ASEG news - Issue 5, 30th Aug 2018

Dear Members,

In today's news you'll find information on:

AGCC 2018
Further information on membership directory
ASEG Photo competition
New job listings
Trialling of a graduate membership scheme
Vale Misac Nabighian
Australian success at the International Earth Science Olympiad
News from the states
Upcoming events (National and International)
The latest in Exploration Geophysics
What's new in Preview?
Member Spotlight: Dr Mark Lackie
Follow us on social media
Thanks to our corporate members

Don't forget to follow our social media accounts, for more regular updates on upcoming events and geoscience articles of interest.

AGCC 2018

Don't forget to check the Australian Geoscience Council Convention website and social media regularly for updates on the convention in Adelaide, October 14-18 2018. Recent updates include information about the Santos-sponsored Education workshop for teachers - please forward information of this to any science teacher you may know. The 3-minute rapid fire presentation competition sponsored by CSIRO and open to early career geoscientists - with a AU$5000 first prize, $2000 second prize and $1000 third prize. The competition is open even to those who are not presenting a paper (EOI for this closes on 30 August). Full details and flyer here.

In addition, all field trips and workshops have now been costed and are now also open to non delegates. There will be a creche available throughout the convention (sponsored by NExUS).

The organising committee are now seeking volunteers and they are happy to have anyone from students to retired geoscientists, click here to volunteer.

Further information on Membership Directory

Thank you the members who provided feedback on the Membership directory. As far back as 2015 discussions about how to manage the Membership book were being had, it was decided to move to a more modern format which considered preparation time and the changing rules around personal data in a publications meeting in 2016 in Brisbane and again in Sydney 2018.

We want to assure all our members that there are plans to retain historical information that was published in the membership directory but deliver it in an end of year report.

The end of year report will be available on the ASEG website at https://www.aseg.org.au/aseg-membership-snapshot. The membership book and its contents have been valued by ASEG members and looking forward we hope the new format provides the same value. We want to thank everyone involved in the preparation of the membership directory, in particular, Koya Suto.

Our apologies for not communicating this change to you earlier.

ASEG Photo competition

Are you tired of the stock images served as you stay up to date with the ASEG's latest? Have you been anywhere spectacular in your fieldwork? Have you produced a particularly colourful, insightful plot during data analysis? The ASEG is once again seeking photographs taken during fieldwork and images of data to use on their website, newsletter and other promotional materials. Each ASEG member can vote once with more details to follow once voting opens. Entrants are required to be current members of the ASEG, and entries must be suitable for public display and will be uploaded to the ASEG website. If you qualify, and have a suitable image, please send it to webmaster@aseg.org.au together with a small caption describing the submission by midnight AEST, September 30th 2018. 1st prize is a $100 gift card and 2nd and 3rd prize are $50 gift cards.

Photo credit: Doug Morrison, submission from 2016 ASEG Photo competition. Drilling for water at the Hall's Creek WA pub, 1982.

New job listings

Did you know that we have a section within the members-only section of the ASEG website for job listings? https://www.aseg.org.au/employment/job-listing Check in regularly if you are seeking new opportunities, we have three positions currently listed.

Trialling of a graduate membership scheme

To serve the ASEG and to support young professionals as they transition from study to employment, the ASEG is trialling a Graduate Membership Sheme. Under this scheme, membership is subsidised by 50% and is available for no more than two years. Members accepting Graduate Membership Grants would be required to write an article for the newsletter and Preview with the goal of raising both their profile and the ASEG's support of young professionals. Click here to apply for a Graduate Membership Grant.

Vale Misac Nabighian

Theoretical and applied geophysicists and those involved in electromagnetics in particular, will be saddened to learn that Misac Nabighian passed away on August 8.

In 1997, upon retirement from Newmont where he had worked for 31 years, he was invited to join the faculty at Colorado School of Mines (CSM) as a Distinguished Senior Scientist within the Center for Gravity, Electrical, and Magnetic (CGEM) studies.

In 1984, he was the editor of a special issue of Geophysics devoted to time-domain electromagnetics and in 1990, he was both editor and contributor to the two SEG volumes, Electromagnetic Methods in Applied Geophysics, which are still two of the best-selling books published by SEG.

One of many summaries of his career is:

https://wiki.seg.org/wiki/Misac_Nabighian

Misac was truly one of the geophysical legends of the 20th century.

Australian success at the International Earth Science Olympiad

Rebecca Whittle, a Year 11 student from Abbotsleigh high school in Sydney, has won a gold medal at the International Earth Science Olympiad in Thailand, securing Australia's best gold medal performance at the UNESCO-sanctioned International Science Olympiads since 2009.

Rebecca competed against more than 140 students from 38 countries to win gold, finishing in the top 10 per cent of Earth Science students in the world.

Rebecca was part of a four-member team representing Australia at the International Earth Science Olympiad. The three other students won silver medals, putting them in the top 20 per cent of students. Learn more about the Australian Science Olympiad Competition at: www.asi.edu.au. The Australian Geoscience Council (of which ASEG is a member of) is proud to support the Olympiad.

SCINEMA: International Science Film Festival 2018: A National Science Week Event

In early August the SA/NT ASEG branch hosted a movie night for National Science Week. The screening was of a compilation of documentaries on the theme of 'numbers and data' and included some short documentaries and a film on the promising future prospects of the blockchain, the technology that enables BitCoin, amongst other digital currencies. A particularly captivating episode of Catalyst was screened, on the topic of making decisions, and provided a particularly insightful view of how complex science or mathematics can be communicated in a way that everyone understands- a valuable lesson for us all as if no one can understand your science then what's the point?

This event was marketed to not only ASEG members but also members of the general public. By advertising widely the small cinema was almost full (~30 attendees) and we received great feedback from everyone, including the non-scientists.The event was a great success, and we hope to be able to continue this event in the future.
Kate Robertson
ASEG SA/NT Branch President

Branch upcoming events

For a more complete calendar of events see Preview

Please note that as of January 2018, Exploration Geophysics is only available online. Volume 49 Number 4 2018 issue was released in August and can be found online here and has 15 articles to browse or study in-depth. Amongst these are;

Predicting lightning sourced electromagnetic fields by Lachlan Hennessy and James Macnae, who used the lightning network data to predict sferic arrival times, vertical electric field amplitudes and arrival azimuths at an audio-frequency magnetotelluric sounding near Heathcote, Victoria.

And;

Topographic correction of magnetic data on rugged topography with application to Río Blanco-Los Bronces and El Teniente porphyry copper districts, Southern Andes, Chile by Gonzalo Yanez et al., who present a semi-quantitative, 3D-modelling based methodology that has been developed to remove topographic effects on magnetic data.

The new issue of Preview (195) can be found online at https://www.publish.csiro.au/pv.

Proposed contributions for upcoming issues can be submitted by email to the editor at previeweditor@aseg.org.au.

This month we get to know Dr Mark Lackie, the Editor of the ASEG publication, Exploration Geophysics and ASEG NSW Branch President If you would like to nominate someone for the Member Spotlight, please contact communications@aseg.org.au

1. For how long have you been a geophysicist?

Many decades.

2. What do you like most about being a geophysicist.

Solving problems.

3. If you weren't a geophysicist what would you be?

Chef or Professional shooter.

4. What is your best interview tip?

Avoid them.

5. What's one thing that we wouldn't know about you?

I love cooking.

6. Tell us about your best field meal?

Any meal consumed with red wine.

7. Where was your best sunrise location?

Kakadu.

8. What are you reading at the moment?

AFL's injured list.

9. What made you decide to be a geophysicist?

It merges maths and geology and is very interesting.

10. What's one thing you wish someone had told you when you were at university?

Where the best coffee is made...you waste valuable time finding the place.

11. What's your most treasured textbook?

Applied Geophysics by Telford et al.

12. Your funniest or worst field memory?

Having the class blow up a TerraTEM...I still sob.

13. Who is your geophysical idol?

Phil Schmidt...mentor at CSIRO and could always do "it" whatever "it" was.