A Geographer by Declaration Selected Writings by George Jobberns

George Jobberns was appointed to the first geography lectureship in New Zealand in 1937, at what is now the University of Canterbury. Five years later he became the country's first Professor of Geography. In an era when the accent for academics was more on teaching than research, Jobberns nevertheless published widely, including journal articles, encyclopaedia entries, popular articles and school textbooks. His 'Whitcombe's Regional Geography of the World' ran to six editions and was the entry point to geography for many secondary school and teachers' college students. This commemorative volume draws from his published and unpublished work on geopolitics, regional geography, and geography and geographers.

Michael Roche is a professor of geography at Massey University. He is the author of Past Matters: Heritage and Planning History Perspectives from the Pacific Rim and has been published widely on the interrelations of society, economy, and environment in 19th- and 20th-century New Zealand, including contributions to the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, the New Zealand Historical Atlas, and Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.