GEMOC ARC National Key Centre

Director's preface

This Report serves two purposes: it is the official report to DEETYA (Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs) for GEMOC's 1996 achievements and it is also the source, for 1997, of general information about GEMOC.

1996 was the foundation year for GEMOC. The Key Centre has served as a focus for new and enhanced activities. Perhaps the most noticeable difference is the increased collaboration between participants within the Centre, targeting components of large-scale "umbrella" projects that encapsulate the goals of GEMOC: to better understand the way the Earth works by understanding lithospheric processes; to apply this knowledge to area selection and evaluation for the exploration and mining industry; and to incorporate this knowledge and frontline technology into teaching and training programs. New national and international collaborations have also been set up.

This was a year of difficulty for universities in Australia, stemming from government funding cuts and policy changes, but GEMOC has been generously supported by Macquarie and the ANU with resources, staffing commitments and in spirit. At Macquarie we have enjoyed our very pleasant and efficient refurbished offices and laboratories and we are looking forward to the second stage of refurbishing later in 1997 and into 1998, along with the scheduled renovations at the ANU.

Increased, synergistic interaction with industry has resulted in exciting new science, interactive PhD programs, shared equity in technology development, and new practical applications of petrological and geochemical results to exploration and to interpreting geophysical data. New research and teaching and plans formulated at the start of GEMOC have been initiated during 1996. New research and teaching staff have been appointed to promote industry interaction and technology development, to implement GEMOC's plan to use GIS-based teaching methodologies, and to interface across the boundary of Geology and Geophysics in teaching and research. 1996 was a very dynamic year and we look forward to progressing further with GEMOC's goals through 1997 and beyond.

Suzanne Y. O'Reilly