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Bill Collins

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Director of the NSW Institute for Frontier Geoscience, University of Newcastle

Professor Collins took up the Director position of the NSW Institute for Frontier Geoscience (NSW IFG) in 2011, following a 6-year term at James Cook University as a Professorial Research Leader in petrology/tectonics, and Director of the Economic Geology Research Unit (EGRU) in 2010. Beforehand, he lectured at the University of Newcastle from 1988. He was a visiting research fellow at Cambridge University, UK in 1995, at the CRPG in France in 2001, and at the ANU, Canberra, in 1995. He received the Stillwell Medal in 2000, Clarke Medal in 2001, and the Carey Medal in 2008, from the Geological Society of Australia. He has given numerous invited and keynote addresses at major conferences around the world. He was Science Editor for the leading international journal GEOLOGY from 2010-2012.

As Director of the Institute, Bill is focussed on understanding the scientific issues related to coal mining and CSG activities, particularly the long-term, cumulative effects on groundwater reservoirs and aquifers. The NSW IFG operates under the umbrella of the Newcastle Institute of Energy and Resources (NIER), a part of the University of Newcastle.

The University of Newcastle (UoN) collaborates with industry, government and community to understand the broader issues around coal mining and CSG developments. The University sees itself as an interested neutral broker or ‘critical friend’ in the community, seeking to find solutions for long-term, sustainable regional development, to the satisfaction of all stakeholders.

Experience

  • –present
    Director of the NSW Institute for Frontier Geoscience, housed in the NIER site at the University of Newcastle, University of Newcastle

Education

  • 1984 
    La Trobe University, PhD

Publications

  • 2012
    Metamorphism and deformation of mafic and felsic rocks in a magma transfer zone, Stewart Island, New Zealand, Journal of Metamorphic Geology
  • 2011
    Structural criteria for identifying granitic cumulates, Journal of Geology
  • 2011
    Two contrasting Phanerozoic orogenic systems revealed by hafnium isotope data, Nature Geoscience
  • 2000
    Granite magma transfer, pluton construction, the role of coeval mafic magmas, and the metamorphic response: southeastern Lachlan Fold Belt, Geological Society of Australia

Grants and Contracts

  • 2013
    New horizons in geochemical isotopic analysis with a new-generation multicollector plasma mass spectrometer: towards unravelling the deep Earth system
    Role:
    Co-investigator
    Funding Source:
    University of Newcastle
  • 2012
    Supercells and the Supercontinent Cycle
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    ARC
  • 2011
    Events through time:eruptions, extinctions, impacts, ore-bodies and orogenies - upgrading the national argon geochronology network
    Role:
    Co-investigator
    Funding Source:
    University of Newcastle
  • 2010
    The enigmatic link between crustal growth and supercontinent formation
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    ARC

Research Areas

  • Geology (0403)