The Sprigg Geobiology Centre Launch

The Environment Institute is pleased to announce the launch of a new research centre at the 成人大片, the .

The Sprigg Geobiology Centre is a new initiative of the 成人大片, 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).

[caption id="attachment_4646" align="alignleft" width="137"] Reg Sprigg[/caption]

Reg discovered the first geologic evidence for ancient animals in 560-million-year-old fossils found in the Ediacaran Hills of South Australia鈥檚 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鈥檚 coasts and founded the major energy companies in the State.

The new Sprigg Geobiology Centre draws on Reg鈥檚 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.

, Inaugural Director of the Sprigg Geobiology Centre, says 鈥淭he 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.鈥

[caption id="attachment_4647" align="alignright" width="110"] Professor Martin Kennedy, Inaugural Director Sprigg Geobiology Centre[/caption]

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

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