Recognising AuScope treasure, Goran Boren
Last week, our wonderful AuScope technical officer, Goran Boren won The University of Adelaide’s Faculty of Sciences Professional staff member of 2020. Our technical staff are often the unsung heroes of all our projects and programs, and without Goran we would have no magnetotelluric (MT) program. Here, Goran’s collaborators over the years shine a light on his extraordinary work over the years.
Excellence in service provision
Goran is a senior technical officer in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Adelaide, funded by the Earth Sciences NCRIS Facility known as AuScope since 2007. His role has been to support a national geophysical imaging facility in terms of developing instrumentation, maintenance of equipment and training.
Goran’s impact as a world-class technical officer cannot be underestimated. We at the University of Adelaide are very fortunate to have him as part of the team, and recognise that our research successes are underpinned by his high quality work.
Goran has been the technical lead on Australia’s flagship geophysical data collection program in 3D geoelectric imaging, led by the University of Adelaide, for the past 13 years. This position involves a very high degree of expert knowledge and experience in the deployment of complex, field-based instrumentation. It also involves the training of multiple field personnel needed to deploy the rolling arrays of instrument sites. Past Director of the ANSIR National Facilities for Earth Sounding, Professor Anya Reading says,
“Across multiple Australian institutes, Goran stands out as the most consistent factor for success in what can be exacting and stressful programs. He undoubtedly operates at the highest level of excellence in both equipment usage and his capacity to work with diverse users of the equipment, has been a key factor in the successful delivery of this multi-year flagship project and has contributed, again at the highest level to both the efficiency and effectiveness of University of Adelaide-led Australian scientific research."
Building equipment involves a degree of innovation and creativity, but maintenance requires careful, detailed and patient work. The University of Adelaide geophysical equipment pool is one of, if not, the largest in the research world and requires considerable time to keep working. A key user of this equipment is as a PhD student at the University of Adelaide and now an ARC Future Fellow Dr Kate Selway from Macquarie University. In support of this nomination Kate writes,
"Goran is an invaluable member of the geophysics team at Adelaide and much of my research simply would not have happened without his help. Goran has helped me with research in Australia, Antarctica and Africa, both in the field and in developing and maintaining instruments. Not only is he professional, creative and highly skilled, he is also unfailingly enthusiastic and always up for a challenge."
Because of Goran's technical excellence he has often been seconded by other research groups around the world to be part of their field teams. He was part of a Capricorn Orogen geophysical transects team in north-western WA (Goran as a co-author of an article in the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences in 2013; and awarded the Geological Society of Australia's A. B. Edwards Medal).
Goran (far right) joins a Columbia University-led ocean going geophysics mission in Alaska in 2019. Image: Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University
The Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies included Goran undertaking challenging work in west Africa (Goran as a co-author of an article in Precambrian Research in 2017). Another example is in Antarctica undertaken with the University of Utah, in which a survey line over 500 km was collected over a period of two months, much of which was spent in tents. This is published in a 2017 Nature Communications article with Goran as a co-author. When asked to comment on Goran’s input, lead investigator on that project Professor Phil Wannamaker of the University of Utah said,
"Goran was a very positive presence in our remote central Antarctic geophysical project. His perceptive advice in trouble shooting was invaluable and his tireless optimism kept team motivation high."
Successful delivery of a beneficial project: The AusLAMP program
Goran goes above and beyond his role description. His technical work in developing a suite of high quality geophysical instruments has been the catalyst for a national AUD$22.5 million, 10-year program called the Australian Lithospheric Architecture Magnetotelluric Project (AusLAMP). The program from 2013-2023 is mapping the entire continent with a grid of 3000 sites spaced every 50 km, through partnership of Universities (Adelaide, Tasmania, WA), Geoscience Australia, and all State and Territory Geological Surveys. The primary aim of AusLAMP is to identify deep footprints of world-class mineral systems that are hidden by the extensive sedimentary cover over 80% of the continent.
Dr Marina Costelloe, A/g Branch Head of Mineral Systems at Geoscience Australia says:
“Goran has been an essential part of growing AusLAMP, a national magnetotelluric program, from small and humble beginnings towards national coverage, and has other nations following Australia’s including Canada, USA and India.
His work has been fundamental in establishing the first set of long period MT instruments in Australia, continuous instrument development, and data acquisition processes. He works with a wide range of stakeholders from academia, industry, state and commonwealth government diligently.”
Goran Boren (left) and Ben Kay (right), both from The University of Adelaide with AuScope enabled marine MT instruments from the University of California on board the Salt River vessel in 2019 about obtain new AusLAMP MT sites on the seafloor of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia — a missing piece of the larger Gawler Craton puzzle.
In the 2017 UNCOVER Roadmap identifying the primary goals of the minerals industry, AusLAMP was ranked as one of the top six highest priorities to be completed. Many companies are using AusLAMP data as a framework for more detailed mineral exploration, and the University of Adelaide is providing scientific input into the design and interpretation of surveys. None of this could happen without Goran's input.
Dr Stephan Thiel, Coordinator of the Lithospheric Architecture Program at the Geological Survey of SA, makes the following case for Goran’s recognition:
“Goran is one of the rare and grossly under recognized research enablers that are pivotal to the fundamental and applied research collaboration between academia and government institutions. His steady leadership in technical support of the national AuScope geophysical instrument pool has been the foundation for over 10 years of world-class geoscience research between the Geological Survey of South Australia and the University of Adelaide.
He has been vital in helping deliver award winning research for the geothermal industry, and in supporting governmental mineral systems research to unlock the mineral potential of the state for the benefit of South Australians. Without his technical and logistical support, the Geological Survey would not have been able to deliver on over $2.5M investment in pre-competitive geoscience data to reduce exploration risk in South Australia.”
Goran has been highly involved with field training in mentoring students and researchers across the globe. He has boundless enthusiasm for his work, and is always calm. He is a great inspiration to PhD students, many who now continue in the field. Tom Ostersen, a PhD Candidate at the University of Tasmania, says that Goran was a key member of the team that acquired the largest ever MT dataset in Tasmania as part of the AusLAMP initiative in 2016:
“Goran’s excellent on-the-job training in MT survey methods was instrumental in establishing an efficient survey team capable of acquiring data of the highest standard. After returning to Adelaide, Goran continued to assist the project by taking calls at odd hours to troubleshoot instrument issues as well as manage logistics around instrument shipments to and from Hobart. His contribution to the project was a major factor in its success.”
AUTHORS
Professor Graham Heinson,
Department of Earth Sciences,
School of Physical Sciences,
The University of Adelaide
Edited by Jo Condon, AuScope