AGC LEE PARKIN AUSTRALIAN GEOSCIENCE INFORMATION ASSOCIATION GRANT

Applications are open.

Background

The Australian Geoscience Information Association (AGIA) grant was established in 2020 with funds made available from the sad closure of AGIA, after more than 40 years of professional service and networking for the geoscience information community. The membership comprised a mixture of geologists, librarians and others interested in geoscience information. AGIA was established in 1976, mainly under the auspices of staff at the then Australian Mineral Foundation (AMF) who regularly organized national conferences and meetings on Australian geoscience information.

AGIA – https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20190302013928/http://agia.org.au/

AMF –  https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/458424?c=people

Lee Parkin

Lee Parkin obtained a degree in Geology from the University of Adelaide with further degrees in Mining Engineering at the South Australian School of Mines and later at the Broken Hill Technical College. He joined the South Australian Department of Mines in 1950 and spent much of the rest of his professional career with the department moving up to Chief Geologist, Deputy Director of Mines and ultimately Director of Mines before resigning to take up the position of inaugural Director of the new Australian Mineral Foundation (AMF) in January 1972.

As Director of AMF he developed and implemented the Foundation’s highly successful programme of continuing education through its innovative workshop course model and through seminars and conferences. His leadership and vision in accepting the creation, development and management by AMF of the Australian Earth Sciences Information System (AESIS), and the Australian Thesaurus of Earth Sciences and Related Terms, notwithstanding the tentative environment of the times, made these two undertakings possible. His personal subject knowledge and prodigious work ethic sustained these projects through most of their lifetime. His major contribution to geoscience information in Australia remains his marathon feat of indexing some 60,000 of the 200,000 records in AESIS, and his reviews of over 2500 books for AMF’s Informative Book Review Programme, plus his major part in the compilation of the Australian Thesaurus of Earth Sciences and Related Terms.

Lee Parkin chaired the inaugural meeting at which AGIA was formally created on 23 August 1976 during the 25th International Geological Congress in Sydney, and in 1991 was made AGIA’s first Life Member.

Grant Details

Aims

The Grant will provide financial assistance for projects that have one or more of the following objectives:

• Research that explores the potential for the further development of geoscience information & data management in Australia
• Knowledge sharing that increases the understanding of geoscience information & data management in Australia, through publications, conference presentations or other professionally recognised methods
• Development of tools, applications, and resources for use in geoscience information & data management in Australia

Value

The total value of the grant will be an up-front payment of up to a total of $2500 per year, to be awarded in full to one applicant, or in part to multiple applicants.

Eligibility

The Grant is open to members of AGC affiliated organisations who are Australian residents engaged in the practice or study of geoscience information and data management. Information and data management is the range of activities which ensure long-term access to geoscience data & information in a usable form, and includes the selection, storage, organisation, preservation and provision of ongoing access to data & information, and the development of technology, practices and standards related to these activities.

Current Grant Administrators/Selection Panel are ineligible to apply.

Application Process

Applications are made via email addressing the content listed below:

Entries for the following year are to be submitted via email to admin@agc.org.au by November 18 each year

Application Content

• The application should deal with one specific project only
• Details of principal applicant (name, address, qualifications)
• Details of other applicants (if applicable)
• Title of project
• Description (e.g. aims, methods, processes etc)
• Outcome (e.g. publication, resource etc)
• Proposed start date and expected duration
• Significance (the anticipated practical benefits)
• Plan and timeframe
• Itemized budget (including staff, travel, equipment etc)
• Amount of funding sought (up to $2500)
• Financial support sought or obtained from other sources (if any)
• Referees (x 2)
• Curriculum Vitae of applicant(s) including details of experience with geoscience information & data management

Grant Conditions

• The decision of the Selection Panel in making the Grant is final
• The Grant will be announced via email to the winning entry and via the AGC website.
• The Administrators reserve the right to withhold/withdraw funds if progress is not as negotiated and/or not acceptable to them
• Grant recipients must agree to use the funding for the purposes specified and to provide a reconciliation of expenditure (including original receipts)
• The completed research, project output or final report (~500 words + photo) will be published in one of the AGC member organisations’ publications, AGC website, and agreed open access repositories. Submissions should be made within 3 months of the completion of the project.
• Project outputs and publications on work arising from the Grant must acknowledge the support of the AGC Lee Parkin AGIA Grant