John Tustin

Thirty-five Years with

Edited by Josef SpitzerPhotographs and contributions by

members of IEA BioenergyDecember 2012

This was the past

This will be the future!

Is this what is called the International Eating Agency?

They should see the fish I catch back home!

Rarotonga Pukehina

Svolvaer

I have to show this to Anne before I put it on

I am sure, Paul will soon have a solution for our problem

This seems to be an interesting method for feedstock

pre-treatment

Don’t look so sceptical Anne, this is all grown biologically

This sounds convincing Jack, but I don’t believe you

I am not the only one wondering, how this plant works

I have to make sure that this makes it to the Minutes

I have to make sure that this does not make it to the Minutes

Björn, hold it, this is not quite correct!

Don’t worry, Don, we are going to manage this one

Are you sure about this, Kai?

I hate these ear phones!

I wonder how this will work after we have left

Dear JohnIt is sad to see you leave the IEA Bioenergy secretariat. Since my early years working with IEA Bioenergy you have been attending meetings. I first remember you in Japan in September 1991 when you persuaded me to volunteer for Karaoke. I think it’s the only bad advice you’ve given me! I remember the competition for the secretary’s role in Rome a few years later. Time has shown that the ExCo made an excellent choice, your commitment to the Agreement and your care for the work stands out in my mind. I know you really helped me when I took over from Niranjan and welcomed me back to the ExCo. You have been a good colleague and a wonderful person to know and I hope you have many happy years ahead of you. Pat

From Ralph Sims, Massey University, New ZealandHi John, Congratulations on your retirement from the IEA Bioenergy ExCo after 33 years of “hard labour”. Not many people last that long I’m sure! You were sorely missed in Vienna and your successor, Pearse, looked a bit shell-shocked I thought –unless that was from the Austrian weiss beir not being a suitable substitute for Guinness! I recall first meeting you in the late 1970s / early 1980s when you were working at NZ Forest Research Institute (now Scion) and in those early days you were very enthusiastic about New Zealand being a part of this international agreement. The country has benefitted as a result. In more recent years you have done a great job working as the ExCoSecretary as well as keeping the NZ presence alive within the organisation. Your efficient but laid-back style epitomised your NZ background and your professional career as a senior scientist at FRI. I know it has been appreciated by all. Due to the very important social side of international events and the opportunities from networking, I think you can also claim full credit for the IEA acronym now being known by some as the “International Eating and drinking Agency”! So many thanks for this amazing contribution over the years and sincere best wishes to you and Anne for a long future of wine tasting, fishing, and having fun with your family and 13 grandchildren.Ralph

John, good to see you at your hometown, thanks for all, and all the best to you and Ann, Kees

(John and me at the Blue and Green Lake in Rotorua)

Technical Co-ordinators providing support

Adam Brown, Arthur WellingerAdam: I’ve know John since my first encounter with IEA Bioenergy as the UK representative (in Vienna in around 1986…..), and subsequently as Vice –Chair and Chair of the Executive Committee and then as the first Technical Coordinator, and now as a member of IEA “Headquarters” as he like to call it! He has been the stalwart of the Agreement in all that time – the keeper of the scrolls and the corporate memory, but never taking an ”I’ve seen it all before” attitude, always keen to keep things moving on and open to new ideas. In this way he was extremely helpful and supportive when I took on the Technical Coordinator role. But I also think of him as a lively and amusing friend and companion during the social aspects of the meetings. He and I shared an amazing fish supper in Croatia, washed down with a few glasses of local red, that I’ll always remember! So thanks John, and congratulations on all you’ve achieved for the Agreement! Enjoy the fishing……. Adam

Arthur: John the gentlemen secretary and statesman. For me, John is more than just a secretary of IEA Bioenergy: He is an institution. There is no doubt; John has a multitude of outstanding qualities. Restricting myself I would like to name the top three only from my very personal point of view: His stunning calm in the most delicate situations together with his ability to pay equal attention to all opponents without losing his authority. His fantastic memory for facts, figures and persons. He has an “elephant’s memory” as we call it in German. His linguistic abilities: never one word too much ,expressing his opinion not by strong words but by omitting topics he finds no adequate, an outstanding vocabulary and record layout. He is able to be assertive with the most polite expressions possible. Even though I have a certain experience myself, John is an archetype for me in many instances. Arthur

Chairmen appreciating John’s professionality and loyalty

Olav Gislerud, Josef Spitzer, Kyriakos Maniatis, Björn Telenius,

Birger Kerckow

Olav:: IEA Bioenergy has been fortunate in having long-lasting end excellent secretaries. I remember Torleif being very efficient and punctual but in some respects maybe little formal and stubborn. John had maybe the advantage of knowing IEA Bioenergy also as an ExCo member. I remember John also as very efficient and punctual but at the same time as jovial and kind. When visiting New Zealand John (and his wife) were always helpful, both professionally and private.

Josef: John, your outstanding record is based on very few seemingly simple principles: continuity, good judgement, empathy and impartiality. Your professional rule as our Secretary was, to bring to the attention of ExCo as much as necessary and as little as possible. It was only in your message to ExCo70 that you gave an “advice” for possible future priorities based on 35 years of IEA Bioenergy experience. Besides learning from you professionally, I was privileged to get to know you and Anne personally during the meetings and your wonderful family during visits at your home.

Kyriakos: John, You have always provided the strong foundations of the IEA Bioenergy and if I was able to contribute anything to the ExCo is thanks to your wisdom, patience and guidance …. always staying behind the lines, counselling me with astuteness….but above all your friendly approach….it is this smile that you always managed to have even on tense moments that got us through difficult situations so many times!Thank you my friend, Kyriakos

Björn: Dear John, many thanks for good friendship and all your efforts to successfully make IEA Bioenergy the top global bioenergy authority and platform for formal and informal international cooperation. While working at the university I was involved in Tasks dealing with willow and poplar. Then, as bureaucrat I had the pleasure of serving as ExCo member and Chair; And I am still involved, but now as a consumer of IEA Bioenergy material and expertise. During all those years there has always been the one and same Mr IEA Bioenergy. Always there, always helpful and always extremely wise and facilitating. Thanks John! I hope you are as proud of your result and achievements as you deserve to be. I wish you good fights with the biggest fishes in the NZ waters, many successful days on the golf course – and that we meet again at an IEA Bioenergy event. Thanks!

Birger: Dear John, when I became involved in IEA Bioenergy in 2004 and learnt that the secretariat is based in New Zealand, I was rather skeptical: . How should a secretariat at the opposite side of the world work in practice? Pretty fast I realized that it worked brilliantly. There was constant and smooth support to and coordination of all IEA Bioenergy activities. I got some more insight as an ExCo Vice Chair since 2008, but I obtained the full dimension of your work when I started to serve as Chair in 2011. Not only that you keep the IEA Bioenergy engine running in all its ramifications, you combine ideally technical and administrative knowledge and experience, and handle even delicate or controversial issues in a positive and polite, but still decisive way – with the experience of many years of ExCo decisions on similar issues you guide ExCo (and the Chair) through sometimes troubled waters. I am very grateful that you are willing to share this expertise with your successor Pearse and that everything is prepared for a smooth transition. This will be quite a change for IEA Bioenergy and for you – but I am very confident that your family will appreciate the additional time and attention you may give them in the future and that there will be more room for your hobbies!With my very best wishes, also to Anne, and hope to see you again in New Zealand or elsewhere – Birger

Miscellaneous – beginning with

ExCo26 in Bologna 1990 (Adam’s archive)

Followed by pictures from Adam, Arthur, Birger, Björn, Don-Hee, John, Josef, Julije, Kai,

Kees, Kyriakos, Olav, Paul, Pearse

Continuity is assured!