The Three Sisters at Echo Point, Katoomba - image courtesy Paul Harvey

Talks & Events

Monthly Division Meetings
Date: Talks are held the 2nd Thursday of the month

Monthly Meetings Presentations on YouTube
Click here if you want to watch the presentations from NSW Division Meetings online

Upcoming Meetings and Events

29-30 November 2023 - GESSS NSW
Details: GESSS NSW is the premier Earth Sciences conference organized by students, for students in New South Wales. Our mission is to unite aspiring Earth Scientists from across NSW, providing a platform for networking and showcasing their contributions to the field. At GESSS NSW, we celebrate the diverse disciplines within Earth and environmental sciences. Whether you’re an undergraduate, Honours, Masters, or PhD student, join us for a captivating program featuring groundbreaking research in geophysics, hydrology, ecology, climatology, and more. Our conference also includes inspiring keynote speakers who address crucial topics such as the role of women and minorities in science, and the future of Earth sciences in Australia. GESSS NSW is your gateway to building networks, establishing connections, and shaping a successful career in Earth sciences. Submit your abstracts and posters to share your research and be part of a vibrant community of like-minded individuals.
Location: Carslaw Building, University of Sydney
Abstracts: Click here to submit your abstracts before 13 October 2023
Website: Click here

Past NSW Division Meetings, Events and Activities
13 July 2023 - GSA NSW Division Meeting
Speaker: Tara Djokic (Australian Museum)
Topic: Exploring iron-rich fossilisation processes in a Miocene rainforest Lagerstätte (and a new method to engage the public in Palaeontology)

10 May - GSA NSW Division Turkiye-Syria Earthquake Scientific Information Session

Speakers:
Sabin Zahirovic (University of Sydney)
Derya Guer (University of Queensland)
Meghan Miller (Australian National University)
Sinan Ozaydin (University of Sydney)
Vasileios Chatzaras (University of Sydney) 
Aaron Opdyke (University of Sydney)
Details: Earthquakes are short-lived natural phenomena that can have large and long-lasting impacts on human societies and structures. Earth Scientists have spent decades mapping faults and tracking earthquakes, allowing us to build “earthquake hazard maps”. These are useful for forecasting risk, but there is no technology to predict the precise timing or the strength of earthquakes. Yet, we can learn from the past to be better prepared and increase our resiliency. Join us for several short talks, followed by a Q&A panel discussion with experts in the field. As we process our grief, understanding the science and developing an appreciation of geologic time might help us better understand these natural processes. However, we can also use science-informed policy to reduce risk to life in future earthquake events in Türkiye, Syria, and in other regions with a high seismic risk. Come along to hear the latest scientific research on earthquake science, and how we can use this information to help reduce damage in the future. Seating is limited, so please make sure you confirm your registration – and cancel your registration in the case that you can no longer make it. This is a free event proudly organised by the Geological Society of Australia (NSW Division) and The University of Sydney. The venue is generously provided for free by Cumberland Council. All are welcome!
Location: Auburn Centre for Community 44A Macquarie Road Auburn, NSW


13 April 2023 - GSA NSW Division Hybird Meeting

Speaker: Indrani Mukherjee (Univesity of New South Wales)
Topic: What early Earth can and cannot tell us?


9 March - GSA NSW Division Online Meeting

Speaker: Lauren Gorojovsky (Macquarie University)
Topic: Oxidised yet sulfur poor magmas in the Manus Basin
 
19 February 2023 - GSA NSW Division Picnic
Details: We’re very excited to catch up with colleagues and friends at the GSA NSW Division picnic. We will provide water and non-alcoholic beverages, but please bring along your favourite picnic food and weather-appropriate clothing (hats, sunglasses, etc.). We will provide sunscreen and hand sanitiser, but you might consider bring your own as well. Public toilet facilities are close by in Memorial Park. There are footpaths leading to war memorials with a range of geological specimens decorating them. Those interested will go in small groups after lunch and discuss the rock types that are observed.
Time: 12.00-3:30 pm

13 October 2
022 – GSA NSW Division Meeting
Speaker: Peter Bijl (Utrecht University)
Topic: The Cenozoic sea surface temperature evolution offshore Tasmania


20 September 2
022 – NSW Division Joint Meeting
Speaker: Caroline Perring (Principal Geologist, BHP)
Topic: The Geodynamic Setting of Komatiite-Hosted Fe-Ni-Cu Sulfide Deposits of the Agnew-Wiluna Belt, Yilgarn Block, Western Australia

Note: This is a joint meeting between the GSA NSW Division, SMEDG and SEG

8 September 2
022 – NSW Division Online Meeting
Speaker: Sonia Scarselli (Vice President, BHP Xplor)
Topic: Launch of BHP Xplor program


21 August 2
022 – Science in the Swamp
Details: As part of National Science Week, the GSA NSW Division is holding a stall at Science in the Swamp. Come along and learn about fossils and rocks!
Location: Dickens’ Lawn, Loch Avenue South, Centennial Park

14 August 2022 – Science in the Scrub 
Details: As part of National Science Week, the GSA NSW Division held a stall at Science in the Scrub
Location: Western Sydney Parklands

11 August 2
022 – NSW Division Online Meeting
Speaker: Heath Porteous (Exploration Manager, Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd)
Topic: Broken Hill Cobalt Project


14 July 2022 – NSW Division Meeting
Details: This meeting was a face-to-face social and trivia night with small prizes

6-7 July 2022 - American Association of Petroleum Geologists Workshop
Location: This will be a hybrid event, held both in Sydney and online
Topic: Structural Geology and Our Future - The Role of Tectonic Geoscience in Energy Transition, Focusing on the Asia-Pacific Region
Details: Supported by the GSA NSW Division

9 June 2022 – GSA NSW Division AGM
Speaker Derya Guer (UQ, ANU)
Topic: Probing Earth’s past pulses with marine geophysical methods and scientific ocean drilling

21 April 2022 - NSW Division Online Meeting
Speaker: Patrick Makuluni (CSIRO, UNSW)
Topic: Reconstructing the Evolution of the Early Intracontinental Rift System in the Northern Carnarvon Basin, Australia

10 March 2022 - NSW Division Meeting
Speaker: Barney Stevens
Topic: Mismatch Between Metamorphism and Structure at Broken Hill, or Overturning the Overturning

10 February 2022 - NSW Division Online Meeting
Speaker: Heather Handley (University of Twente and Monash University)
Topic: In the news - volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis

Committee

Chair: 
Joanna Parr
E: [email protected]

Secretary 
Tom England, Macquarie University
E: [email protected]

Treasurer and Talk Co-ordinator: Sabin Zahirovic, University of Sydney
E:  [email protected]

Newsletter Editor:
Kelsie Dadd
Curious Minds – Girls in STEM
E: [email protected]

General Committee members:
Jonathon Leonard
Chris Fergusson
David Och
Patrick Smith
Tom Schmaltz
Indrani Mukherjee
Josh Shea

General Heritage Subcommittee:
Armstrong Osborne (Chair)
Phil Gilmore
Cressida Gilmore 
Paul Meszaros
Iain Paterson
Ian Percival


NOTE: Please contact Sabin Zahirovic if you have any ideas regarding speakers/topics for technical talks or require sponsors for membership