ABIGAIL ALLWOOD |
Supervisors: *Professor Malcolm Walter (Palaeobiologist), Australian Centre for Astrobiology E-mail: aallwood@els.mq.edu.au
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Education:
*B. App. Science - Distinction (Geoscience), Queensland University of Technology 1999-2001
*B. App. Science (Geoscience)-1st class honours, Queensland University of Technology. 2002
PhD Activities:
*Three field seasons in the Pilbara (May-June 2003, June-Sept 2004, June-August 2005)
Home : I was born in Melbourne, raised in Brisbane and currently live in Sydney, but my heart—and important possessions—lie in tropical far north Queensland on the Atherton Tablelands.
Education/research/employment: After high school, I underwent several tortuous years of study and employment (including running my own business) until finally discovering a path that would allow me to pursue a lifelong dream… to study the natural world that we live in and worlds beyond. I completed a Geology degree at QUT in Brisbane. The first independent research I undertook was a 'Dean's Scholars Project' (a kind of small honours project) during second and third year of undergrad, which took me to the bottom of Santa Monica Bay in 2000-2001. There I was part of a team mapping offshore faults of the Los Angeles basin using a 2-man Delta Oceanographics submersible. I got my bachelors degree with Distinction and the Dean's Award for Excellence in 2001. The following year I continued studying at honours level under the supervision of Dr Gregg Webb and Dr Gary Huftile at QUT, and Dr Andrew Constantine at Origin Energy. The project was supported by Origin Energy, who also employed me (part time / holidays) during my degree. I was awarded a first class honours and Deans Award for excellence (top of class) at the end of 2002. The nice folks from Velseis, Geological Society of Australia, the War Widows Guild, Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia and the QUT Faculty of Science also gave me some awards (of the financial kind) that helped me get through undergrad – thank you! At the end of my honours year I accepted a job at Woodside Energy in Perth, in the New Ventures/North African team, thinking that my future would lie in that direction. However, when the opportunity came from Malcolm Walter and the ACA to do a PhD that would really set me on the path of my dreams… I traded the big paycheck for… er, very little money and ten times the work?? And never looked back…
Other things : Apart from rocks and planets, my other favourite things in life are trees—my husband and I like to grow rare and endangered rainforest species from seed (particularly species that are renowned for timber or those that provide food for rainforest animals). I also have a huge soft spot for native animals, especially cheeky cockatoos and parrots, and have worked as a volunteer carer for injured and orphaned native animals at different times of my life.
Publications
PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES
- Allwood , A. and Brown, A., 2004: Seeking the oldest evidence of life on Earth, Microbiology Australia, v. 25 (1), p. 26-27.
- Allwood , A.C., Walter, M.R., Kamber, B.S., Burch, I.W., 2006: Stromatolite reef from the Early Archaean era of Australia, Nature, in press.
- Allwood , A.C., Walter, M.R., and Marshall, C.P., 2005: Raman spectroscopy reveals thermal palaeoenvironments of c.3.5 billion-year-old organic matter. Journal of Vibrational Spectroscopy, in press.
BOOKS
- Walter, M. and Allwood, A., 2004, Life on Earth, Primitive Organisms and Microfossils, Biosediments and Biofilms: Encyclopaedia of Geology, v. 1. Elsevier, London. pp 279-294.
PUBLISHED PROCEEDINGS
- Allwood , A., 2003: Sedimentary environments of Earth’s earliest biosphere: Newly mapped stromatolitic deposits in the Strelley Pool Chert, East Pilbara Block: 3 rd European workshop on Exo/Astrobiology. Mars: the search for life, Abstracts. Madrid, 18-20 November, p. 96.
- Allwood , A., 2004: The Nullawarre Greensand; palaeoenvironment, sequence stratigraphy and the significance of green authigenic minerals. Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Journal, vol.44, no.1
- Allwood , A., 2004: Sedimentary environments of Earth’s earliest biosphere: Newly mapped stromatolitic and hydrothermal deposits in the Strelley Pool Chert, East Pilbara Block: Geological Society of Australia- Abstracts, v. 73, p. 48.
- Allwood , A., Walter, M., Marshall, C. and Van Kranendonk, M., 2004: Habit and habitat of earliest life on Earth: International Journal of Astrobiology, v. 3, Supplement 1, Abstracts from the Astrobiology Science Conference, NASA Ames, 28 March – 1 April 2004. p. 104.
- Allwood , A., Walter, M., Marshall, C., and Van Kranendonk, M., 2004: Palaeobiology and Palaeoenvironment of the stromatolitic Strelley Pool Chert, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, p. 196.
- Marshall., C., Allwood, A., Walter., M., Summons, R., and Van Kranendonk, M., 2004: Characterization of the carbonaceous material in the 3.4 Ga Strelley Pool Chert, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, p. 196.
- Allwood , A.C., Walter, M.R., Van Kranendonk, M.J., Kamber, B.S., 2005: 3.43 Ga Stromatolites, Rocky Shorelines and a Carbonate Platform: Strelley Pool Chert, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. NAI 2005: Biennial Meeting of the NASA Astrobiology Institute , April 10-14, University of Colorado, Boulder: Downloadable abstracts - URL: http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/nai2005/abstracts.cfm
- Allwood , A.C., Walter, M.R., Van Kranendonk, M.J., 2005: Stromatolite facies of the 3.43 Ga Strelley Pool Chert: Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. NAI 2005: Biennial Meeting of the NASA Astrobiology Institute , April 10-14, University of Colorado, Boulder: Downloadable abstracts - URL: http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/nai2005/abstracts.cfm
- Allwood , A.C., Walter, M.R., Van Kranendonk, M.J., Kamber, B.S., 2005: Life on a transgressive rocky shoreline and carbonate platform: 3.43 Ga Strelley Pool Chert, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. European Geophysical UnionAnnual General Meeting abstract
PhD Thesis: Palaeobiology and palaeoenvironment of a 3.43 billion year-old stromatolitic carbonate/evaporite platform: Strelley Pool Chert, Pilbara Craton, Australia
Supervisors: Prof. Malcolm Walter ( Macquarie University), Dr Craig Marshall ( University of Sydney), Dr Martin Van Kranendonk (Geological Survey of Western Australia)
The impetus for research stems from debate about Earth’s earliest fossil record—relating to the distinction of biotic from abiotic signatures in rocks of Early Archaean age; competing hypotheses about the depositional setting of the host rocks; and different models of the environments that nurtured early ecosystems. The project aims were: 1) to determine whether there is evidence of life on Earth in the 3.43 Ga Strelley Pool Chert (SPC); and, 2) to provide insights to the nature and environment of an early ‘ecosystem’(?).
The Strelley Pool Chert is one of three formations in the Pilbara that are at the forefront of early life studies. The SPC is unique among formations of such antiquity in that its broad extent, excellent preservation and abundance of stromatolitic structures allow regional development of palaeobiological context. I examined the formation across a ~100-kilometre-wide area and mapped in detail a ~10 km long section of ridges in an area where the formation is best preserved. To date, the principal research outcomes centre upon the discovery of seven new stromatolite morphotypes in the SPC, constraining their environment to a transgressive, partially restricted, isolated peritidal carbonate platform, and mapping and understanding stromatolite distribution within the palaeoenvironment. The resulting palaeoecological framework refutes contemporary abiotic hypotheses for the origin of the stromatolites, and provides interrelated lines of evidence that strongly suggest a biological origin.
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Last Updated: June 3, 2006