Vale Richard Lane

Vale Richard Lane

It is with both regret and sadness that we advise members of the passing of Richard Lane.

Richard Lane

Richard joined Geoscience Australia nearly 20 years ago, in 2001, after a career in mineral exploration and academia and, due to his professional contribution, is now widely recognised throughout the global geophysical community for his keen intellect and insight into geophysical methods in minerals, energy groundwater and hazards.

His role at Geoscience Australia allowed him to share his knowledge widely to improve the science of understanding the potential of Australia’s resources wealth. 

Richard joined Geoscience Australia nearly 20 years ago, in 2001, after a career in mineral exploration and academia and, due to his professional contribution, is now widely recognised throughout the global geophysical community for his keen intellect and insight into geophysical methods in minerals, energy groundwater and hazards. His role at Geoscience Australia allowed him to share his knowledge widely to improve the science of understanding the potential of Australia’s resources wealth. 

His expertise and contributions were wide ranging, including innovations in the airborne electromagnetic technique, 3D inversion and modelling of magnetics and gravity, as well airborne gravity and gravity gradiometry. These fields are now areas of technical strength in Geoscience Australia, with much of this capability due to Richard’s endeavours.

Richard was instrumental in the development of the Geomodeller 3D geological modelling package and in establishing a national rock properties database to inform regional modelling studies. He has organised numerous pertinent and timely geoscientific seminars as well as mentoring many younger scientists and graduates in the application of numerical methods for geoscientific problems.

Richard authored or co-authored numerous scientific publications, and was the recipient of many awards, the most prestigious being the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists Gold Medal in 2017 for “exceptional and highly significant distinguished contributions to the science and practice of geophysics by a member, resulting in wide recognition within the geoscientific community“.

Richard made significant contributions to a number of high profile Cooperative Research Centres. Late last year Richard played a leading role in the development of the 6th edition of the National Gravity Grids, incorporating, for the first time, ground, airborne and satellite data. This represented the culmination of one of Richard’s long held visions for integrating gravity data.Richard was a patient, deep thinking, outstanding scientist. He effortlessly juggled multiple domain specialties and was humble about his own achievements. Richard was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. He would share his insights, knowledge and wisdom openly through mentoring and workshops. Richard will be deeply missed by us all.

Peace and comfort be with you, Richard.

Dr James Johnson
Geoscience Australia


New logos for use by AIG members

New logos, released today, enable AIG members to display their commitment to professional geoscience through Institute membership.

AIG regularly receives requests from members to use their Institute logo on personal and company websites, email signatures and other materials.  The AIG board recently approved a series of logos that may be used by members to display their membership status.  They are intended to provide members with a convenient and effective means of displaying their Institute membership.

Registered Professional Geoscientists may use these logos in association with their RPGeo “stamp”.

The logos should be used without alteration, other than resizing to fit their intended application.

The logos will be updated annually and provided as high resolution graphics with membership subscription receipts.


36th International Geological Congress Cancelled

The 36th International Geological Congress (36IGC) planned for New Delhi that was postponed twice due to COVID-19 travel restrictions has now been cancelled.

The rights for the Indian Organising Committee to host the IGC withdrawn by the IUGS.

The 36 IGC organisers have not refunded registration, workshop or field trip fees to the majority of those who requested a refund. The IUGS Executive has had significant challenges getting the 36 IGC organisers to respond to enquiries.

To assist efforts to obtain refunds, the National Committee of the Earth Sciences (within the Australian Academy of Sciences and the body through which the Australian Geoscience Council has representation at the IUGS) is putting together a list of those with outstanding requests.

If you planned and paid for congress, workshop or field trip registrations and are seeking a refund, please provide your contact details with a copy of your congress registration information to Lynn Vigar, AIG’s Executive Officer (exec@aig.org.au).  AIG will collate member refund requests on behalf of the Australian Geoscience Council.  Proof of congress registration must accompany your refund request.

Non-AIG members should provide this information to the AGC member society of which they are a member.

Requests should be received by 31st January 2021 please.


Harry M. Parker (1946-2019): a celebration of a life

Harry Parker was well known amongst many AIG members.

Harry’s family and friends gathered on-line via Zoom, 19th December 2020, to celebrate his life and achievements. The gathering coincided with the first anniversary of Harry’s passing.

The Zoom call was recorded for the benefit of friends and colleagues unable to participate, and those who wish to further reflect on Harry’s life and contributions to our profession.

The video is also available via AIG’s You Tube Channel by following the highlighted link. The chat-log collected during the gathering is also available here.