$2.1m grant for marine geophysical software to benefit IMAS academics and students

The University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) will receive $2.1 million worth of specialised, industry-leading geoscience software licences from US-based company IHS Energy to assist both research and training in the field of marine geophysics.

The provision of a 15-seat network licence (for teaching purposes) and six dongle licences (for use by academics and higher-degree research students) will allow unprecedented ability for IMAS researchers to analyse and interpret marine geophysical data such as seismic reflection and sub-bottom profile data.

IMAS senior lecturer in marine geophysics Dr Joanne Whittaker said that the Institute will also be able to teach undergraduate and postgraduate students how to use the IHS Kingdom software and provide them with key skills used by geoscientists in industry.

“To start, we plan to use the extensive dataset of sub-seafloor data offshore Antarctica collected by Geoscience Australia to investigate regional-scale geological processes involved in the break-up of Australia and Antarctica some 85 million years ago,” she said.

“IHS Kingdom is a widely used tool for geoscience interpretation. Training students with industry-leading technology ensures that they are well equipped and competitive when they enter the workforce.
“I am most pleased that we are receiving this grant from IHS, which will benefit both our research and teaching for many years to come.”

IHS Energy integrates research, analysis and information into a problem-solving platform that enables strategic planners, engineers and operations leaders to make key business decisions.
IMAS Media Officer Lana Best