AGN Workshop: The next chapter in geoscience data

Earth scientists attending the AuScope Geochemistry Network community workshop, Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong country. Image: Bryant Ware

The AuScope Geochemistry Network (AGN) brought together NCRIS enabled AGN scientists from Australia’s top universities with national and global Earth science organisations. The participants met in person to explore projects the community championed, including modelling the ancient Earth, repurposing mine sites and opening museum collections for research and public accessibility. This successful community event will help shape the future of digital infrastructure provided by the AGN.

Gathering of collaborators

The AGN workshop offered a forum for showcasing expertise and applications across a broad range of research fields but more importantly, for discussions and feedback from collaborators. Attendees included representatives from the Sustainable Minerals Institute (University of Queensland), EarthByte (University of Sydney), Geoscience Australia, CSIRO, Museums Victoria, state and territory government geological surveys and OneGeochemistry. The perspectives of these groups are critical for directing the future of the AGN project, as it seeks to provide tools across a breadth of geoscience applications.

AGN director Prof. Brent McInnes outlines the progress and vision of the AGN to workshop participants. Image: Bryant Ware

“It has been fantastic to see the AGN's growth from bringing the geochemistry community together into a truly unique and useful product - AusGeochem. This is an exciting time for Australian geochemistry as we prepare to expand into new universities across the country. I am looking forward to seeing the impact that this new collaborative coalition will bring to Australian Earth Science in the coming years.”

– Prof. Brent McInnes

Recent activity

Over the past two years, the AGN has been working closely with globally recognised groups to expand the platform applications. These advances include facilitating interoperability between AusGeochem and GPlates software to provide web-based continental plate reconstructions through deep time.

Additionally, active integration of the platform with global research programs such as critical minerals and the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) facilitated the discovery of critical minerals and furthered understanding of oceanic processes.

On a global stage, AuScope and the AGN are also involved in the WorldFAIR project which seeks to ensure such data initiatives are able to connect and share internationally and across disciplines, which will help to take our data to the world. Many of these partners joined the AGN hosted workshop at the University of Melbourne on the 16th of February to connect geoscientists and help shape the future of the AGN.

Prof. Lesley Wyborn presenting to attendees on the WorldFAIR project and strategies for linking global data systems. Image: Bryant Ware

“This year’s workshop had nearly double the attendees we had at our first AGN workshop about a year and a half ago. It was great to not only see the collaborative growth of the Australian geochemistry network between geochemists from all different sectors but also to discuss and hear the excitement from the community on how the collaboration can continue to develop!” 

– Dr. Bryant Ware

Impact

The AGN hosted workshop offered a valuable opportunity for meaningful collaboration within the national and international geochemistry community, including members of the CODATA WorldFAIR OneGeochemistry Working Group. It helped shape the future direction of FAIR geochemical and environmental data for the Australian community, ensuring the geochemistry research initiatives' ongoing success and growth through open access digital environments.

Key Takeaways

  • The workshop identified a number of new geochemistry fields which could be included in the AGN capabilities.

  • The workshop acknowledged the importance of working towards ensuring data is FAIR compliant to provide value to multiple diverse users into the future.

Next Steps

With the workshop over, the team has a chance to take in the community's ideas and work on the next stage of research resources (e.g., analytical infrastructure, AusGeochem platform future development) highlighted as necessary for the Australian researchers. These include producing and adding tools into the AusGeochem platform for capturing isotopic ratio data (Sr isotope data) and radiometric age determination methods (such as Rb-Sr geochronology) and ensuring this data can be made FAIR and available to all.

Australian apatite fission track (AFT) collection provided by the University of Melbourne (Kohn et al., 2020; Kohn et al., 2002; Gleadow et al., 2002) shown within AusGeochem, projected onto the ancient continental plate reconstruction at 160 million years ago, provided through collaboration with GPlates. Image: AusGeochem

Future Impact

This event emphasised the role of the AusGeochem platform in shaping the future digital infrastructure for the geoscience community, enhancing the visibility of Australian and global geochemical research and opening doors for future international collaborations. The diversity of initiatives highlighted the breadth and depth of geochemical research within the AGN and the potential for new research through connecting these fields.

 
 
 

AUTHORS
Angus Nixon (AuScope Geochemistry Network; The University of Adelaide) & Halimulati Ananuer, (Research Associate at Macquarie University)
EDITOR
Philomena Manifold (AuScope)

What is the AGN?

The AGN is an AuScope and NCRIS funded consortium of Earth scientists from universities across Australia, committed to improving the Australian research data ecosystem and providing world-leading digital geochemistry data management infrastructure, analytical infrastructure and research tools for geoscientists. The flagship project of this initiative is the AusGeochem platform, an openly accessible digital environment for researchers to store, share, visualise and interpret complex research data and promote scientific discovery.

The AuScope Geochemistry Network is supported through AuScope via funding and direct collaboration in research data and international standards.

AGN, AusGeochem, EarthByte, ECEAuScopeCSIRO, Geoscience Australia, Data