Degree was life-changing decision for oldest PhD

Dec 28 2007 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post

A grandfather has shown you’re never too old to learn, as Vicky Anderson found out

RETIREMENT is often looked forward to as a time to wind down and reflect on life’s achievements.

But for one West Lancashire grandfather, ending his career was just the beginning – as it led to him becoming an expert in a completely different field.

Colin Smith, 71, has just graduated from Edge Hill University as the institution’s oldest PhD student.

His studies in plant science only began after he left full-time work as an electrical engineer, and returned to formal education at 57 – for the first time since he was 16.

Now his work in helping to reintroduce a rare grass to the British countryside has seen him in demand as a specialist.

At a loss due to his sudden retirement on health grounds from the Phillips factory in Southport, Mr Smith’s academic journey began when he started volunteering at an adult literacy group in Skelmersdale.

There he met a student in his 70s who was learning to read and write, and, inspired by the man’s decision to make such a change later in life, Mr Smith, from Haskayne, just outside Ormskirk, signed up for a one-year access course before embarking on a degree.

Aged 61, he graduated with a 2.1 in field biology and habitat management, and was then encouraged by a tutor to continue with a part-time PhD.

He spent eight years working towards the doctorate, after being given extra time to complete it following a quadruple bypass operation.

Mr Smith said: “I’d had a feeling for natural history since I was a child, but it wasn’t until I started studying I realised the world of plant science was quite something, and I really enjoyed doing it.

“Before I started I knew nothing at all about plant science, I hadn’t been in formal education since I was 16, and I was the oldest on the course by miles so I was a bit apprehensive when I began my degree.”

Academically, his work has been dedicated to investigating the grass-like plants sedges, and he has recently secured a research grant to develop his work further.

He has been heralded by English Nature for his work helping a professor at Oxford University to take the last sample of the flaming red fox sedge and bring it back into existence by propagating what was thought to be lost – it has been reintroduced to the British countryside.

For his PhD, Mr Smith has systematically selected over 70 species of sedge, taking samples from each one, making an individual slide, cataloguing and drawing each individual characteristic of the species and then adding that to the data base.

His research has taken him on field trips across the country and abroad.

Mr Smith now spends some of his week as a volunteer in the botany department of Liverpool Museum and continues to work as a research associate at Edge Hill.

He said: “I’ve been really lucky and had a lot of happy accidents. I hope life continues to be as interesting as it has been so far.”

vickyanderson