Who in the school has been charmed?

Director's Message

Dear Colleagues,

I have just enjoyed a full weekend Blue Planet field trip to Wee Jasper with 150 highly engaged 1st year students. I was particularly impressed by the energy and commitment of our HDR demonstrators under the enthusiastic leadership of Kate Holland, who delivered a truly excellent learning experience for the students. It left me feeling proud of what our School can achieve.  

Thank you to all staff and students who contributed to the retreat at Mt Stromlo last week.  Those who attended will realise there is much to do in developing a valuable School strategic plan.  I hope to tap into ideas from across the School over the coming weeks and months in order to define our goals and develop effective strategies to achieve them.  

Best wishes for the week ahead

Steve

Sabrina Seafloor Survey core opening party No 2.

Last week ANU researchers (Leanne Armand, Brad Opdyke, Phil O’Brien), students (Liam Holder and Kelly-Anne Lawler) and Geoscience Australia staff (Alix Post and tech staff) opened and sampled the remaining three cores (= 40m sediment) at Geoscience Australia. These last three cores represent half of the six recovered from the slope of the Sabrina Coast, East Antarctica, where the sediments of the Totten Glacier considered to have accumulated. The 2017 expedition on the MNF RV Investigator, is supported by the Australian Antarctic Division’s Australian Antarctic Science grant (#4333) and an ARC Discovery Project (DP170100557) both led by A/Prof. Leanne Armand. The photo captures the main team opening the cores (L-R: Alix, Leanne, Brad, Phil) whilst two other images show the contents of two cores: PCO6 and the presumed MIS 6-7 boundary; and the PC08 condensed MIS 5 record. XRF scans of the archive halves are next in line for the newly opened cores before additional sampling by the Sabrina research community of researchers continues. If you are heading to POLAR2018 in Davos, a side-meeting open session for the general community interested or working along the Sabrina Coast will be held the morning of the 15th June – see the Polar2018 website for details (https://www.polar2018.org/side-meetings--exhibition.html).

New Postdoc openings at EPFL

Studies of diagenetic processes in marine biogenic calcite

Funded by an ERC Advanced Grant, the Laboratory for Biological Geochemistry will, during the summer of 2018, open several research positions at the Postdoc (or PhD-student) level with a focus on diagenetic processes in calcite structures formed by organisms such as foraminifera, brachiopods, and mollusks – the compositions of which are frequently used for paleo-environmental reconstruction.

The planned work will be multidisciplinary and make use of experimental techniques such as TEM, SEM, AFM, and NanoSIMS imaging (in combination with stable isotopic labeling and autoclave experiments), as well as high precision stable isotope (incl. clumped isotopes) and trace element measurements.

Interested candidates are invited to submit a letter of motivation, CV and publication list, and contact information of three professional references to anders.meibom@epfl.ch.

Postdoc position in Oceanography at the British Antarctic Survey

Information can be found here: https://www.bas.ac.uk/jobs/vacancy/oceanographer-cambridge-and-antarctica/

Attention of 3rd year and Honours students who might be looking for a PhD scholarship? This event will have representatives from many different scholarship schemes giving information and advice to students. 

 http://www.anu.edu.au/events/super-scholarship-information-session-0

 Super Scholarship Information Session, Thursday 3 May 2018, 5.15–7.15pm

Find out all you need to know about applying for Australia's most sought-after postgraduate and research scholarships. Talk to scholarship alumni and representatives from the following scholarship programs:

• Rhodes Scholarships Australia
• John Monash Scholarships
• Fulbright Scholarships
• Westpac Future Leaders
• RG Menzies Scholarship to Harvard
• Schwarzman Scholarships

Charlie - Winter is here and Charlie is feeling the cold

RSES is almost there with donations to keep Charlie.  Help push the gage up with your donations.

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

ANU

This week there will be a strong focus on mental health at ANU. Kicking off with University Mental Health Day on Tuesday 1 May (see event details here) and ending with the annual ANU Mental Health Symposium on Friday 4 May from 11am-1pm.  The event on Tuesday will include multiple activities across campus including a free BBQ lunch and activities on Chifley Meadows. This will be open to staff and students so feel free to come along and take some time to think about your mental health.

On Friday the symposium will be based around the question of 'How much impact can academics have on student mental health?  As well as hearing from a leading researcher in this area Dr Chi Baik from the University of Melbourne there will be opportunity to ask questions of a panel of representatives from across the university including our new Provost Professor Mike Calford. Register for the event (and a free lunch) here.

Geoscience Australia Graduate Program - 2019 Applications now open

The Geoscience Australia Graduate Program offers an outstanding opportunity for you to start your STEM career for the benefit of the nation, pursue new challenges, and work in a diverse scientific environment.

As a Geoscience Australia graduate, you will participate in a 12 month program to develop your existing skills across a range of work areas and disciplines. You will have the support of experienced senior mentors, apply your skills to current scientific projects, and participate in a variety of learning and development activities to broaden your professional skills and contribute to your personal development.

Refer to : http://www.ga.gov.au/about/careers/graduate-program

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