Researcher Discusses Antarctic Minerals Vulnerability at Australian Conference

Contact: Ed Grew, 581-2169

Edward Grew, UMaine research professor of geological sciences, presented a talk, “Rare minerals in the Australian Antarctic Territory” at the Antarctic Science Planning Workshop in Hobart, Australia Sept. 21.

The workshop was one of several organized by the Australian Antarctic Division to design implementation plans for the newly developed Australian Science Strategic Plan 2011/12-2020/12, and concerned “Vulnerability and spatial protection” under the theme “Terrestrial and near-shore ecosystems: environmental change and conservation.”

The workshop mainly emphasized vulnerability and conservation of Antarctic biological systems. Grew, who has discovered five new minerals in the Antarctic, was one of four geoscientists invited to discuss geological perspectives. He discussed the need for conservation of bedrock exposures containing rare minerals within the Australian Antarctic Territory.