The case for a greenfields renaissance Feature - Geological Society ...

Local solutions in Western Australia
It is anticipated that tertiary geoscience in Western Australia
will experience considerable benefits, over time, from the initiatives
of Earth Science Western Australia (ESWA) in secondary
schools described in Part 1 (TAG 149, p31). However, there
are two other examples which are currently addressing the
decline, particularly at UWA. First is the work of the UWA
Geoscience Foundation, initiated in 2002 by UWA geology
alumni in response to the declining status and morale of geoscience
at UWA. It was launched in 2004 with the aim of raising
$1.5 million to strengthen Earth Science commensurate
with the State’s strategic needs by:
— increasing the number and quality of UWA graduates with
strong generic skills;
— strengthening research and postgraduate education
capabilities in petroleum, hydrogeology and climate change,
whilst maintaining traditional strengths in minerals; and
— strengthening the academic/industry interface.
With the assistance of favourable external circumstances, the
Foundation has initiated, or facilitated, new commitments to
geoscience at UWA totalling almost $4 million. The Foundation
has catalysed a strengthening of morale, staff numbers, profile,
and institutional support for geoscience at UWA. In addition,
the high level Board of alumni provides strategic advice to the
School of Earth and Environment and facilitates links with
industry and other stakeholders.
The second example is establishment of the Centre for
Exploration Targeting (CET). This UWA-based applied research
centre brings together UWA, Curtin and the minerals industry.
It was initiated in 2003 with strong industry input and following
State Government funding of $2.1 million from the Centres
of Excellence scheme, plus commitments from industry, UWA
and Curtin, CET opened in 2005. The Centre has benefited from
the excellent legacy of applied research, strong postgraduate
cohort, and industry support that characterised the antecedent
centres led by David Groves from 1987–2003. However, new
leadership and senior staff, a new business model, high standards
of governance, and a majority of industry representatives
on the Board, have been key factors in its outstanding performance
to date. Like its antecedents, CET strengthens the viability
of its host school.
These two examples have obviously benefited from the
strength of minerals and energy in Western Australia, but that
should not obscure the key message: informed external input
can be a very positive factor in improving the health of individual
tertiary geoscience groups. Whilst more Commonwealth
funding is required for most of our tertiary geoscience groups
to be viable, and must be pursued with vigour, its arrival date
is very uncertain. In the meantime, at the scale of individual
institutions, experience in Western Australia indicates that
commitments from alumni, industry and professional organisations,
together with constructive and supportive external influences
on senior university management, is likely to achieve
considerable leverage. In my experience, the external voice is
always heard more clearly.
Entering the era of Earth Science
The desire to differentiate appears to be a hard-wired characteristic
and in geoscience we make a plethora of distinctions
and spread ourselves across six professional organisations in
Australia. These distinctions probably have little meaning for
the general public, which experiences many benefits from
advances in geoscience, and has a strong interest in natural
history documentaries and nature tourism, but little appreciation
of its often unacknowledged contributions. This point is
reinforced by the low level of awareness of geoscience amongst
university entrants.
Part 1 referred to the central role of Earth Science in
several key national issues. If we are to fully capture the potential
benefits that can flow from these issues, we need to adopt
new badges, such as ‘Earth Science’ and ‘Earth Scientists’, and
more consciously educate the public through consistent
branding. As Earth Scientists we may achieve more intuitive
recognition for the profession, stimulate more awareness of its
strategic importance to Australia, and more effectively market
Earth Science as a career.
Another reason to consider such a change is our secondary
schools. Since Part 1 was published, data have been obtained
for teaching of Earth Science-related subjects in years 11 and
12 and are summarised below:
TABLE 1: Student numbers for Earth Science-related courses in
Years 11 and 12, 2007.
WA* SA NT Vic Tas NSW Qld
(EES) (Geol) (Geol) (Env) (Env) (EES) (Earth Sci)
Total students 785 160 36 334 258 2958 461
Students/
1000 people 0.37 0.10 0.16 0.06 0.52 0.42 0.11
*2008
There is potential to raise awareness in secondary schools and
to promote Earth Science, but the big problem is the low per
capita uptake. In Western Australia, the ratio is expected to
exceed 0.7 in 2009 and ESWA’s aim for a minimum of 1.0
provides us with an initial target.
Comparison of table 1 with figures 1 and 2 may explain the
relatively low EFTSL scores for Queensland and the generally
lower scores for Victorian groups, compared with NSW groups
in figure 1, and also the high ranking of Tasmania in figure 2.
At the very least, the data indicate that stronger support for
Earth Science in secondary schools is essential if Australia is to
have the broader Earth Science expertise we increasingly
require. Current development of a new national curriculum provides
a unique opportunity and all geoscience professional
organisations must ensure that EES becomes one of the four
core senior science subjects.
To reinforce awareness of Earth Science we need consistent
branding, from secondary to tertiary education and in external
communications from our professional organisations. Impacts
will be amplified by closer coordination and integration of the
six professional geoscience organisations at both State and
national levels. Combined membership of almost 10,000,
TAG March 2009 | 27