When rubbish enters the ocean what happens? Oceanographer Dr Erik Van Sebille says: “The plastic joins other rubbish ... and is eaten by thousands of sea animals, birds and fish who mistake the plastic for food.” Dr Van Sebille is using the NeCTAR Research Cloud to host http://www.adrift.org.au a research tool 'Adrift' to explore how objects drift through the ocean.
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Unravelling the secrets of past worlds
"Science is international, and researching in Australia reinforces the importance of communication and collective resources. I am constantly inspired by the pioneering scientists who developed and devoted their lives to progressive ideas ... The EarthByters I research with also motivate and inspire me greatly; I am learning how to unravel the secrets of past worlds in a group with a United Nations flavor, where one can have a great laugh while getting to know cutting edge e-research tools and databases."
Name: Nicky Wright
Where do you work? EarthByte research group in the School of Geosciences, University of Sydney.
Discipline? Geology and Geophysics
Your research field and how you became interested? My research is based on paleogeography throughout the Phanerozoic. I have combined GPlates, an open source plate tectonic software, with the online global Paleobiology Database to reconstruct past environments. I became interested in paleogeography after realizing how all past processes of the earth are integrated and dynamic, and I have been fascinated in the earth’s geologic history ever since.
Inspirations and influences? I am constantly inspired by the pioneering scientists who developed and devoted their lives to progressive ideas yet were shunned for them; Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution sparked controversy, particularly from the Church, throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century, whilst Alfred Wegener proposed the idea of continental drift in 1915 which was largely rejected until after his death. The EarthByters I research with also motivate and inspire me greatly; I am learning how to unravel the secrets of past worlds in a group with a United Nations flavor, where one can have a great laugh while getting to know cutting edge e-research tools and databases.
What has been a research highlight? Studying and linking paleogeography with global paleobiology data whilst still an undergraduate student has been extremely rewarding. This has revealed the intricacies involved in research and the power of technology: the integration of two separate tools, GPlates and the paleobiology database, can be used to produce dynamic palaeogeographic reconstructions, and help reveal the evolution of past ocean gateways and land bridges as faunal migration routes.
As an Australian researcher, what is a highlight? In Australia collaborating ideas and people is important, especially given Australia’s position in the world. Science is international, and researching in Australia reinforces the importance of communication and collective resources. Working at EarthByte, I have had the good fortune of working in a very dynamic and encouraging environment, with lots of international collaborators, visitors and international students.
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NeCTAR Partners
Senior software developer from Cybera in Alberta, Canada, Everett Toews, recently visited Melbourne to offer his support to Australia's Research Cloud. He shares his experience building clouds. Everett is a keen scuba diver, since 2004. He is seen in these photos playing hockey underwater in Hawaii.
A NeCTAR partner is a friend, an individual or a group doing something of interest to the NeCTAR project. They are not necessarily someone with an economic or stakeholder interest in NeCTAR. As NeCTAR is partnering with a broad range of disciplines; eResearch communities and their computing partners, there are lots of interesting stories to tell. Please email: communications@nectar.org.au
Canada has embarked on building a Research Cloud. Read more about their journey via an interview with technical architect John Shillington.
