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Research School of Earth Sciences

 

Weekly newsletter | no 25 | 12–16 February 2018

 

Director's Message

Colleagues,

This week and next are big one’s for the university and School with many important events on the calendar.

Today is International Day of Women and Girls in Science. The School’s Experience Portfolio has organised a School morning tea for 10:30am in the Jaeger Seminar Room. Please join in and bring some ideas to share with colleagues about how we can promote and get the benefits of equity of access and participation in STEM.

This afternoon will see the 2018 Commencement Address by the VC, Brian Schmidt, held on the lawns of University Avenue west side of Sullivans Crrek Bridge. It will be followed by a drinks reception. More information and the opportunity to still sign up through Eventbrite can be found at https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/2018-commencement-address-tickets-41373325731

Next Monday, the VC will be visiting RSES between 1 and 2:30pm to talk to all staff and students. The VC will be begin by addressing the School, followed by a 45minute Q&A session where you can put your questions to the VC, and finishing up with an afternoon tea.

I encourage as many of you as possible to turn up to any or all of the above

Steve

 

School Morning Tea - Today

Members of the School are invited to a special morning tea on Monday February 12 (TODAY) to mark the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. This is a UN special day. Please join us in the J1 Seminar Room at 10:30am to celebrate the scientific achievements of our female researchers and professional staff.

 

 

Congratulations:

We congratulate Prof. Vickie Bennett on her election to current Vice President (2018-2019) and future President (2020-2022) of the Geochemical Society (https://www.geochemsoc.org/).  The GS is an international community of ~4000 geochemists.  The activities of the Society include the Goldschmidt Conference, sponsorship of the journal Geochemica et Cosmochimica Acta and Elements magazine, awards, and a range of international outreach and student/ ECR support initiatives.  

 

Mount Brown ice core drilling project:

The Mount Brown South ice core drilling project in East Antarctica has been successfully completed. The team recovered a 294.6m deep ice core which is expected to provide a 1000-year long, annually-resolved climate history for the southern Indian Ocean sector of Antarctica. The team also drilled a further 65m of shallow cores to test replication of the climate signal in the ice over the period of time covered by satellite climate observations, and collected ApRes, GPS and borehole temperature data to characterise ice dynamics at the site. Australian Antarctic Division aircraft (twin otter and basler planes and squirrel helicopters) and operations teams working out of Davis and Casey stations provided logistical support for the project.

Nerilie Abram

 

Charlie - has style

Charlie was feeling the cooler temps of Canberra so the students helped him adjust.

Donations to keep Charlie can be made via this link http://www.anu.edu.au/giving/support-us/charlie-the-crocodile

Watch the donation gage rise.

 

Fieldwork in the Galapagos

Ian Williams and Xiaoyu Su went to the Galapagos for fieldwork in January to collect samples that might contain exotic zircons older than the islands. These are tropical volcanic islands where Pahoehoe and Aa lava make up the unique costal landscape. We spent most of the time on the island of Floreana and sampled along the drainage system from the sea coast to the top of the volcanoes to find out the source of these zircons. Vegetation also changed along the way from savanna to subtropical forest. A local guide from the National Park helped us to open a trail in those environments with a machete and every one of us needed to be cautious to avoid spikes from trees and undergrowth. These islands are also a paradise for animals which outnumber people living there. Thus, it gave me a chance to pan our samples with sea lions swimming around me.

Xiaoyu Su

 

Computer Resources for Researchers.

Seminar: I am a Researcher at RSES: what data and compute resources can I access?

Wednesday 21 February, 12.45pm - 3.30pm, J1 Seminar Room

Knowing how and where to access the most appropriate data and compute resources is becoming fundamental to research. This seminar at the Research School of Earth Sciences is designed to give researchers and graduate students information on what data and compute resources they can access (within RSES, the ANU, and elsewhere) and show how they can best make use of them. Come along to find out what resources are available to help you store, process, manage and publish your research data. A full program will be available shortly, contact Julia Martin or Paul Davidson with any enquiries.

 

 

 

 

This Week's Seminars:

Student Seminar:

Jaeger 1 Seminar Room

Tuesday th February

4-5.00pm

Topic:

Speaker: 

School Seminar:

Jaeger 1 Seminar Room

Thursday 15th February

1.00pm - 2.00pm

Topic: Rediscovering dolomite

Speaker: Bradley Opdyke (RSES)

 

Petrology and Geochemistry Seminar.

Ringwood Room J4

Friday 16th February

12.30 - 1.30pm

Topic: Sulfide saturation in the Bonin Islands

Speaker: Matthew Valetich

 

 

 

 

 

Follow us on Twitter:

ANU EarthSciences  🌏 @anuearthscience

 

Publications:

Meghan S. Miller, Leland J. O’Driscoll, Robert W. Porritt, Sarah M. Roeske;

Multiscale crustal architecture of Alaska inferred from P receiver functions

 

Congratulations to Rhys Hawkins on recieving his confirmation of acceptance of his Phd.

 

JOIDES Resolution, Expedition 383

Applications are invited to sail aboard the JOIDES Resolution on Expedition 383: Dynamics of Pacific Antarctic Circumpolar Current (DYNAPACC), May-July 2019.
For more information visit: >> here

 

New Colombo Plan

Active Tectonics and Society: Indonesia

A course has been developed collaboratively between the Australian National University and Bandung Institute of Technology for ANU students to learn how Indonesian society is affected by active tectonics.

RSES has attracted funding from the New Colombo Plan which will allow up to 15 students to travel to Bandung, Indonesia, for a two- week course during the teaching break in April 2018.

Interested students please email: student.admin.rses@anu.edu.au (Students must be Australian ci$zens who have not received NCP funding previously.)

 

International Womens Day Breakfast

Dear Women in Earth Sciences,

 I invite you to all come along to the February Women in Earth Sciences pre-work coffee/breakfast hour on Thursday the 22nd February 8-9am at the University House Café.

This breakfast is to celebrate International Women’s Day, but if you are interested in catching up, meeting other women in the School and talking about issues that affect us (both good, improving and those we need to change) please come along. As I am now on the Experience committee I’m happy to be a conduit to the School’s actions and activities that can make this a better place for us to work.

 All women (professional/academic/support) in the school are invite.

So get the date into your diaries and organise kid drop-offs so you can attend. Kids are welcome otherwise. Bring your own cup to help with sustainability.

Kind regards,

Leanne (Penny and Meghan)

 

ANU Green

In collaboration with four cafe's on Acton campus, ANU Green have introduced new KEEP CUPS  >>read more

 

Respectful Relationships at ANU

 

 


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