Rocks - Why on Earth should we care?   Evan Leitch (UTS) and Armstrong Jones (University of Sydney) Wednesday September 30, 1998 Duke of Edinburgh, Pyrmont Science in the Pub takes a look at geodiversity issues. To set the scene, Armstrong has offered us a poem (quote: no really a lyric-I will sing it!) Abstract- Sung to Santa Lucia Ge-o-diversity, Rocks, streams and mou-n-tains, Cliffs, swamps and din-o-sours, Earth's whole great st-o-ry, Ge-o-diversity, Whole realm of n-a-ture, Will we pro-tect you? Ge-o-divers-ity! Dr Armstrong Osborne disguised as mild-mannered Senior Lecturer in Science Education, has spent twenty years fighting to protect and interpret our heritage of rocks, fossils and landscapes. He has also tried to solve the puzzles of our limestone caves. While he expects soon to report major progress with the caves, protecting and interpreting our geoheritage, his topic tonight, remains a much more intractable problem. Professor Evan Leitch has a personal chair in geology at UTS where he is currently the Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Science. Evan also currently chairs the ARC Earth Sciences Large Grant Panel and is Deputy Chair of the ARC Research Grants Committee. He sits on a number of councils and other organisations with a range of acronyms including AINSIE, ODP and ANSIR. Collectively these activities keep him oscillating between Canberra and Sydney, but he still manages to supervise research students. Evan is happiest indulging in field investigations in tectonics in interesting places. At various times he has conducted such research on all the continents except Africa with sites including the Trans-Antarctic Mountains, the Andes, the Rockies, Japan, Indonesia, the British Isles, New Guinea, New Zealand, Newfoundland and Cyprus. He had the good fortune to have been educated at the Universities of Auckland and New England and suffered for a time at the University of Sydney.   Evan Leitch, Paul Willis and Armstrong Jones, our experts on Geodiversity. Armstrong Jones discusses the effect that `One Nation' might have on our future Geodiversity, while challenged by Alex Ritchie from the floor over whether the real issue should be biodiversity and that frogs are dying, so who cares (see SciPub V )?'   SciPub is held the last Wednesday of the month in the Duke of Edinburgh pub, 152 Harris Street, Pyrmont, 2009 from 7-9pm. Telephone (02) 9660 8146. UBD Map ref pg235 P10. Park at Star City if coming by car. For further information on `Science in the Pub' please contact Robyn Stutchbury on rstutch@ozemail.com.au of Peripatus Productions Pty Limited, 1 Carisbrook Street, Lane Cove 2066, Tel: 02 9427 6747, Fax: 02 9418 9605 Next Science in the Pub session, 28 October 1998 Animal Rights and Wrongs Josh Stern and Eugenie Lumbers
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