Curtin University has appointed distinguished geoscientist Professor Andrew Putnis as the new Director of The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR).
Professor Putnis was previously Professor of Mineralogy at the University of Münster, Germany, and Lecturer in Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge where he earned his PhD.
Professor Putnis said TIGeR represents and highlights the wide spectrum of geoscience research over various university departments at Curtin.
“TIGeR’s role is to promote research excellence and enhance the national and international profile of Curtin Geosciences,” Professor Putnis said.
“I am thrilled to be leading this institute in its multi-scale, multi-disciplinary approach integrating the latest technology with collection of data from across the world.
“This allows for synthesis of geological and geodetic information on a truly global scale.”
Professor Putnis’ current research concerns the mechanisms of fluid-mineral interaction and its relationship to the strength and deformation of crustal rocks. The direct applications of this fundamental research are wide-ranging, including understanding element mobility and ore deposition in the Earth’s crust, strategies to clean-up environmental waste, understanding the durability of nuclear waste glass, and the prevention of mineral scaling in industrial processes.
The first of an annual series of international TIGeR conferences will be held at Curtin in September with the theme Key issues in fluid-rock interaction: from the nano to the macroscale.
Professor Andris Stelbovics, Pro Vice-Chancellor Science and Engineering said the appointment strengthens TIGeR’s position as one of Curtin’s high-impact centres.
“The team at TIGeR includes many of Curtin’s top researchers with proven track-records of publishing in high-impact international journals, obtaining competitive Australian and international grants and producing graduate students of the highest quality,” Professor Stelbovics said.
TIGeR studies the Earth’s dynamic evolution, using geotectonic, geodetic, geochronologic and geochemical records.
The Institute is focused on the origin, evolution and current configuration of planet Earth as well as the evolution of our Solar system. It brings together key Curtin University members of the Departments of Applied Geology and Exploration Geophysics; the John de Laeter Centre for Mass Spectrometry (JdLCMS); the Western Australian Centre for Geodesy (WACG) and the WA – Organic & Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC) with the common goal of advancing new and innovative geoscience research through exciting collaborative initiatives.
