Our geochem team has been growing in numbers and the work they undertake has continued to expand in scope. After humble beginnings in 2004 with Dr Ian Martin working to help understand some Acid Mine Drainage issues for a Project in north west Queensland, Dr Dave Allen (a.k.a Sheldon) came on board in 2008 to work under Ian’s tutelage adding soils and modelling to our waste characterisation repertoire. Dr Dave retired in 2019 (mostly) and passed the baton to Dr Michael North (2013) who continues to lead this team.
James Cumming (Jim Jam 2008, Contaminated Sites), Andrew Botfield (the Bot, 2011 contaminated sites), Cliff Bennison (2016, Acid Sulfate Soils), Gert du Plessis (2017, Dangerous Goods Classifications) and Dr Thomas Robson (2018, Ecological Risk Assessment and Radiation) have come and gone from the MBS team, each have left their mark in expanding the MBS geochem/geoscience repertoire. Karen Ganza (2010) used her unique combination of chemistry knowledge and strong report writing abilities to help wrangle reports into forms the rest of the non-geochemists (Kate George) could understand.
The MBS team has been growing over this time to now be a team of six plus the help of many others at MBS. It is led by Dr Michael North (Water and Air quality/asbestos), with Martin Crossley (2022, Wastes Treatment), Dr Elliott Duncan (2020, Ecological Risk Assessment/Chemistry), Louise Crawley (2020, Radiation, Contaminated Sites), Dr Greg Lekmine (2019, Hydrochemistry/modelling) and Dr A’nan Wang (2021, Soil Chemistry).
The work has become more technical and quantitative over the years (hence addition of modelling, Tier 2 and 3 ecological risk assessments) over the years. Things have changed since Ian started the ball rolling as a cardigan wearing, crusty old geologist, but the technical challenges are what we enjoy the most.
