Minister opens Southern Cross GeoScience

Protecting vital wetlands and developing the technology to lock up carbon in crops are among the key objectives of Southern Cross GeoScience, which was opened at the Lismore campus today (Tuesday, August 17).

Southern Cross GeoScience, a Special Research Centre of Southern Cross University, was opened by The Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP, the Minister for Resources and Energy and Minister for Tourism and Southern Cross University Chancellor The Hon John Dowd AO QC.

The event was attended by Janelle Saffin, federal Member for Page and University Council member, state and federal government representatives, scientists and industry representatives.

“The GeoScience Centre provides students and researchers with a state-of-the-art facility and equipment to enable leading edge, world class geosciences research,” Minister Ferguson said.

“GeoScience is vital in helping us understand and protect our environment and to develop sustainable agricultural practices and I am pleased to see that Southern Cross University is playing a very important role in this regard.”

Led by Professor Leigh Sullivan and Professor Richard Bush, Southern Cross GeoScience is focused on providing innovative solutions to land and water degradation issues in Australia and overseas.

The researchers are working in areas such as the Murray-Darling Basin, the Lower Lakes and Coorong in South Australia (made famous in Colin Thiele’s Storm Boy), the internationally recognised Peel-Harvey estuaries and the critical East Trinity wetland near Cairns.

“Our focus is on providing innovative solutions to key environmental challenges facing governments, industry and the broader community,” Professor Sullivan said.

“We are involved in collaborative projects with leading environmental agencies from all state and federal governments to assess the current health of these areas and to develop sustainable management solutions for these nationally recognised and highly valued environments.”

Southern Cross GeoScience has made a world-first discovery in carbon sequestration, identifying plants that have the ability to take up carbon from the atmosphere and safely lock it up in the soil for thousands of years.

“We have also developed an efficient and low-cost technique to accurately quantify the amount of carbon stored by this process, attracting considerable international interest,” he said.

“This will be an extremely valuable tool in any carbon credit schemes which are introduced in Australia and overseas.”

Professor Richard Bush said Southern Cross GeoScience included multi-million dollar state-of-the-art laboratories and analytical equipment.

“We have welcomed the strong support from Janelle Saffin, the federal Member for Page and University Council member, and are delighted that the Minister for Resources and Energy could officially open our Special Research Centre,” Professor Bush said.

The Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP speaking at the opening of Southern Cross GeoScience.