The Weddle WalkAbout

This is the beginning of a project to document the adventures of the Connecticut Weddle family during their visit "down under" in the land of Oz. We are here for a year to spend my sabbatical leave year from Fairfield Univeristy in the laboratory of Prof. Evan Bieske at the University of Melbourne, located in Parkville, a suburb of the City of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia . My wife, Edite, and I plus our youngest daughter, Emily Fiona, are here.
     The project began back in November of 2004 when I became eligible for a sabbatical leave after 12 semesters of teaching chemistry at Fairfield University. For the previous seven years I had been active in the research group of Prof. Mark Johnson at Yale University where I was introduced to molecular spectroscopy of ionic cluster molecules. This connection led me to meet Prof. Bieske at a Gordon Conference. His laboratory also investigates structural aspects of molecular clusters, however he has the capability of recording high resolution infrared spectra which yields more information on the structure than the easier low resolution technique. I wanted to gain experience with this technique, and Prof. Bieske was gracious enough to extend an invitation to me to spend a year working with his group in Melbourne. Thus, a plan was born.
     In the pages linked here you will find a record of the unfolding adventures we have had so far and, perhaps, impressions of aspects of Australian life that have made a particular impression upon us. Links to each of the stories are found on the left of the page. This site falls into the general catagory of a web log. It is not professionally done nor is it intended to be anything other than our story of our adventures. Feel free to read as much or as little as you like.