2003 News Archive
Award of Honorary Membership of the Association of Exploration
Geochemists (AEG) to G.J.S. Govett
 Presentation
record by Dr David Garnett
Professor Gerry Govett (Visitor to CRC LEME) was awarded Honorary
Membership of the AEG at the International Geochemical Exploration
Symposium in Dublin in September 2003. He is the sixth person to
receive this award.. Honorary Membership is given only to those
who have made a distinguished contribution to exploration geochemistry
that warrants exceptional recognition. It may be awarded for scientific
excellence; for an exceptional contribution to dissemination of
knowledge of that science; or for a major contribution towards the
growth and well-being of exploration geochemists through such bodies
as the AEG. In the case of Gerry Govett it can be argued that he
qualifies on all three counts.
He was a founding member of the AEG, serving on Council from 1974
to 1978, including a term as President in 1976-1977. He organised
the first regional AEG meeting, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and
also served on the original committee that formulated the guidelines
for awarding AEG Honorary Membership. In recent years he has been
particularly active in the debate over the changing role of the
Association. His contribution to geoscience has not stopped with
the AEG. He was Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of
Geology, University of New Brunswick (1973-1977) and was also a
member of the Canadian Geoscience Council (1975-1977); the Canadian
Committee for the Correlation of Caledonian Strata-bound Sulphides
Project (1975-1977); the International Nickel Company of Canada
Graduate Research Fellowship Committee (1969-1973) and the Australian
National Committee for the International Geological Correlation
Projects (1978-1988). As if this wasn't enough he was also a Councillor
for the Australian Mineral Foundation (1983); and served as Vice-President
(1981-1983) and President (1983-1984) of the Australian Geoscience
Council.
Having obtained degrees from the Universities of Wales and London,
his early career included an appointment as Associate Research Officer
at the Research Council of Alberta, and later Professor of Geology
at the University of New Brunswick (Canada). These appointments
were interspersed with periods as consultant to the United Nations
and OECD in various countries. He made his last major move, to the
University of New South Wales, Australia, where he occupied the
Chair of Geology (1977-1996), first as Head of the School of Applied
Geology (1979-1985) before broadening his responsibilities to become
Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science (1984-1996). In this last
position he was responsible for some 230 academic and general staff.
The career outlined above would have been more than enough for
most people but Gerry Govett is far from being a simple died-in-the-wool
academic. He has had extensive exploration experience (planning
and implementation) in 15 countries (Australia, Canada, Ethiopia,
Fiji, Finland, Greece, Guyana, Jordan, Indonesia, Philippines, Papua
New Guinea, Turkey, Zambia, Zimbabwe). He has consulted to both
large international and smaller national mining and he has been
Geochemical Adviser and Consultant to the Geological Surveys of
Greece (1975, 1980, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989) and Finland (1987,
1989). In addition he was a Director of Delta Gold Ltd from the
time it listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1983 until it
merged with Goldfields Limited in 2001 to form AurionGold. During
that period he was Chairman of the Board during the company reorganisation
in 1994. He remained a member of the Board after the merger until
the company was taken over by Placer Dome in 2002.
In a career that spans well over forty years Gerry has achieved
successful transitions both from the northern hemisphere to the
southern hemisphere and from academia to business, and in the process
has made seminal contributions across the entire field of exploration
geochemistry. Whether it was sampling protocols or data analysis
he had something constructive and original to say about it. He was
an early champion of electrochemical models of element dispersion
through transported cover, and while this was more than thirty years
ago it is as relevant today as it was then. This, and other, work
is documented in more than ninety scientific papers.
He has not only generated knowledge of exploration geochemistry,
he has also disseminated it, both his own and the work of others.
He has inspired generations of students both in Canada and Australia
with his energy, his enthusiasm and the scientific rigour of his
ideas, and has managed to translate his academic skill into tangible
exploration successes. He served on the editorial boards of Resources
Policy from 1974-1991, the Journal of Geochemical Exploration (1976-1998)
and Exploration and Mining Geology (1991-1996).
It is clear that exploration geochemistry owes much to Gerry Govett
but it is probably reasonable to argue that his most enduring contribution
to has been through his editorship of the Handbook of Exploration
Geochemistry. He not only conceived the idea for such a series,
in 1974, but he even wrote one of the volumes that we have today
– on rock geochemistry. He coerced many of the world's leading
geochemists to provide chapters for the seven volumes produced so
far, providing an invaluable synthesis of knowledge on exploration
geochemistry.
- Presented at "IGES 2003", Dublin, August 2003.
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