, but he finished and we were so proud of him (and still are!) :-)
    Doctorates open doors that would otherwise be impossible.
    You have truly glorified the Lord in your diligence and your examiners have recognized it!
    Blessings to you Dave and Sherrin (and Baby!) :-D

    ReplyDelete