King Penguins - these large creatures have little to do directly with Peter Cawood's work, but they are some of the charming attractions that he meets in carrying out his field work on tectonics.
As the director of the Tectonics Special Research Centre in the School of Earth and Environment (TSCR) at UWA, Winthrop Professor Peter Cawood is involved in looking back millions of years into Australia's geographical history.
The TSCR's mission for the past nine years has been to discover the supercontinents of which Australia was part in the last three billion years. Such research can prove very useful to the mineral and petroleum resources sector; by understanding how Australia was formed we can better predict where particular resources may be stored and carry out exploration in a smarter and more efficient manner.
Winthrop Professor Cawood's research not only looks back but also forward to where Australia may be in the world in the future; hypothetical reconstructions imply that in 75 million years this brown land with be part of China and very close to North America, surrounded by deserts.
The enthusiasm and passion that the Winthrop Professor has for his field are easily evident and it ensure that the Centre and its research are in great hands.
