April 2007

• First year for cadets
• Marita wins prestigious award at APPEA 2007
• Agreement reached on global digital geology map

First year for cadets

Five Canberra students have commenced under Geoscience Australia’s first round of cadetships, following a rigorous application process.

"Our Cadetship Program will provide these budding young geoscientists with practical, hands-on experience while they study towards their formal qualifications. The cadets will work during university breaks and between academic years. Combining academic and work life will offer them a superior edge not only with their peers but also with their career development," said CEO, Dr Neil Williams.

The pilot 2007 Cadetship Program was open to students in Canberra who performed well in science and maths for their Year 12 Certificate and were accepted into the four-year Bachelor of Global and Ocean Sciences degree at the Australian National University. This degree exposes students to a broad spectrum of earth and ocean science disciplines.

"Geoscience Australia recognises that intensive and diverse learning programs, coupled with professional work placements provide solid foundations for students in their chosen career fields. Our new cadets will now be able to contribute to current, cutting edge research projects, with the opportunity to apply their learning and advance their research skills in Australia's leading government geoscience research and information agency. The scheme is part of our response to address the challenges of skills supply in key science areas, and increase the appeal of signing up for a geoscience careeer,” said Dr Williams.

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Marita wins prestigious award at APPEA 2007

The Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) kicked off its annual conference today with recognition of one of the industry's long term contributors, Dr Marita Bradshaw from Geoscience Australia, by awarding her the prestigious Lewis G. Weeks Gold Medal.

The medal commemorates the work of Dr Lewis G Weeks, the legendary geologist who played a central role in discovering the Bass Strait oil province. The medal is awarded annually to someone who has "made an outstanding contribution to the art, science and practice of petroleum exploration which in turn has materially encouraged or stimulated the climate for exploring for and producing oil and gas in Australia."

Marita was nominated for her sustained, high-level contributions to the evaluation of Australia’s offshore petroleum potential. Throughout her career, she has worked tirelessly to understand the petroleum potential of Australia and to convey that understanding to petroleum exploration companies around the world.

"Her enthusiasm and commitment have helped promote Australia’s petroleum potential to a large national and international audience, and have especially helped in the search for new petroleum provinces in the offshore areas of the country", said Dr Neil Williams, Geoscience Australia's CEO.

"She has always had a passion for the under-explored and frontier provinces of Australia, maintaining a high level of optimism in the face of some difficult geology. She is also a great communicator, as well as a mentor and educator to less experienced geoscientists both within Geoscience Australia and the petroleum industry at large", he said.

With 25 years of government and petroleum experience, Dr Bradshaw is a worthy recipient of the Lewis G Weeks Gold Medal. For government, she has helped formulate strategies that have cemented Geoscience Australia as a world-class geoscience organisation. In 2002, she contributed to a review of Geoscience Australia’s petroleum program which resulted in $61 million government funding for acquisition of pre-competitive geoscience data.

For the petroleum industry, she has helped provide relevant, quality data and analysis in a timely manner, especially for the annual acreage releases. For all, she is a shining light of how industry and government can work together for a superior result, and for the benefit of Australia. Petroleum exploration investments in Australia have been positively impacted by Dr Bradshaw’s energy, enthusiasm, guidance and wisdom.

This is the first time a female nominee has won the award, and the second consecutive Lewis G. Weeks medal for Geoscience Australia, following 2005 award recipient Dr Trevor Powell. The medal was not awarded in 2006.

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Agreement reached on global digital geology map

Geoscience Australia is to join similar organisations from more than 40 countries to embark on one of the most ambitious geological mapping programs ever undertaken.

Representing Australia, Dr Lesley Wyborn from Geoscience Australia and Dr Simon Cox from CSIRO Exploration and Mining, joined representatives from 53 national and international organisations at a workshop in Brighton, UK, to investigate ways of creating dynamic digital geological map data for the world.

The project, titled OneGeology, will provide internet access to the most up-to-date, worldwide geological map data at a scale of 1:1 million as part of the 2008 International Year of the Planet Earth program.

"Each country will make its 1:1M geological map data available using web service technologies for distribution through the OneGeology portal using Google Earth and other dynamic map browsers," Dr Wyborn said.

"All agencies will make their data available via a new geological exchange language known as GeoSciML which will allow geological data to be dynamically shared and integrated across the planet," she said.

"OneGeology also will transfer valuable information on web services to the developing world, accelerating the process of bringing people in less developed countries into the digital age," Dr Wyborn said.

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