Thinking that has changed the world

Published 20 November 2023

Memories of visionary agricultural scientist and educator Professor Bill McClymont loom large at UNE, even two decades after his death. The foundation dean of our Faculty of Rural Science inspired countless students and colleagues, and revolutionised thinking about agricultural systems internationally.

Few alumni of the faculty could forget the lanky, moustachioed veterinarian who arrived in 1955 to develop the Rural Science undergraduate degree program. The agro-ecological systems model he devised and routinely revised – integrating animal husbandry, agronomy, soil science, economics and other disciplines into livestock and agricultural production – has proven every bit as memorable.

“The McClymont philosophy had a profound influence on the careers and contributions of UNE Rural Science graduates working throughout Australia and around the world,” says eminent plant physiologist, agricultural scientist and climate change advocate, Melbourne University Emeritus Professor Snow Barlow. “His scientifically rigorous cross-disciplinary undergraduate degree was the first of its kind and his students have contributed extensively to food production globally, working as international agricultural consultants and in senior roles in projects funded by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

“Some graduates returned to their family farms, where their systems training has helped them develop innovative approaches and better management techniques. Others, like myself, followed a successful academic career.

“Professor McClymont encouraged us all, firstly, to think in terms of systems and how we might influence the components of a system to produce synergy and better total outcomes. The power of that education became clear last October, when 15 of the surviving graduates of 1966 – of which I was one – gathered in Orange, NSW, for a reunion and shared how Professor McClymont had shaped our lives and our incredibly diverse careers.”

The Agricultural EcosystemThe Agricultural Ecosystem developed by Bill McClymont

Following the McClymont legacy, Snow has not only applied systems thinking to the management of a vineyard and wine business (Baddaginnie Run), grazing and farm forestry enterprise he and his partner Winsome McCaughey operate in north-eastern Victoria, but also been sought-after as an advisor to federal ministers and Prime Ministers on the effects of climate change on agriculture, water management and global food security.

“I first encountered climate change in the 1970s, in terms of looking at the world as a system,” said Snow, former Executive Director of the national Climate Change Research Strategy for Primary Industries. “We began to talk about the global carbon cycle and to consider the inputs of fossil fuels and land-clearing. As an agriculturist and McClymont graduate, I started considering what they would do to the system, how the climate would change and what impact it could have on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. It all went back to the McClymont philosophy and the critical thinking he taught me. He advocated holistic thinking before there was such a term.”

Vicki Poulter, the eldest of Bill and Viv McClymont’s four children, effectively grew up on the Armidale campus and remembers the Rural Science faculty, created just a year after UNE became independent of the University of Sydney, as “a shining beacon for the university and its students”. Her father would lead it for 21 years.

“Dad was at least 50 years ahead of his time, in thinking about the farm as a complete system. He believed you needed to understand the whole before you could specialise,” Vicki said. “His Rural Science graduates from the early 1960s and ‘70s were in demand all over the world because they were broad thinkers and could put any problem into context. Dad was very critical of the cult of the expert … and the damage they could do without considering the ecology of the whole. His inaugural lecture was titled All Flesh is Grass.

“Dad taught us to think critically and to never be afraid to challenge conventional dogma; he always said you need to drink from the running stream, not the stagnant pond. I’m now part of a fantastic regenerative agriculture network, around Australia and globally. The good farmers are out there following the ecological principles that Dad espoused.”

What even his students may not have known is that Professor McClymont was active beyond the walls of academia. Like his colleague Professor Jack Lewis, foundation dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Economics, he believed that agricultural knowledge held at UNE should be shared with the community it could benefit. The pair established community centres for agricultural education throughout the New England region, endeavouring to forge strong links between scientists, farm managers and commercial partners.

“Professor McClymont spent a fair bit of time with Professor Lewis driving around NSW in an old UNE Holden, talking to farmers,” Snow said. “His teaching was persuasive and convincing, perhaps because he could give examples from all over the place that brought the systems to life and held real meaning for us.”

The inaugural McClymont Distinguished Professorship was conferred in 2016 to internationally respected specialist in Precision Agricultural Technology, Professor David Lamb.

Now, Snow and other appreciative graduates like him are seeking to honour Professor McClymont by establishing a scholarship for an undergraduate Rural Science student in his honour.

When they raised a toast to Professor McClymont at the October reunion, Snow said his contemporaries fondly recalled the former dean’s influence and impact.

“He was an impressive figure, with a strong presence, but he was never intimidating,” Snow said. “He was erudite but also down-to-earth and we all found his sessions to be quite inspirational. They were clearly influential, because we didn’t walk away and forget them, but applied what we had learnt in a range of ways.

“We all agreed that we had received a good education. We had been pushed to think through problems and how we might solve them, not just accept things as they were.”

Snow and his cohort are consulting with UNE Rural Science alumni to gauge the level of interest in financially supporting the McClymont scholarship in perpetuity. If you would like more information, or to contribute, contact advance@une.edu.au