GEMOC ARC National Key Centre

Director's Preface

This report is required as part of GEMOC s formal annual accounting to the Australian Research Council.  It addresses our activities for 2002 over a broad range of areas including research, strategic applications and industry interaction, international links and teaching (at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels).  We hope that you will seek out the sections of this report that interest you and we invite your feedback.

2002 was the first year in which GEMOC became self-supporting, independently of Commonwealth Key Centre funding, as the 1995 round of Key Centres was limited to six years of funding with no extensions possible.

GEMOC s continuation has been assured for at least the next five years through a funding base that, like a good investment portfolio, extends across diverse sources.  These range from the traditional Australian Research Council schemes to industry collaborative projects, delivery of novel exploration methodologies and value-added products to industry, strategic partnerships with technology manufacturers and international links and alliances that provide reciprocal resources.  The $5 million DEST Systemic Infrastructure grant (2002-2004) is allowing GEMOC to maintain its technological edge and develop new analytical applications in geochemistry.

As our understanding of the deep lithosphere strengthens, our attention has turned increasingly to the Earth s crust, especially with the development of the TerraneChron‘ methodology that allows us to track regional crustal evolution and crust-mantle interaction (see Research Highlights).  Much of the first stage of our lithospheric mantle studies has come to fruition and has been published over the last 2 years or is in press.  Our ongoing Research Program builds on this intellectual capital from GEMOC s first six years and is pushing exciting new conceptual and technological frontiers.

Technology development continues to be vital to, and driven by, our research directions.  We are doubling our instrumentation, focused on high precision in situ analysis of trace elements and isotopic ratios.  Refurbishment of the second floor of building E5A (above our current geochemical and instrumentation laboratories) by Macquarie University will double the available space and provide new state-of-the-art ultra-clean laboratories.

One of the energising elements of a large research group is a critical mass of lively, interactive postgraduate students.  We have graduated ten PhD students since GEMOC started and currently have another ten on the way c drawn from five different countries.  Their presentations at international conferences and publication track records provide evidence of the exciting, internationally competitive research they are producing.

GEMOC continues to be strongly supported by the Vice-Chancellor and the Executive at Macquarie and this provides a most positive operating environment.

2003 promises to be very exciting as we welcome five new members from overseas: Simon Turner as a Federation Fellow, Nathan Daczko as a new academic staff member, and John Ketchum, Rhiannon George and Kirsty Tomlinson as Research Fellows in Geochemistry.

We look forward to pushing back more frontiers in understanding how the Earth works!

Suzanne Y. O'Reilly