Remembering Bob Carter A GSNZ Tribute

visually trace out bedding surfaces. He sat down on the grass and told us to "bugger
off for a bit while he thought about things". After about 30 minutes he got up and said
"Right….I believe you" and walked off back to the car. Later that night while we were
asleep, he wrote a first draft of a new paper. When he set his mind to it, Bob got
things done. Bob was an amazing geologist and an excellent teacher/mentor to his
students. He also ended up being a good friend to me. I miss him.
#16 – Evolution of JCU Marine Geophysics Laboratory
Mal Heron
37 Manersley Place, Townsville
Queensland, Australia 4814
mal.heron@ieee.org
When Bob Carter came to James Cook University (JCU) as Professor of Earth
Sciences, I was a Reader in the Department of Physics. Geology, Physics and
Mathematics shared a 3-storey building that was beginning to stretch at the seams
even though it was only seven years old. Mathematics were appropriately occupying
the top floor, but Bob found himself in confrontation with Professor Jim Ward
(Physics) about the lower two floors and the workshops. Geology was developing a
very successful postgraduate programme and had students sitting in broom
cupboards. Physics had a remarkably well fitted-out precision engineering workshop
to support undergrad laboratories and research. Eventually, with some
encouragement from above, Bob came up with the concept of combining the
Geology and Physics workshops into a shared space, and creating the Marine
Geophysics Laboratory (MGL) as a shared facility.
Initially the sediment laboratory with Bob at the helm dominated the MGL. Bob was
running ODP legs on the JOIDES Resolution from the MGL; John Hughes-Clarke
was doing deep-water side scan sonar with a GLORIA Towfish around the
continental shelf breaks; and Piers Larcombe and Peter Ridd were leading the
sedimentation programme on sediment dynamics on the coasts and in the estuaries.
The collaboration with Physics was sustained by Peter Ridd’s development of
nephelometer instrumentation and my development of High Frequency (HF) surface
radar for currents and waves. This was a golden era with many graduates and many
more research papers coming out of the MGL. There are a few times in one’s life (if
you are lucky) when your spirit is lifted to a high level. This is when your team wins
the grand final; or your daughter wins the national aria competition. The MGL
through the 80s and 90s had this euphoria. It was a good place to work and
individuals were having successes in all directions.
James Cook University was not able to take the MGL jewel and polish it as part of its
treasure chest for the future. During the 90s Bob was challenged by the science of
climate and he progressed on to a world stage. If JCU could not handle the
blossoming MGL, it certainly could not handle the brilliance of Bob Carter. This,
coupled with the coming and going meant that the MGL began to look more like a
normal university unit, and continues on as one of the most financially self-sufficient
units on the campus.
34 Issue 19A Supplement