Dr Marita Bradshaw

Opportunities and challenges for Australian Geoscience

Earth Systems, Big Data and Big Science, all underpinned by new technologies, are key themes in future geoscience. Australia, with its continent-wide data sets and in its ocean hemisphere, is well placed to play a big part in this future. Effective collaboration is essential to realise this potential - collaboration across the geoscience disciplines and well beyond, and between industry, universities and the various levels of government. On the driest inhabited continent there are also challenges ahead that demand deep integration across the sciences, and one of the most crucial is understanding and managing Australia’s water resources. Examples, opportunities and mechanisms for collaboration and will be explored.

Biography

Leading Australian geologist Dr Marita Bradshaw retired at the end of June after many years of dedicated service at Geoscience Australia. With more than 30 years of government and petroleum experience, Dr Bradshaw helped form strategies that have cemented Geoscience Australia as a world-class geoscience organisation. She has been a leader in developing and providing relevant, high-quality data and analysis for the oil and gas industry, especially for the annual acreage releases.

Dr Bradshaw has worked tirelessly to understand Australia’s oil and gas potential and to convey that understanding to petroleum exploration companies around the world. Her enthusiasm, passion, and commitment have helped promote Australia’s oil and gas potential to a large national and international audience, and have especially helped in the search for new petroleum provinces in the country’s offshore basins.

Dr Bradshaw is a great communicator, as well as a mentor and educator to less experienced geoscientists. She is an outstanding role model for industry-government cooperation for the betterment of Australia.

In 2007, the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association presented Dr Bradshaw with the Lewis G Weeks Gold Medal, which recognises outstanding contributions to the development of the petroleum exploration and production industry in Australia.