b'Education matters for a different environment: for shallowto see an array of them set out and thenbacking and mentoring. Networking will coal surveys, oil and gas explorationit was time for lunch. be essential in linking up like-minded and deeper imaging of the crust. Theindividuals to create good outcomes. We students were curious about where inAfter pizza and drinks, Steve Hearn gavecannot afford to let eager, bright-minded the world vibes had shot seismic. Simonsome closing thoughts, encouragingindividuals slip through the growing cracks.pointed out that these particular vibesinterested students to take advantage had worked in Australasia, Middle-East,of companies who are keen to supportThis has been the sixth trip organised North America and Africa. The studentsindustry-based projects. A happy snapby the local branch and after this years were keen to see the Univibs perform awas taken for Preview and the studentssuccess, more will be organised. A big few sweeps. got on the bus abuzz with conversationthank you to Steve, Shaun, Troy, Dale and about future options and careers. the rest of the Velseis staff for hosting the We had a look at the different types ofThis type of industry-driven activity will bestudents. Thanks to Ron Palmer, Candice cabled receivers, and students wereof increasing importance in Queensland.Bell and Hector Hilberto for giving up given the task of laying out and placingFollowing a recent school merger at UQ,their time to make this a great trip. Thanks some geophones into the ground, withgeoscience education has experiencedto Henk van Paridon for allowing me to most admitting being a Juggy would bea major adjustment, including thetake time off. Without industry support tough. The second station was a tour ofdiscontinuation of the longstanding andfor events like these we will not expose the nodal Dogbox with John McMonagle.respected exploration geophysics program.future leaders to our sector and both the There were a few pertinent questionsThis puts the onus on industry to engageresources industry and geophysics will miss on scripting, which was encouraging toand encourage quantitatively-inclinedout. Please look out for these students in see, and the logistical challenge of a 3Dstudents to experience geophysics viathe coming years; they are the eager ones. survey with 20 000 nodes with a rollingother mechanisms. There is potential patch was dawning on the students. Dalefor postgrad projects to be taken byNick Josephs then showed us the nodal units and thegeoscience students at UQ and QUT, butASEG Queensland Branch Secretary students passed them around. We wentthere will be increased need for industryqldsecretary@aseg.org.auResults of the 2021 Frank Arnott reviewed the submissions, and inThis all came to a head when in March Next Generation Explorers Award December 2020 selected six finalisthundreds of attendees viewed the finalist teams to present at the Prospectors andpresentations, interviews and live awards Innovation, excellence and collaborationDevelopers Association of Canada (PDAC)of the inaugural NGEA. Taking place was on display this past March during2021 convention. over two days, the finalists waited in the inaugural event of the Frank Arnott-anticipation to hear the results as along Next Generation Explorers AwardThe six finalists included the CSMwith the winning title up for grabs were (NGEA), an international competitionExploration Initiative from the Cambornecash prizes of C$5k for first-place, C$3k challenging university geoscienceSchool of Mines, Platypus Xplorer fromfor second and C$2k for third.students to transform data sets into theirUniLaSalle, Team Emerald from the interpretation of subsurface geology andIndustrial University of Santander, TeamIt was a nail-biting finish, but the judges mineralisation targets. UWA from the University of Westernreturned with their decision and the first-Australia, the Pinho Anomaly from theplace winner was the Inca team!Federal University of Paran, and the Inca Team from the National University of SanInca worked on the Yukon Plateau Marcos. (Canada) dataset and featured students from the Universidad Nacional Mayor As the convention was being heldde San Marcos in Peru, the University of online due to COVID-19, finalistsTasmania in Australia and Brigham Young prepared for the virtual format byUniversity in the USA.condensing their presentation to seven minutes while still sufficientlyOur team found the NGEA to be an explaining their model and filming itamazing and realistic exploration ahead of time in cooperation with theexperience as we were able to work Frank Arnott (1951-2009), an exceptionalPDAC and its virtual platform provider.with a complete geo-database and a exploration industry leader, in whose honourIn addition, finalists were given themultidisciplinary team with different the Frank Arnott - Next Generation Explorersopportunity to sit down with thelevels of expertise and backgrounds, Award (NGEA) was created. judges for a virtual interview wheresaid Sylvie Littledale, Inca Team. This they discussed other aspects of theirallowed us to generate viable and robust Over a year in the making and despitesubmission and their experience. exploration targets that considered ESG the difficulties of the global pandemic,(environmental, social, governance) 19 teams consisting of over 100Wanting to ensure as many students asfactors while striving for scientific students from Australia, Brazil, Canada,possible could attend the conventionexcellence for the next discovery on the Colombia, France, Germany, Indonesia,and watch the presentations, the NGEAYukon Plateau.Peru, Switzerland, the UK and the USAprovided all members of the finalist entered the 2021 NGEA Challenge. Anteams, as well as the other 13 contendingTaking part in this competition during international panel of independentteams, with a complimentary All-Accessthe Covid-19 pandemic, despite its judges from industry and academiaPass to the convention. challenges, allowed us to work closely 39 PREVIEW JUNE 2021'