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Hello. I'm Dr. Clinton Foster. I'm the Chief Scientist at Geoscience Australia
Geoscience Australia is a national agency
which looks at both the on-shore and the off-shore of Australia.
We look at the geology
related to energy,
related to minerals,
we look at natural hazards,
and we do environmental work as well.
'Course covering all this is our spatial aspect;
where we are in time and space is very important to us.
Why are you the ambassador of Maths of Planet Earth?
Basically 'cause maths underpins,
like our language,
everything we do.
It's not recognised by everybody,
which is a shame,
but this is the way we handle vast amounts of data:
through maths.
We understand the properties of rocks, for example
through translating them into equations
and we can look at them and handle them in computing for example.
What role does mathematics play in your work and in the organisation?
I'm not a mathematician.
My degrees are micro-palaeontology and palynology, spores and pollen.
and the only maths I did at university were maths stats;
very, very important for discriminating between different populations.
But, as an agency,
mathematics impinges upon our geophysical work,
where we look at the structure of the earth.
It impinges upon our environmental work, where we look at modelling.
It impinges on our subsurface work,
where we look at fluid flows through the earth,
so we understand how aquifers work.
We understand how carbon dioxide,
when it's injected into the earth for carbon capture and storage, works.
Absolutely critical.
Can you recruit enough mathematicians and statisticians?
I think we can,
but it's important that we have mathematicians per se,
but we also have people who have high mathematic ability and computational ability.
Part of my role at Geoscience Australia is to look after the graduate program
and we are focusing on people with computational and mathematical skills for that very reason.
Is it important for all Australians to be mathematically literate?
Absolutely.
The problem is, however, that maths is seen,
as it certainly was when I was taught last century,
as disjunct from the real world.
And really and hopefully this MPE program will actually
show people that mathematics underpins everything we do and the importance of it.
We take... we make a lot of assumptions;
we don't actually realise that it's the maths that's doing it for us,
in the background.
How can we inspire more Australians to take up careers in mathematics?
I think, hopefully in this Mathematics of Planet Earth year,
people will be able to see the importance of maths in everything we do
and therefore, not be so frightened of it.
and look at it and say, 'Gee, that's an opportunity for me.
'How can I apply {\i1}my{\i0} maths training
'for this particular job?'
Do you think mathematicians deserve the 'Geek' tag?
I don't.
That's last century's language
and I think, if we get away from the word 'Geek'
and we realise it's part of our whole system of learning,
then we'll all be better off.