held tenured academic staff positions at the
University of Otago (Dunedin) and James Cook University (Townsville), where he was
Professor and Head of School of Earth Sciences between 1981 and 1999.
Biography of Professor Robert (Bob) M. Carter
with lists of Bob Carter's public opinion pieces and research publicationsEmail: bob.carter@jcu.edu.au
Bob Carter is a Research Professor at James Cook
University (Queensland) and the University of Adelaide (South Australia). He is
a palaeontologist, stratigrapher, marine geologist and environmental scientist with more than thirty
years professional experience, and
holds degrees from the University of Otago (New Zealand) and the University of
Cambridge (England). He has held tenured academic staff positions at the
University of Otago (Dunedin) and James Cook University (Townsville), where he was
Professor and Head of School of Earth Sciences between 1981 and 1999.
Bob has wide experience in management and research
administration, including service as Chair of the Earth Sciences Discipline
Panel of the Australian Research Council, Chair of the national Marine Science
and Technologies Committee, Director of the Australian Office of the Ocean
Drilling Program, and Co-Chief Scientist on ODP Leg 181 (Southwest Pacific
Gateways).
Bob Carter contributes regular media (and other)
comment and opinion on scientific issues which relate to his areas of knowledge. He
also offers lecture or workshop presentations by
arrangement. His public commentaries draw on his knowledge of the scientific
literature and a personal publication record of
more than 100 papers in international science journals on topics which include
taxonomic palaeontology, palaeoecology, the growth and form of the molluscan
shell, New Zealand and Pacific geology, stratigraphic classification, sequence
stratigraphy, sedimentology, the Great Barrier Reef, Quaternary geology, and
sea-level and climate change.
Bob Carter's current research on climate change, sea-level change and
stratigraphy is based on field studies of Cenozoic sediments (last 65 million
years) from the Southwest Pacific region, especially the Great Barrier Reef and
New Zealand, and includes the analysis of marine sediment cores collected during ODP Leg 181.
Bob's research has been supported by grants from competitive public
research agencies, especially the Australian Research Council (ARC). He receives no research funding from special interest organisations such as environmental groups, energy companies or government
departments. Bob strives to provide critical and dispassionate analysis based
upon scientific principles, demonstrated facts and a knowledge of the scientific
literature.
