R. Gerard Ward, BA (New Zealand-Auckland University College), MA (Hons)(New Zealand), PhD (London)
Emeritus Professor and Visiting Fellow, The Pacific Centre

Biographical Statement

I have recently been involved in a study of the measurement of distance and isolation in the Pacific Islands, and the consequences of both for the Pacific Islands. A second project considers accounts by travellers to the 'Taupo Country' in central North Island, New Zealand - their reactions to the landscapes, people and environments of this interior region.

Research Interests

Pacific Islands: land tenure and land use; population; distance and isolation. New Zealand: historical geography of the Central North Island.

Key Publications

• Land Use and Population in Fiji: A Geographical Study, HMSO, London, 1965.
• (ed.) American Activities in the Central Pacific, 1790-1870, 8 vols, Gregg Press Inc., Ridgewood, NJ, 1966-67.
• (ed.) Man in the Pacific Islands, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1972.
• (with M. Levison and J.W. Webb) The Settlement of Polynesia: A Computer Simulation, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, and Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1973.
• (ed. with A. Proctor) South Pacific Agriculture: Choices and Constraints. South Pacific Agricultural Survey 1979, Asian Development Bank, Manila, and Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1980.
• (ed. with E. Kingdon) Land, Custom and Practice in the South Pacific, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995.
• (with P. Ashcroft) Samoa: Mapping the Diversity, Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific, Suva, and National University of Samoa, Apia, 1998.
• Widening Worlds, Shrinking Worlds? The Reshaping of Oceania, Pacific Distinguished Lecture 1999, Centre for the Contemporary Pacific, ANU, Canberra, 1999.
• (with S.W. Serjeantson) And Then the Engines Stopped: Flying in Papua New Guinea, Pandanus Press, Canberra, 114pp.

Career Highlights

Foundation Professor of Geography, University of Papua New Guinea (1967-71); Professor of Human Geography, Research School of Pacific Studies, ANU (1971-98); Director, Research School of Pacific Studies, ANU (1980-93); Emeritus Professor, ANU (1999-present); President, Pacific Science Association (1999-2003).