This page will be updated as speakers are confirmed. Keynote and plenary speakers will include: • Dr Elizabeth Swinbank (University of York) – physics education • Professor David Parry (Massey University)  • Dr Hamish Campbell (GNS Science) • Dr Mikkel Anderson (Otago University) • Dr Ian Bond (Massey University) • Dr John Campbell • Dr John Lekner (MacDiarmid Institute) • Dr Stéphane Coen (University of Auckland) Conference organisers: Conferences & Events Ltd | Phone: +64 4 384 1511 | Email: nzip2011@confer.co.nz  Professor David Parry David Parry has been active in research for 45 years and over that period has studied the structure and function of a variety of fibrous proteins, including those comprising connective tissues (skin, tendon, cornea), muscle (tropomyosin and myosin) and hair (keratin). Currently, he is Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Biophysics and the recently retired Head of the Institute of Fundamental Sciences at Massey University. He has undertaken collaborative research all over the world and has spent significant periods in the UK (London, Oxford), Australia (Melbourne) and the USA (Boston) as well as in New Zealand. His scientific contributions have been recognized by election to the Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand, the New Zealand Institute of Physics, the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry and the Institute of Physics (UK). David was also the President of the International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB) and Vice President of the International Council for Science (ICSU). In all, he has contributed more than 210 scientific papers in international peer-reviewed journals and has written and/or edited eight books. Abstract: Unravelling the workings of the animal body: A biophysical approach "Physics in our Lives" presupposes our very existence as humans. What is it that actually enables us to perceive and understand the physical phenomena that surround us? To begin to answer that enormously complex question we need to understand what makes us who we are. As a starting point consider that each of us must therefore have a defined structure, as well as an ability to move and to see. We must be able to replicate if our species is to have long-term viability. We must also have a brain. For these reasons our bodies contain (amongst a host of other important biological molecules) a range of fibrous structures including DNA - the blueprint of life; hair, bone and skin proteins that define our shape and give us protection against physical insult; muscle and tendon proteins that aid our locomotion; transparent corneal connective tissue that refracts light on to our retinas, thereby enabling us to see. Thanks to a variety of physics-based experimental techniques we now understand a great deal about the structure of these molecules, their modes of aggregation and the functions that they perform in vivo. Some of the more interesting conclusions will be selected and presented. Dr Hamish Campbell Dr Hamish Campbell is a senior scientist with GNS Science based at Avalon, Lower Hutt. His current research interests relate primarily to the origins and history of the older sedimentary rocks of New Zealand. However, he is best known as 'the geologist' at Te Papa and as a science communicator. Abstract: On edge  The earth's crust is made up of large rigid entities (tectonic plates) that are subject to deformation, particularly at their edges. Crustal deformation occurs in manifestly different forms including collision, rifting, uplift, sinking and transcurrent faulting, all of which are evident in the New Zealand landscape. New Zealand and Japan share the dubious distinction of both being proximal to segments of the active leading edge of the Pacific Plate. This is physics in action, big time, and this year, 2011, we have witnessed ample evidence of this.The earth sciences offer an understanding of the Darfield Earthquake and its aftershocks, not to mention the Tohoku Earthquake in Japan. This talk will present a geological explanation of these events. Dr Elizabeth Swinbank Elizabeth Swinbank is a Fellow in Science Education in the Department of Educational Studies, where she works mainly on physics-related curriculum development projects. In 1990 Elizabeth joined the university after nine years teaching physics and science in a comprehensive school. Prior to that, she graduated from Cambridge University with a BA in Natural Sciences (Part II Physics), gained a PhD in Radio Astronomy at the Cavendish Laboratory and completed a PGCE at Homerton College. Currently she directs the Salters Horners Advanced Physics project, chair the editorial board of Physics Review magazine, and is a member of the directorial team for Perspectives on Science. Elizabeth is also the coordinating editor for the Institute of Physics Biological Physics project . Other projects have included Salters GCSE Science, Science Focus, Prime Science, FLAP (Flexible Learning Approaches to Physics) and theTeaching Resources Unit for Modern Physics (TRUMP) initiatives. Dr Mikkel F. Andersen Mikkel F. Andersen is a senior lecturer at at the University of Otago where he lead the atomic physics laboratory. Mikkel Joined the University of Otago in 2007 after working in the research group of William D. Phillips at The National Institute of Standards and Technology, in Gaithersburg USA for a period of 2.5 years. Prior to that Mikkel Gained his PhD from the Weizmann institute of Science in Israel in 2004, and his Masters Degree in Physics from the University of Aarhus Denmark in 2000. His current research interests include manipulating and controlling atoms using laser light and using laser cooled atoms as accurate sensors. Abstract: Manipulating and observing individual atoms.  Atoms are an elementary building block of our world. The capability to observe and control systems at the atomic level has therefore intrigued scientists since they became confident of the existence of atoms. Progress in laser technology has over the past decades opened up many new opportunities to manipulate atomic samples using laser light. In this talk I will describe our recent progress on manipulating individual atoms and observing them using conventional optical microscopy. These results may open opportunities for applications harnessing the power of atoms to make devices such as a quantum computer. Dr John Campbell John Campbell, a condensed matter physicist recently retired from the University of Canterbury, is the author of Rutherford Scientist Supreme, Rutherford's Ancestors, and www.rutherford.org.nz He initiated and runs the Ask-A-Scientist programme that has seen some 900,000 column-cm of science in New Zealand newspapers since 1993. He has carried out some 50 firewalks around New Zealand and his usual talk to high schools is "The Great Life I Lead."  John is a regular after-dinner speaker who holds many awards, including a 1990 Medal and an NZ Science and Technology Medal, for communicating science to the public, and once came third in a gumboot throwing competition. Abstract: The Making of the Rutherford Documentary.  2011 is the centennial of the Rutherford Nuclear Atom, a major event surprisingly forming no part of the International Year of Chemistry. John Campbell, the producer of the 3-part Rutherford Documentary which is based on his book, relates some of the tales associated with the documentary as well as talking to a selection of clips from it. Dr John Lekner Professor of Theoretical Physics at VUW, affiliate of MacDiarmid Institute. Research interests: quantum physics, electrodynamics, fluid mechanics. Research monograph: 'Theory of reflection of electromagnetic and particle waves' , Springer. Dr Stéphane Coen I graduated Engineer in Physics from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB, Brussels, Belgium) in 1996 and was awarded a PhD degree in Applied Physical Sciences in December 1999 by defending a thesis entitled "Passive nonlinear optical fibre resonators: Fundamentals and applications". In 2000-2001, I was a visiting Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Laser Laboratory of Prof. John D. Harvey in the Physics Department of The University of Auckland during which I started working on supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibres. During that period, I was still supported by the Belgian FNRS, from which I got a Chargé de recherches fellowship in October 2000. I came back to Brussels in November 2001 to complete my FNRS fellowship. In December 2003, I was appointed Lecturer at the Physics Department in Auckland University and has since then been promoted to Senior Lecturer. My research on supercontinuum generation culminated in 2006 with the publication of a 50-page review paper in Reviews of Modern Physics. Following this, I participated in further experimental research in the dynamics of nonlinear cavities, which led to the first observation of temporal cavity solitons, reported in Nature Photonics in 2010. More recently, I have also developed an interest in optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging and new optical fibre designs for sensing. I am a Senior Member of The Optical Society of America. Abstract: Temporal cavity solitons in nonlinear optical passive resonators