News and Events
Geosciences in the media
Summer 2009/2010
The Summer period has been a busy one for the School with many staff featuring in various forms of national media. This type of media coverage maintains the Schools’ presence in the public mind and shows that the work done here is not only scientifically significant but that it is also relevant to wider society.
- Dr Jody Webster was interviewed on ABC radio regarding his upcoming expedition to the Great Barrier Reef as the co-chief scientist in the International Ocean Drilling Program (IODP). The IODP team, which features scientists from 9 countries, hopes to use the coral cores obtained on this expedition to determine how the modern Great Barrier Reef will respond to any future changes in ocean conditions.
Download the transcript and audio of the interviews here and here - Prof Geoff Clarke provided comment on the science behind the recent Haiti earthquakes. Geoff’s comments were picked up by media nationwide.
Read the Sydney Morning Herald article
Read the ABC News article - Prof Phil Hirsch was interviewed on ABC Radio National’s Late Night Live program. As Director of the Australian Mekong Resource Centre Phil gave a great interview focusing on the threat that climate change is posing to the Mekong Delta region.
Download the audio of the interview - Fiona McKenzie, a PhD candidate at the School of Geosciences, featured on the ABC radio’s Science Show in her capacity as policy advisor for the Terrestrial Carbon Group. Fiona spoke about the decline of birds in Victorian rainforests.
Download the audio of the interview
Bruce Thom and Andy Short honoured in Australia Day list
28/1/2010
The School of Geosciences is proud to congratulate Bruce Thom and Andy Short who have both received honours in the Australia Day list. Bruce Thom was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and Andy Short was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM)
Honourary Professor Bruce Thom (AM) received recognition for service to the environment as an adviser and advocate for the ecological management of the coastal zone, as a contributor to public debate on natural resource policy, and to the academic and professional discipline of geography.
Professor Andy Short (OAM) was recognised for service to science in the area of coastal studies, and to the Australian Beach Safety and Management Program.
It is great to see two such outstanding scientists recognised for their valuable contributions to the nation.
Australian Mekong Resource Centre launches new website
9/12/2009
The Australian Mekong Resource Centre (AMRC) in the School of Geosciences has a new look website. The website has been designed to fit in with the University's Content Management System (CMS). On the new website you will find information about AMRC projects, staff, students and much more.
Please click here to view the new website
Olivia Dun and Kevin Davies awarded Endeavour Research Fellowships
11/11/2009
Congratualtions to Olivia Dun and Kevin Davies who have both been awarded a 6 month Endeavour Research Fellowship. Both Fellowships are worth $23,500.
Olivia is a PhD candidate at the School of Geosciences and her work focuses on the role of the environment in forcing people to migrate and the level of protection, aid and assistance provided to such migrants, specifically in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Olivia will be carrying out her fieldwork in Vietnam.
Kevin is also a PhD candidate at the School of Geosciences. His research focuses on monitoring tropical forest change by remote sensing. Kevin will be undertaking his research in 2010 with the Royal University of Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Congratulations Olivia and Kevin!
Area Studies Work Slate project - Geosciences staff and students have significant input
4/11/2009
Postgraduate students and staff of the School of Geosciences have had a significant input into the Vice-Chancellor's Review of Area Studies Work Slate project.
On 24 August, the University Provost Stephen Garton, who chaired the review panel, Institute of Social Sciences Director Professor David Goodman, and University of Sydney Director of Policy analysis and communication Tim Payne ran a consultation in the Madsen Building with 14 postgraduate geography students and three staff with primary research interests in Southeast Asia. A summary of that consultation is available here as a pdf.
The consultation resulted from an earlier submission to the Review made by the postgrads, based on a seminar discussion of issues in combining Area Studies and Discipline-oriented approaches to postgraduate work. The Area Studies Review Panel presented its final report on 23 October, and the report will be made public after the Vice Chancellor has presented his response and plan of action.
Associate Professor Peter Cowell responds to climate change report
28/10/2009
The School of Geosciences Acting Head of School, Associate Professor Peter Cowell, was interviewed for the ABC's 7:30 Report and Channel Nine News yesterday. He spoke about the implications of a report released on October 27 2009 by a federal parliamentary committee on the effect of climate change on Australia's coastline.
Peter's comments highlighted the value of the School's ongoing coastal research in a practical context.
The interviews aired on the 27th October.
Click here to view the full story or read the transcript from the ABC's 7:30 Report
Click here to view the full story from Channel Nine News
ARC Discovery Grant success
26/10/2009
The School of Geosciences is pleased to offer congratulations to Associate Professor Bill Pritchard, Dr Jody Webster and Dr Dan Penny, all of whom have been successful with recent ARC Discovery Grant applications.
Institutions for Food Security: Global Lessons from Rural India
A/Prof WN Pritchard; A/Prof JS Bandaralage; Dr A Rammohan; A/Prof M Sekher; Prof Dr S Parasuraman
Total grant amount $255 000 (2010-2013)
Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) drilling in the Great Barrier Reef: unlocking the causes, rates and consequences of abrupt sea level and climate change
Dr JM Webster; Dr HV McGregor; Dr SJ Fallon; Dr A Dutton; Dr AW Tudhope; Dr TM Esat; Dr Y Yokoyama
Total grant amount $372 000 (2010 - 2012)
Thresholds and hysteresis: how do abrupt changes in the Asian monsoon affect ecosystems and environmental processes?
Dr DA Penny; Dr BM Buckley; Dr Q Hua
Total grant amount $285 000 (2010 - 2012)
Dr Tom Hubble briefs press on recent Asia Pacific natural disasters
3/10/2009
The School continues to demonstrate its relevance to matters of interest to the community; thanks this time to Dr Tom Hubble.
Tom briefed several journalists about the Samoan and Sumatran earthquake/tsunami disasters and was quoted at length in The Australian newspaper by Asa Wahlquist and was interviewed by ABC News Radio's John Barron.
Click here to view the full article in The Australian.
Click here to listen to Tom's interview on ABC News Radio.
Professor John Connell awarded International Medal of the IAG
1/10/2009
Professor John Connell has been awarded the International Medal of the Institute of Australian Geographers. He is only the fifth recipient of this prestigious award, which recognises the contribution of geographers in Australia and overseas to Australian geography in the international sphere. The award was bestowed at the IAG annual conference in Cairns 28-30 September 2009. The previous recipient of the IAG International Award was Harold Brookfield.
Book Launch: Viliam Phraxayavong's "History of Aid to Laos: motivations and impacts"
24/09/2009
Viliam Phraxayavong's comprehensive work "History of Aid to Laos: motivations and impacts" was launched last night by the Australian Mekong Resource Centre.
Viliam Phraxayavong was the director of international economic cooperation in the Royal Lao Government's Ministry of Economic Planning and Cooperation from 1964 to 1975 and is an alumnus of the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney, having earned his PhD in 2007.
Viliam's book, "History of Aid to Laos: motivations and impacts" explores the situation of a country dependent on foreign aid for more than half a century and the ways in which donor nations have shaped Lao development and political relationships through the aid process.
After the launch, Viliam gave an interview to Sydney radio station 2SER. This interview can be downloaded as a free podcast (1.3Mb).
Anna Rose named Young Environmentalist of the Year
24/7/2009
Anna Rose (BA '05, LLB '08), alumnus of the School of Geosciences, has been awarded the Environment Minister's Young Environmentalist of the Year Award. Anna was nominated for her work with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC) and she shares the award with fellow AYCC coordinators Ellen Sandell and Amanda McKenzie.
The conferring of the 2009 Young Environmentalist of the Year Award recognises Anna's extensive contributions to the field of climate change action and her success in garnering support for the cause. Anna's work with the AYCC seeks to educate and enable younger generations, both in Australia and overseas, to tackle the challenges of climate change head-on and to be a proactive force in overcoming these challenges.
As an alumnus of the School, and specifically of the Asia-Pacific Field School ('05), it is pleasing to see Anna working with her peers in such a practical way to address the global issue of climate change.
The School of Geosciences congratulates Anna on her excellent achievement and wishes her all the best in her future endeavours.
Read more about Anna here
Professor Dietmar Müller awarded inaugural Australian Laureate Fellowship
22/6/09
15 inaugural Australian Laureate Fellowships were announced by the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, on Monday, June 22. Each is worth around $2.7 million. One of three University of Sydney Laureate Fellows is Professor Dietmar Müller from the School of Geosciences.
Based on the Fellowship Professor Müller will create a Virtual Geological Observatory, exploiting the connection between deep earth and surface processes over the past 600 million years.
The observatory will enable the application of leading edge technologies to see into the Earth in four dimensions.
"This project will allow the unravelling of the driving forces of shifting coastlines and the formation of deep-Earth resources," said Professor Müller. "Open-source simulation and data-mining tools will be integrated with the observatory to explore associations between hydrocarbon and mineral deposits, and time-dependent plate boundary kinematics and dynamics," he said.
AMRC welcomes new postgraduate students
1/4/09
The Australian Mekong Resource Centre (AMRC) welcomes three new PhD students to the Centre and to the School of Geosciences. These students are Kim Sean Somatra from Cambodia, Oulavanh Keovilignavong from Laos and Worawan Sukraroek from Thailand. All three students won prestigious AusAID Australian Leadership Awards (ALA) to study at the School of Geosciences. Wora’s research is looking at Multi-stakeholder dialogue for negotiating livelihoods in the Mekong region: Is it a dream?. Her supervisor is Professor Philip Hirsch and her associate supervisor is Dr Mel Neave. Somatra’s research is looking at private dams in Cambodia and issues of water governance. His supervisor is Professor Philip Hirsch and his associate supervisor is Dr Mel Neave. Oulavanh is studying the Private Sector and Poverty Reduction in Laos: Analysis of Private Decision and Intervention in Poverty and Natural Resources. His supervisor and associate supervisor respectively are Professor Philip Hirsch and Associate Professor Bill Pritchard.
Pair to resolve the great opal debate
The Australian 14/1/09
Love it or or loathe it, high-quality opal – hydrated silicon dioxide – is regarded as Australia's own semi-precious stone.
But there are significant gaps in knowledge about what is a valuable commodity, supporting an industry worth up to $1 billion annually and producing 95 per cent of the world's commercial supply.
The big debate is about how it is formed, according to University of Sydney geoscientists Patrice Rey and Adriana Dutkiewicz.
Dr Rey became aware of this about three years ago. "The Lightning Ridge Miners Association invited me to go and look at the mines to see whether the syntectonic model (of formation) was correct," Dr Rey said. "I went there thinking there was no way that model can work, but it turned out this was exactly what happened (at Lightning Ridge)."
The syntectonic model holds that opal forms rapidly within sub-tectonic extensional fractures filled with hydrothermal fluids from deep within the earth's crust, super-saturated with silica.
The key, said Dr Rey, was that the pressure applied be sufficient to fracture the reservoir containing the viscous fluid, but not enough to breach the reservoir so that the fluid is lost.
The rival, much older theory, called the deep weathering model, holds that precious opal has been formed about 20m to 40m underground, when feldspars and clays mixed with surface water to produce a silica-saturated fluid trapped in open fractures and cavities above impermeable clay. When the water evaporated, precious opal was formed.
As Dr Rey realised after visiting the central northern NSW town, neither theory had been investigated properly, a situation that could be remedied now he and Dr Dutkiewicz have a $250,000, three-year Australian Research Council grant.
The pair are planning trips to Lightning Ridge and other opal sites such as those in South Australia in the Coober Pedy area, but they will be dealing with low-grade opal.
Click here for the full article.
This bus stop brought to you by prohibitionists
Sydney Morning Herald 13/1/09, article by Dr Kurt Iveson
The refusal to display atheist advertisements on public transport in Australia by the advertising company APN Outdoor is not the first time a billboard has ignited controversy, but it does reveal a troubling change for outdoor media.
Outdoor advertising is used by all sorts for many purposes, from governments and companies, to political groups, charities, musicians and people finding housemates and lost cats. It is more anarchic than other media. Some objects are designed to carry messages, such as street signs and billboards. But walls, power poles, building site hoardings and bus stops are frequently used in unintended and unsanctioned ways.
Even sanctioned forms can be hacked by different messages. In the 1970s and '80s the activist graffiti group BUGAUP made "adjustments" to cigarette billboards, asserting their "write of reply" to the tobacco companies. "Anyhow, have a Winfield" became "Anyhow, have a Wank, it's healthier!"
Its relatively open nature made it attractive to a variety of groups and messages. But increasingly, ownership and regulation of outdoor media space is concentrated in a small group of multinational companies.
The increasing concentration of ownership endangers the diversity of outdoor media. We may not want a free-for-all, but with the companies increasingly controlling access, we ought to be vigilant in scrutinising their content policies, as we are with other media companies. Urban authorities might welcome the provision of "free" urban infrastructure, but this should not destroy a vibrant and alternative outdoor media landscape.
Click here for the full article.
"Elders must ease Rosemeadow tension, say police"
The Australian 9/1/09
POLICE have called on the community elders of the troubled housing estate in Sydney's Rosemeadow to "take ownership" of the area's problems, as more arrests were made yesterday overthe wild street brawl in the southwestern suburb on Monday night.
With riot police preparing to patrol the impoverished enclave for the fourth straight night, local area commander for Campbelltown, Superintendent Stuart Smith, compared the violence in Rosemeadow to previous NSW public housing estate riots at Dubbo and Macquarie Fields in terms of the intensity of the violence and the nature of the affray. "The community needs to take ownership now. We are not the aggressors in this," Superintendent Smith said.
Kurt Iveson, senior lecturer in urban geography at the University of Sydney, said episodes of unrest in areas of concentrated public housing, including the 2005 riots at Macquarie Fields, were often wrongly followed by calls to demolish the estate.
"We find ourselves in the bizarre situation in which public housing is being demolished at the same time that we are experiencing an acute housing affordability crisis," he said.
Dr Iveson said design alone did not account for the difficulties faced by residents in some public housing estates, and the problem lay more with the fact that only the poorest of the poor and the terminally unemployed qualified for public housing.
"Demand for public housing is so acute that even families whose household income comes entirely from social security are not guaranteed access to public housing."
For the full article in The Australian, click here
Ancient Earth was a barren waterworld
New Scientist article 30/12/08
Dry land may be something of a novelty. Until around 2.5 billion years ago our planet was almost completely covered by water, a model of the early Earth suggests.
Today, some 28 per cent of Earth's surface is above sea level. Exactly how the ratio of land to sea has varied through Earth's history is unclear, but it is generally agreed that the amount of continental crust has increased over time.
Now, calculations by Nicolas Flament of the University of Sydney, Australia, and colleagues suggest that Earth was a water-world until about 2.5 billion years ago, with land making up only 2 to 3 per cent of its surface (Earth and Planetary Science Letters, DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.08.029).
Click here for the full article.
Graffiti talkback
18/12/08
Some call it art, some call it vandalism but whatever it is, graffiti is everywhere.
While local councils spend millions of dollars removing graffiti, others think of it as public art.
So is graffiti art or eyesore and is it okay on the wall of a factory but not on your newly painted front fence?
Kurt Iveson, Senior Lecturer from the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney, recently participated in a discussion on the topic of grafitti, with ABC Radio National. You can download the audio podcast here.
Seafloor roughness in ocean systems
18/12/08
Dr Joanne Whittaker and Professor Dietmar Müller, from the School of Geosciences, and colleagues in France and USA, have found a previously unknown connection between the break-up of the ancient supercontinent Pangaea and the topography of the deep ocean floor. The research, published in the journal Nature on 18 December 2008, reveals for the first time how smooth flat expanses and rough hilly areas of ocean floor form. Ocean floors have remarkably contrasting topography: ship and satellite geophysical data reveal steep cliffs and valleys over vast areas, sometimes with elevations of over three kilometres, while other parts of the ocean floor are incredibly flat. "Seafloor roughness is really important in ocean systems as it influences the circulation and mixing of heat in the water," said Dr Joanne Whittaker, who completed the research as part of her PhD with Professor Dietmar Müller as her supervisor.
The image above shows a marine gravity field representation of oceanic basement topography in the North Atlantic. The view angle is towards the northeast, with North America, Greenland and Iceland on the northwestern periphery and North Africa, Iberia, France, the UK and Ireland on the northeastern periphery. Note the relatively smooth, Jurassic oceanic basement on the lower left, offshore of the east coast of North America, and the increase in basement roughness towards the mid-ocean ridge in the middle of the image.
Whittaker et al.'s research suggests that this increase in ocean floor roughness through time is related to the breakup of supercontinent Pangaea.
Related EarthByte AuScope data set downloads
Sea-level rise ignored amid other factors
15/12/08
Australians could be being lulled into a false sense of security about climate change.
Dr Peter Cowell from Sydney University's Institute of Marine Science says Australians are unable to distinguish the impact of sea level rises from other factors affecting our coastlines such as storm erosion and natural loss of sand from one area to another.
These factors are masking the impact of sea level rises and will likely do so for the next fifty years until the impact of sea level rises becomes more significant and more apparent.
"The emerging impact of sea level rises now is being hidden in the 'noise' of other factors affecting change to our coastlines," says Dr Cowell who presented the research on sea level rises to the recent Climate Change Monitoring Symposium at Sydney University.
Click here for the full article.
Murray-Darling excursion
07/10/08
During the non-teaching week starting 29 September 2008, ten postgraduate students and staff from the Australian Mekong Resource Centre (AMRC) in the School of Geosciences went on an excursion to the Murray-Darling basin to study policy and field issues in Australian water reform. Participants included six Cambodian students, one Thai student and two local students. Most of these students are working on theses in the School of Geosciences related to water resources management in the Mekong region, and/or are involved with the Water Resources Management Research Capacity Development Programme (WRMRCDP) based in Cambodia and run in conjunction with AMRC. The excursion was led by Professor Philip Hirsch. The purpose of the excursion was to provide an introduction to water management in Australia and an opportunity for students to compare and contrast water management in the Murray-Darling basin with that of the Mekong basin. Participants met with key staff from the National Water Commission, the Murray-Darling Basin Commission and Murrumbidgee Irrigation, and with farmers in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. The excursion took place over three days and included visits to both Canberra and Griffith (including farms and a local wetland site). Students learned about water management and water reform at the national, regional and local levels in Australia and are now planning to write a joint article on the excursion for publication in the Cambodia Development Review.