The Geological Society of Australia Endowment Fund

Closing dates for the 2024 funding round is Friday 29 March 2024. 
The 2024 application form is at the bottom of the page. Applications can be sent to:
[email protected]

About:

The Geological Society of Australia (GSA) Endowment Fund was set up in 2007 to support students undertaking graduate studies in the Earth Sciences. The fund was set up as a separate entity to the GSA and the Australian Tax Office imposed elements that restricted this support to Australian students at Australian educational institutions.  Financial assistance in the form of awards can be granted to Australian students by the GSA Endowment Fund Committee and the awards are not restricted to GSA members. The Geological Society of Australia Endowment Fund is a charity and all donations are tax deductible, so please give generously.

GSA Endowment Fund Awards:

Financial assistance in the form of awards can be granted to Australian students by the GSA Endowment Fund Committee and the awards are not restricted to GSA members. The grants may only be used as financial assistance for:

  • field costs (both in Australia and abroad)
  • laboratory associated costs, including machine time (both in Australia and abroad)
  • sponsorship to attend conferences
  •  overseas study tours. 

Honours/Masters awards – grants of up to $1000 are available for Australian citizens in each state/territory undertaking either an Honours or a Masters course at an approved Australian educational institution.

PhD award – a single national PhD grant of up to $5000 is available for one Australian citizen undertaking a PhD at an approved Australian education institution.

Honourary awards – Honourary awards can be granted at the discretion of the GSA Endowment Fund Committee and does include a monetary amount.

Award Recipients:

The GSA Endowment Fund Committee has awarded grants to assist Australian students undertaking studies in the Earth Sciences – see table below.  Recipients are required to write a report (accompanied by photographic images) for TAG on how the funds were used – so keep an eye out for these in TAG.

 

Award Recipient

Grant

Project and purpose

 

2023 Award Recipients

Celine Anderson, PhD,
ANU, ACT


 

$5,000

 

Hydrogeological controls on Australian alpine water and the potential impacts of climate change on stream flow generation – soil-moisture probes and piezometers to maintain and extend the current hydrological monitoring array in the Snowy Mountains region.

 

Josh Reid,

PhD,

UQ, QLD
 $1,500 (Honourary award) Age, source and diagenesis of carbonate sediments in leeward and windward coral cays, One Tree and Heron islands, Great Barrier Reef, QLD – fieldwork and core collection on One Tree Island to improve temporal context of coral cay accumulation.
 

Mark Williams,

PhD,

UTAS, TAS
 

$1,500

(Honourary award)
Digital tools for effective geoconservation and geotourism in geoparks – fieldwork to collect data with drones and mobile data collection tools and develop annotated 3D models of the geosites.
 

Eleanor Beidatsch,

Honours,

UNE, NSW
 $1,000 United by opal: an autoethnography of disabled empowerment in geoscience – to attend Australian Earth Sciences Convention and present on diversity and inclusion in geoscience.
 

Emily Conn,

Honours,

UTAS, TAS
 $1,000 Sediment Core Stratigraphy at Havre, Kermadec Arc/Rangitahua – to attend Oceanic Volcanism Workshop at GEOMAR (Germany) and present on deep submarine volcanism from three sediment cores collected on the slopes of Havre.
 

Samuel Keller,

Honours,

UWA, WA
 $1,000 Refining the metamorphic evolution of the western Albany-Fraser Orogen, Western Australia – to undertake in-situ U-Pb age dating of metamorphic monazite from the Mount Barren Group and the western Nornalup Zone, Western Australia.
 

Bronwen Lee,

Honours,

Uni of Adelaide, SA
 $1,000  Subduction zone metamorphism in eastern Australia – to attend the Australian Earth Sciences Convention (Perth).
 

Sabrina Newton,

Honours,

UQ, QLD
 $1,000 The environmental risks associated with hidtoric mine tailings in Broken Hill, NSW – to undertake leaching procedure to determine toxic elements in tailings and attend International Conference on Environment, Energy and Waste Management (Sydney).
 

Andrew Prior,

Masters,

Uni of Melbourne, VIC
 $1,000 Timing and Provenance of the Paleozoic Grampians Group, western Victoria: U-Pb dating of diagenetic xenotime and detrital zircons – to undertake U-Pb age dating on diagenetic xenotime from sandstone sequences of the Grampians Group.

2022 Award Recipients

Acacia Clark, PhD,
UTAS, TAS
 $5,000 Silicic Explosive Volcanism: understanding the conditions of steady and unsteady eruptive behaviour of silicic magma, the Kaharoa 1315 eruption from Mount Tarawera, New Zealand – conduct fieldwork on the Kaharoa deposits, New Zealand, to collect stratigraphic information, drone footage and samples.
Lauren Gorojovsky, PhD,
Macquarie Uni, NSW
$1,500 (Honourary award) Sulfur, selenium and tellurium systematics as a function of oxygen fugacity in mantle-derived melts – undertake major and trace element characterisation and imaging of samples from different melt oxidation states.
Alanis Olesch-Byrne, PhD,
JCU, QLD
$1,500 (Honourary award) The role of structurally-controlled saline fluid flow in the formation of Australia’s Rare Earth Element deposits – prepare and analyse thin sections with scanning electron microscope and microprobe to compare the composition of fluid inclusions in key minerals in the shear zone and ore deposit in Mount Isa, QLD.
Marissa Higgins, Honours, ANU, ACT  $1,000 Characterising the geology, mineralogy and geochemistry of the Yin ironstone-hosted Rare Earth Element prospect in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia – attend field trips and Specialist Group presentations at the Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Petrology (SGGMP) conference in Perth in November 2022.
Thomas Leckie, Honours,
UNE, NSW
 $1,000 Unravelling exotic arc collisions on the Gondwana margin, Eastern Australia – analyse detrital zircons extracted from various igneous clasts, matrix material and tuffaceous beds by U-Pb-Hf Laser Ablation multi-collector Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry.
Alyssa Negus, Masters,
QUT, QLD
 $1,000  Fractional crystallisation in three dimensions: an exploration of lateral fractionation in an Archean mafic sill – fieldwork in the Tasman Peninsula to examine extensive outcrops of dolerite, which are less deformed than their counterparts in other Australian locations.
Samantha Phelan, Masters,
Uni of Melbourne, VIC
 $1,000  Formation and source of the Pliocene-Quaternary volcanism in the Highlands Region of Papua New Guinea – preparation of polished thin sections to be used to determine major and trace element data by EPMA and LA-ICP MS.
 2021 Award Recipients
 Jean-Antoine Gazi, PhD, Macquarie Uni, NSW   $5,000  The detrimental effect of melt-mediated coupled dissolution-precipitation processes on zircon geochronology – experimental studies of zircon-melt interactions integrated with investigations of natural samples from Norway and East Antarctica.

Samantha March, PhD,
University of Adelaide, SA

$3,000 (Honourary award)   The geodynamic framework of Proterozoic Central Australia – fieldwork and sample collection in the South Australian Craton and North Australian Craton (Central Australia) to constrain the Proterozoic history and tectonic framework.
Tom England, Masters, Macquarie Uni, NSW $1,000 (Honourary award) Magma transport and ascent timescales at Australian Cenozoic Volcanoes – to conduct fieldwork and collect samples from the Atherton Volcanic Province (QLD) to construct models of magma transport from source to surface.
Catherine Brown, Masters, Queensland University of Technology, QLD $1,000 Short-term temporal-compositional trends in monogenetic basaltic volcanism: the Coalstoun Lakes volcanic field – fieldwork and sample collection of an extensive lava flow field in southern Queensland to identify the source vent and characterise lava flow architecture.
Elowen Amos, Honours,
Uni of Melbourne, VIC
$1,000
Marine oxygenation and the rise of animals – fieldwork and sample collection in the Flinders Ranges (SA) to examine the Neoproterozoic-Cambrian boundary through combined sedimentological-geochemical methods.

Celine Anderson, Honours,
Uni of Canberra, ACT

$1,000 

Subsurface hydrological processes and pathways operating at a hillslope scale within alpine and sub-alpine environments of the Kosciusko Region – equipment and fieldwork to examine hillslope hydrological behaviour of various aquifers.

Kimberly Edwards, Masters,
Uni of Adelaide, SA

$1,000

Oxygen isotopes in Australian plant phytoliths as a proxy for past climates and environments – to analyse oxygen isotopes of soil phytoliths to assess the extent to which these reflect climate and surface hydrology.

Till Gallagher, Honours,
Uni of Tasmania, TAS

$1,000

Emplacement processes of the St Marys Porphyrite – to analyse samples for whole-rock chemistry and U/Pb geochronology to define the contact/boundary relationship.

Stephanie Richter-Stretton, Honours,
Uni of New England, NSW

$1,000

Resolving the biostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy and lithology of the Second Plain Creek Member, Bunkers Graben, central Flinders Rangers – to acquire stable isotope data and integrate with fossil data to improve chronostratigraphic resolution.

2020 Award Recipients

Bronwyn Campbell

PhD

Macquarie Uni, NSW

$5,000 Deep biosphere communities in Australian coal from the Surat (QLD) and Sydney
(NSW) basins – DNA replication and sequencing to identify the microbial species
responsible for the biodegradation of alkyl polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from
the Juandah Coal Measures in the Surat Basin.

Jeremy Asimus

Masters

Macquarie Uni, NSW

$1,000 

(NSW)

Melt-rock interaction in the Entia Gneiss Dome, Central Australia – to collect
mafic rock samples and characterise using electron microprobe chemical mapping
and high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction.

Kerran Olsen

Masters

Edith Cowan Uni, WA

$1,000

(WA)

Stakeholder perceptions of geopark establishment: an exploratory study of Rottnest
Island as a potential UNESCO Geopark site — to attend conferences, workshops and
study tours to gain insights into geotourism and geopark developments and add value
to research skills.

Ashley Rogers

Honours

UQ, Qld

$1,000

(Qld)

Provenance of arc-related marine sediments: linking two zones of the Silverwood
Group, New England Orogen, Australia — to collect radiolarian fossils and/or analyse
specimens for U/Pb geochronology to determine the age and correlation of zones
across an intra-oceanic arc.

Olivia Wilson

Honours

Uni of Tas, Tas

$1,000

(Tas)

Hydrogeological studies of acid mine drainage at the Endurance legacy mine site,
northeast Tasmania — to analyse water samples for trace metal and major ion
analysis that will determine the transport pathways of acid mine drainage and
trace metals at the site.
2019 Award Recipients

Bronwyn Teece,

PhD,

Uni of NSW, NSW

$5,000

Structural analysis of ancient kerogen in the quest to determine biogenicity in thermally metamorphosed rocks – to use hydrophyrolysis techniques to examine kerogen from drillcore material of the 3.5 Ga Dresser Formation of the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. 

Sarah Cooley,

Honours,

Uni of Melbourne, VIC

$1,000

(VIC)

The penultimate termination of Darwin Crater, Tasmania: an assessment of landscape shift in the absence of humans – to conduct magnetic analysis at the Black Mountain Paleomagnetism Laboratory (ANU).

Lauren Gorojovsky,

Masters,

Macquarie Uni, NSW

$1,000

(NSW)

 

Sulfur speciation and variations in Sulfur-Selenium-Tellurium systematics as a function of oxygen fugacity in back-arc magmas – to measure and precisely determine the variation of trace element concentrations in back-arc basins. 

Sandra Lote,

Masters,

Uni of TAS, TAS

$1,000

(TAS)

A strontium isotopic approach to understanding subsidence of the Tasmantid and Lord Howe seamount chains – to analyse strontium isotopes and obtain the temporal history of Tasmantid and Lord Howe seamounts, offshore Eastern Australia.

Reuben Parige,

Honours,

ANU, ACT

$1,000

(ACT)

Spatial and temporal variability of stable isotopes within alpine streams – to collect contemporary water samples that mark the wet and dry periods and capture the variation of stable isotopic signatures in alpine stream waters of the Snowy Mountains Region and Murrumbidgee River Catchment, NSW and ACT.

Teagan Romyn,

Honours,

Uni of Adelaide, SA

$1,000

(SA)

There and back: how well do rocks record their journey deep into the Earth? – to sample granitic rocks from the Western Gneiss Complex, Norway. 

2018 Award Recipients

Meagan Lowe,

PhD,

UOW, NSW

$5,000

The vulnerability of reef islands to multiple drivers of landform change in Isabel Province, Solomon Islands – to collect field data that quantifies the magnitude of change on Isabel Province landforms. 

Timothy Frauenfelder,

Honours

UNE, WA

$1,000

(Hon.

Award)

Exploration of fossiliferous outcrop of the Griman Creek Formation in Bymount, southeastern QLD – to describe and sample sauropod remains from the Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge.

Elyse Butterfield, Masters,

University of Melbourne, VIC

$1,000

(VIC)

Was Port Phillip Bay dry during the late Holocene? A palynological investigation of the bay floor over the last 10 000 years – to radiocarbon date marine shells from wells within Port Phillip Bay, Victoria. 

Morgan Cox,

Masters,

Curtin University,WA

$1,000

(WA)

Shocking results from the Jackhills: survey of 21,000 zircon grains for shock deformation – to present research at the international Goldschmidt 2018 conference.

Blake Deegan

Masters,

QUT,QLD

$1,000

(QLD)

Tectonothermal magmatic evolution of the lower crust of North Queensland as recorded in lower crustal xenoliths from the McBride Volcanic Province – to sample and characterise xenoliths from Hill 32, McBride Province, North QLD.

Sarah Gilmour,

Honours,

University of Tasmania,TAS

$1,000

(TAS)

Mineralogical and geochemical characterization of historical slag in Tasmania: evaluating environmental impacts and economic significance – to analyse and characterise metallurgical slag materials at three study sites in Tasmania.

Carolina Mora,

Honours,

University of Sydney, NSW

$1,000

(NSW)

Assessing oyster reefs as a bioremediation strategy for metal contaminated sediments in urban estuaries – to analyse the bioavailable metal fraction in sediments containing oyster reefs from Quibray Bay, NSW.

2017 Award Recipients

Georgia Soares,

PhD,

UNSW, NSW

$5,000

A moment in time: early biotic complexity in the immediate aftermath of the Great Oxygenation Event – to sample and/or analyse organic-rich structures from the Pilbara (WA) and/or Glacier Park (USA).

Joel Burkin, Honours,

UWA, WA

$1,000

(WA)

Exploration targeting for magmatic nickel deposits in the west Kimberley: prospectivity analysis and quantifying structural uncertainty – to attend the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences (IAMG) conference in Perth.

Bronwyn Campbell, Masters,

Macquarie Uni, NSW

$1,000

(NSW)

Palaeoenvironments and thermal maturity of the Permian southern Sydney Basin – to prepare and analyse samples from drillcore DM Callala DDHI (NSW).

Reuben Creighton, Masters,

ANU, ACT

$450

(ACT)

Tectonic architecture of the iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) belt in the central Mount Isa terranes – to obtain four-wheel drive certification, enabling safe and effective field work is undertaken in north QLD.

Rhiannan Mundana,

Honours,

UTAS, TAS

$1,000 (TAS)

Interpreting the geological evolution and subsidence history of the Cascade Seamount, East Tasman Plateau – to prepare and analyse carbonate clasts from rock dredge samples acquired from Cascade Guyot in the western Tasman Sea.

Claire Murphy,

Honours,

Uni of Adel, SA

$1,000 (SA)

Late Pleistocene to Holocene palaeoenvironmental reconstruction from Fraser Island – to conduct non-destructive, high-resolution analysis of core from Basin Lake, Fraser Island (QLD).

Jack Muston,

Masters,

ANU, ACT

$450

(ACT)

Tectonic architecture of the iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) belt in the central Mount Isa terranes – to obtain four-wheel drive certification, enabling safe and effective field work is undertaken in north QLD.

Jack Ward,

Honours,

UQ, QLD

$1,000 (QLD)

Rare earth element geochemistry of Neoproterozoic carbonates: implications for Snowball Earth – to prepare and analyse significant carbonate samples from between Alice Springs and Adelaide.

2016 Award Recipients

Matthew Campbell,

PhD,

UQ, QLD

$5,000

Mesozoic-Cenozoic evolution of the southwest Pacific – to sample and analyse the Teremba Terrane (New Caledonia), significantly expanding the scope of results.

Sharon Gray,

PhD,

ANU, ACT

$4,000

Interactions between meteoric, surface and groundwater in fractured rock – to construct and deploy rainwater samplers in the Upper Murrumbidgee Catchment, custodian of samplers to ANU.

Jodie Rutledge,

Honours,

UON, NSW

$1,000 (NSW)

Conodont faunas within the Upper Silurian Yarrangobilly and Cooleman Limestone formations – to log formations and sample faunal assemblages in the northern Snowy Mountains.

Shaun Anderson,

Honours,

QUT, QLD

$1,000 (QLD)

Probing the crust, I-type to A-type: granitic magma source evolution – to map and sample granites in the Bowen-Mackay region or New England Fold Belt.

Joel Vergunst,

Masters,

Monash Uni, VIC

$1,000 (VIC)

The structural and thermal history of the Otway Basin, Victoria – to collect aerial image data using unmanned aerial vehicles and map fracture networks in the Lorne and Torquay areas.

2014 Award Recipients

Michael Short,

PhD,

ANU, ACT

$5,000

Advances in the application of Cl, Br and the stable halogen isotopes in catchment hydrology – to measure low concentrations of anions in samples from Lake George Basin in NSW; custodian of new ion chromatograph to ANU.

Maxine Kerr

Honours,

ANU, ACT

$1,000

Metasomatism in the Cannington Ag-Pb-Zn ore deposit, northern Queensland – to analyse samples via various analytical techniques and evaluate the history of the ore deposit.

 
Call for donations:

Since 2007, GSA members have generously donated money to the GSA Endowment Fund and their contributions are gratefully acknowledged.

The GSA Endowment Fund Committee receives a large number of applicants for the awards and speaks to the overwhelming needs of our research community.  Our support for the students is only modest at the moment, but with your help this could grow very rapidly.

Consider making another impact on the future of Earth Sciences and donate to the GSA Endowment Fund.  Please give generously so we can maintain a healthy foundation that can continue to support Australian students studying Earth Sciences. 

The Geological Society of Australia Endowment Fund is a charity and all donations are tax deductible.  

Thank you for your generosity in supporting this initiative. Your contribution now will continue to grow into the future.

Donation Methods:

Donations can be made via cheque, money order, credit card, electronic funds transfer or by bequest.  If you want to know more, please phone 02 9160 8193, or alternatively email [email protected]

Cheque or money order – You can make your donation by sending a cheque or money order to the Geological Society of Australia Endowment Fund, PO Box 576, Crows Nest NSW 1585.

Donations can be made to electronically to:
Bank account name: Geological Society of Australia Endowment Fund
Bank account number: 87340 8419
BSB: 082 057

Please email the GSA, so we can issue you with a tax deductible receipt: [email protected]

Estate Planning and Bequests – If you want to make a bequest to the Endowment Fund and include in your Estate planning we can assist you, please email [email protected] or phone 02 9160 8193.

THE APPLICATION DEADLINE is 29 March 2024.

2024 GSA Endowment Fund Application

Download 2024 GSA Endowment Fund Application Form