Lindsay Boyd Collins (19 February 19442 September 2015) was an Australian

marine geologist Marine geology or geological oceanography is the study of the history and structure of the ocean floor. It involves geophysical, geochemical, sedimentological and paleontological investigations of the ocean floor and coastal zone. Marine geology ...

and

sedimentologist Sedimentology encompasses the study of modern sediments such as sand, silt, and clay, and the processes that result in their formation (erosion and weathering), transport, deposition and diagenesis. Sedimentologists apply their understanding of mo ...

, and a faculty member in the Department of Applied Geology at

Curtin University Curtin University, formerly known as Curtin University of Technology and Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), is an Australian public research university based in Bentley, Perth, Western Australia. It is named after John Curtin, ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. He was interested in studying the continental shelf of Western Australia and coral reefs. Collins was a prominent scholar, and completed projects on continental shelf mapping of Australian shelves,

microbialites Microbialite is a benthic sedimentary deposit made of carbonate mud (particle diameter < 5 μm) that is formed with the mediation of microbes. The constituent carbonate mud is a type of

Shark Bay Shark Bay (Malgana: ''Gathaagudu'', "two waters") is a World Heritage Site in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia. The http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/world/shark-bay area is located approximately north of Perth, on the ...

, and coral reef studies at the Abrolhos,

Ningaloo The Ningaloo Coast is a World Heritage Site located in the North West Australia, north west coastal region of Western Australia. The heritage-listed area is located approximately north of Perth, along the Indian Ocean, East Indian Ocean. The d ...

, Scott Reef, the

Rowley Shoals The Rowley Shoals is a group of three atoll-like coral reefs south of the Timor Sea, about west of Broome on the northwestern Australian coast, centered on , on the edge of one of the widest continental shelves in the world. Each atoll cover ...

and the Kimberley.

Early life and education

Collins was born in 1944 in Western Australia. Growing up as a child in his grandparents' place south of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

and being fascinated by things happening in the ocean nearby, he loved the ocean and dreamed of being a marine scientist from a young age. Collins became interested in marine geology when he visited

, north of Perth, and loving its

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

s and their beautiful environment he wanted to learn more about its structure. He obtained his

BSc (Hons) A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Geology in 1967 and his PhD on continental shelf sedimentation in 1983, both at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

Career

In 1971 Collins began working at Curtin University, then the Western Australian Institute of Technology (WAIT), as a Lecturer in Geology. After gaining his PhD he became the Geology coordinator in the Department of Geology and Geophysics in 1984. In 1988 Collins was promoted to Senior Lecturer in Geology (Sedimentology), became Associate Professor in 1993, and in 2009 Professor of Sedimentary and Marine Geology in the Department of Applied Geology. He was Head of Department from 1999 until 2005, but continued to teach the second- and third-year sedimentology courses. During his tenure as Head of Department, Collins led the third-year field trip and was a key figure in the development of the department's

double degree A double degree program, sometimes called a dual degree, combined degree, conjoint degree, joint degree or double graduation program, involves a student's working for two university degrees in parallel—either at the same institution or at diffe ...

s. The research interests of Collins at Curtin University included, His most recent research focused on Shark Bay, with which he had a long association, and the little known coral reefs of the Kimberley. With Bruce

Collins also worked in

petroleum exploration Hydrocarbon exploration (or oil and gas exploration) is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for deposits of hydrocarbons, particularly petroleum and natural gas, in the Earth#Crust, Earth using petroleum geology. Exploration m ...

as a specialist sedimentologist, and as a researcher in continental shelf, coral reef and coastal geology, specialising in carbonate sedimentation. On several occasions he was Chief Scientist aboard , a national research vessel. Collins served as Assistant Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Landscape Environments and Mineral Exploration (CRC LEME), and Head of Applied Geology for six years. Up until his death he was a member of the Australia-New Zealand Science Council for the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) and a Project Leader for the Western Australian Marine Science Institution (WAMSI) Kimberley Research Program. A long association with Shark Bay led to the Curtin Shark Bay Project and the Caring for Our Country Shark Bay Project. CoringSurvey

Recent projects included investigating Recent research sponsors included the Western Australian Marine Science Institute (WAMSI),

Woodside Energy Woodside Energy Group Ltd (formerly Woodside Petroleum Ltd) is an Australian petroleum exploration and production company. Woodside is the operator of oil and gas production in Australia and also Australia's largest independent dedicated oil an ...

, the Department of Transport (Marine), and

Petrobras Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., better known by the portmanteau Petrobras (), is a state owned enterprise, state-owned Brazilian multinational corporation in the petroleum industry headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The company's name transla ...

He had a long history at

, and was involved in teaching, research, and several years as Head of Department. In the more than 40 years with the university, he taught thousands of undergraduate students, supervised more than 40 honours and postgraduate students, produced over 90 peer reviewed papers and reports, and led or co-investigated on at least 20 grants and consultancies worth almost A$11 million.

Death

Collins died on 2 September 2015 at the age of 71. He is buried in

Karrakatta Cemetery Karrakatta Cemetery is a metropolitan cemetery in the suburb of Karrakatta in Perth, Western Australia. Karrakatta Cemetery first opened for burials in 1899, the first being that of wheelwright Robert Creighton. Managed by the Metropolitan Ce ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Lindsay 1944 births 2015 deaths Academic staff of Curtin University Burials at Karrakatta Cemetery Marine geologists Sedimentologists University of Western Australia alumni

Early life and education

Career

Death

See also

References