Professorship to revive palynology in WA

Oil and gas companies Chevron and Woodside, alongside The University of Western Australia (UWA), are launching an international search for an expert who can breathe new life into the discipline of palynology in Western Australia.

Palynology is the study of plant pollen, spores and a variety of aquatic microorganisms that lived from hundreds of millions of years ago up to the present day. The specialist science is used to help understand environmental and climatic changes through Earth’s history, shining a light on past environmental conditions and also pointing to the likely existence or otherwise of hydrocarbons.

Winthrop Professor David Lumley, chair in Geophysics and director of an energy geoscience research centre at UWA’s School of Earth and Environment, said microfossils are important indicators of past environments - but the pool of Australian palynological knowledge is at risk of disappearing due to the retirement of experts who were instrumental in training the next generation of palynologists, such as UWA’s Professor David Haig.

“UWA has historically had a very strong group in this area in collaboration with the WA Geological Survey and Geoscience Australia,” Professor Lumley said. “However, that goes back decades and now these people are all semiretired and consulting part-time.

“Because it is a very specialist topic, it has been very difficult to teach the skills needed at university level anywhere in Australia - certainly in the last decade or so. Everyone is very concerned that we don’t have any young people coming through the university system developing skills in palynology - so before the experienced guys go fishing and don’t come back to work, they want to pass on the torch.”

UWA, Geoscience Australia, the WA Geological Survey, Woodside and Chevron thus met to discuss ways to rejuvenate the field. Late last year, Chevron and Woodside agreed to fund a new Professorship in Palynology at UWA for five years.

Chevron Asset Development General Manager Gerry Flaherty said palynologists play an important role in Chevron’s exploration activities, as their work allows the company to determine ages of the rock layers that contained oil and gas and correlate sedimentary layers between different wells.

“[The professorship] will revitalise teaching and research in palynology in Australia, provide the industry with a new generation of palynologists and help create innovations that will allow us to develop our oil and gas fields in new and exciting ways,” Flaherty said.

Woodside Executive Vice President Global Exploration Phil Loader said palynology allows the company to construct a detailed understanding of the depositional environments of its reservoirs, thus enabling them to “develop discovered reserves responsibly and identify new exploration targets”.

“Woodside is pleased to extend our support of Geosciences at UWA by funding the Professor of Palynology position,” Loader said. “This teaching and research initiative will help advance a new generation of palynologists, who are needed to progress the industry’s pursuit and development of global hydrocarbon resources.”

A worldwide search for the new expert will begin this month, with an appointment expected later this year.

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