A Curtin University adjunct professor has been awarded an Australian Laureate Fellowship for his work into meteorites and how they can reveal the origin of the solar system.
Associate Professor Philip Bland is currently based at Imperial College London, UK and is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Applied Geology at Curtin University’s Western Australian School of Mines.
The 2011 Australian Laureate Fellowships was announced and presented at the ARC Awards Ceremony in Melbourne this morning at 10:00 am (EST).
Associate Professor Bland’s work involves the analysis of primitive meteorites and the impact of asteroid and comets on the Earth’s surface.
“From applying geological concepts to the study of meteorites we are hoping to understand how our solar system came into being,” Associate Professor Bland said.
Professor Graeme Wright, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research and Development at Curtin University will be attending the Awards Ceremony in Melbourne on Professor Bland’s behalf.
“We are delighted that Associate Professor Bland has received this recognition for his fundamental research in planetary science and the origins of our solar system,” Professor Wright said.
Obtaining his PhD in 1995 in the field of Planetary Science from the Open University in the United Kingdom, Associate Professor Bland has since held an eight-year Royal Society University Research Fellowship, which he transferred to Imperial College London in 2002.
He sits on several panels of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council and has published his research findings in journals such as Science, Nature, Nature Geoscience, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Associate Professor Bland has also had asteroid ‘1981 EW21’ named ‘(6580) Philbland’ after him in honour of his various contributions to planetary science.
Associate Professor Bland has been the recipient of several awards and fellowships including; Royal Society Overseas Research Fellowship, hosted by the Western Australian Museum, Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, hosted by Natural History Museum (London), Antarctic Service medal of the US Navy, and the Royal Society University Research Fellowship.
Contacts:
Andrea Barnard, Public Relations, Curtin University
Tel: 08 9266 4241 Mobile 0401 103 755; Email: andrea.barnard@curtin.edu.au
Professor Phil Bland, Curtin University
Adjunct Professor, Dept of Applied Geology, West Australian School of Mines
Tel: +44 7980 221 556 (mobile) or +44 207 594 6431; Email: p.a.bland@imperial.ac.uk
Web: http://curtin.edu.au
