Roxette News and Events
GSAQ Student Contribution Medal – March 2021
In March a GSAQ Gold Medal was awarded to Vanita Mens for her extensive contribution of time, taxi services and strawberries to the rock set assembly working bees.
Vanita has contributed many days to the assembly of the rock sets, travelling a great distance from her home in Glasshouse, and providing transport for others from the university where she is studying
Roxette Volunteers Recognised – June 2021
In June, ‘The Australian Geologist’ paid tribute to members of the project team for their volunteering contributions to the GSA
Mineral Sets for Minors – March 2021
Two Queensland geophysicists have embarked on a novel project in bringing the joy of rocks and minerals to pre-schoolers.
Joseph and Victoria Lim have worked with GDD to create some unique ‘hands-on’ sets that engage the youngsters, at the same time imparting an early understanding of our earth
International Aid – Mali – December 2020
The GSAQ Rocks and Minerals education sets continue to attract a broader reach, now extending to western Africa!
A request was received from Mark Jessell on behalf of the Agate Project team at the University of Western Australia, for some teaching sets for the University of Bamako in Mali.
The not-for-profit Agate Project Ltd offers a range of education opportunities for professionals, researchers and students based in Africa in the field of earth and planetary sciences. They provide training in various forms, sponsorship to conferences and workshops, scholarships, research grants and exchange programs. Details of their activities and achievements can be found on their website at https://agate-project.org/
Rocks, Landscapes and Boondies! – September 2020
In September, a group of four of the GSAQ committee members travelled to Mt Isa to review tour sites for the new Mt Isa Rocks and Landscapes book that has now been released
The group also managed to collect almost 1000kg of mineral and rock materials from the student sets
'Back it up Tony, Warwick'll give me a hand...'
Exploits of the trip were documented by Ian Withnall, and published in the Australian Geologist (Read here)
As1726 Engineering Geology Sets – February 2020
Customised sets for the teaching of geology to geotechnical engineers have been created, following the guidelines under AS1726_1
The Martian Rock Sets – 2019
Following an unusual request from the Queensland University, three sets of rocks have been constructed to assist students undertaking studies in the remote identification of rock materials.
The goal was to assemble sets of varying rock types that appear similar, to develop techniques for differentiating the specimens remotely. The three sets developed were 'white stuff', 'black stuff' and 'metallic stuff'!
Science Week – March 2018
Science Week saw the first public outing for the new rock sets in Southbank. The sets attracted a lot of interest from the young and old alike.
Project Launch – The Australian Geologist – September 2018
The project was first announced to the GSA community in the Australian Geologist in September 2018, providing a description of the goals and planned activities for the project. (Read all about it…)
