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The Sprigg Geobiology Centre Launch

The Environment Institute is pleased to announce the launch of a new research centre at the University of Adelaide, the Sprigg Geobiology Centre.

The Sprigg Geobiology Centre is a new initiative of the University of Adelaide, developing expertise within geobiology. It aims to understand how organisms both alter and evolve in response to the environment, and how they control geologic processes that influence resource distribution and environmental stability.

The Centre, which will be part of the University’s Environment Institute, is named in honour of pioneering scientist Reg Sprigg AO (1919-1994).

Reg Sprigg

Reg discovered the first geologic evidence for ancient animals in 560-million-year-old fossils found in the Ediacaran Hills of South Australia’s Flinders Ranges. These early fossils provide our primary insight in to how and why the first complex life on Earth evolved and prospered. Reg was a pioneer of the integration of geology and biology in both fundamental and applied science, and played an important role in the establishment of South Australia’s oil and gas industry. He led the first motorised expeditions through the Simpson Desert, revolutionised deep-sea exploration off Australia’s coasts and founded the major energy companies in the State.

The new Sprigg Geobiology Centre draws on Reg’s legacy by also integrating across the scientific disciplines of geology and biology to address both fundamental scientific questions, such as the history of life on this planet, as well as applied scientific challenges including resource sustainability and climate change.

Professor Martin Kennedy, Inaugural Director of the Sprigg Geobiology Centre, says “The Sprigg Geobiology Centre recognises the latest revolution in geoscience research identifying the inseparable nature of life from the Earth system and the important coevolution of an integrated-Earth-life system. The centre will provide a means of bringing together the broad array of scientists necessary to understand this inherently interdisciplinary endeavor.”

Professor Martin Kennedy, Inaugural Director Sprigg Geobiology Centre

The Centre will be launched tomorrow night (Thursday 8th November) at the SA Museum.

Visit the Sprigg Geobiology Centre website

Read the Media Release

Read the news article on ABC news

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