David Leaman
Encyclopedia
David Edward Leaman, born in Hobart
, Tasmania
is an author
, structural geologist
, geohydrologist and geophysicist.
PhD
graduated from the University of Tasmania
and studied in the Tasmanian Mines Department. His graduate research and early project work for the Department of Mines was related to engineering projects, groundwater assessments and fracture flow in crystalline rocks. He had been specifically trained as a government cadet for specialized engineering and hydrological projects. His title in the Mines Department was Groundwater and Engineering Geologist with the Geological Survey of Tasmania and he worked there from February 1966 till 1973. His doctoral thesis in 1970 derived from problems recognised in Midlands Tasmania and provided the first comprehensive descriptions of dolerite intrusions coupled with a theory of emplacement. The understanding was important for basin and catchment studies, and coal
resource evaluations. THe supervisor of this research was Prof. S. Warren Carey.
. From 1966 to 1981, he worked for the Geological Survey of Tasmania. His professional studies focus on dolerite, igneous intrusions, granite
and the use of gravity and magnetic
geophysical methods. Since 1981 he has maintained a geophysics consulting firm, Leaman Geophysics. In this role he participated in discovering mineral deposits at North Hilton, Queensland, North Rosebery in Tasmania, and coal in Queensland. Also he has been involved in oil and gas exploration in Papua New Guinea and Bass Strait
. He has also assisted local communities and landowners who believe forestry has affected or will affect their land. He was a lecturer at the University of Tasmania from 1972 to 2001 in the areas of civil engineering
, tectonics
and environmental geology
and led field excursion for applied geophysics. In this time he supervised Honours and Doctoral students as well. Funding cuts led to the termination of employment in 2001. He was a member of the Key Centre team for study of Ore Deposits.
Leaman was secured by applicants for appeal to the Tasmanian Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal as their expert scientist to establish proof of the danger of logging and harvesting in the area of South Sister, near St. Marys, Tasmania. His long-term research and experience in holistic catchment assessment, and his independence from government and industry groups, has been valued by many local communities and landowners. He has sought to help such groups understand how land use changes might affect their properties and local water resources. He has been engaged to act as expert scientific witness in appeals concerning risks to water resources in Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia.
Leaman leads walking tours and led the hiking group during the 2008 Hobart Mountain Festival, celebrating 172 years since Charles Darwin
first climbed Mount Wellington. He has also been a lecturer for the University of the Third Age at Kingborough since 1997.
Leaman is a member of a number of societies and has been President of the Royal Society of Tasmania
on two occasions.
He also wrote The Rock Which Makes Tasmania, published in 2002, a comprehensive, authoritative work on the Jurassic
dolerite rock that dominates the island
of Tasmania; other works include Water-Facts, Issues, Problems and Solutions (3rd edition 2007) and Earthly Secrets (2009).
He also published many academic papers, numerous industry reports and maps.
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
is an author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, structural geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
, geohydrologist and geophysicist.
Training
David Leaman, BScBSC
BSC is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to:Science and technology* Bachelor of Science , an undergraduate degree* Base Station Controller, part of a mobile phone network; see: Base Station subsystem...
PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
graduated from the University of Tasmania
University of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
and studied in the Tasmanian Mines Department. His graduate research and early project work for the Department of Mines was related to engineering projects, groundwater assessments and fracture flow in crystalline rocks. He had been specifically trained as a government cadet for specialized engineering and hydrological projects. His title in the Mines Department was Groundwater and Engineering Geologist with the Geological Survey of Tasmania and he worked there from February 1966 till 1973. His doctoral thesis in 1970 derived from problems recognised in Midlands Tasmania and provided the first comprehensive descriptions of dolerite intrusions coupled with a theory of emplacement. The understanding was important for basin and catchment studies, and coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
resource evaluations. THe supervisor of this research was Prof. S. Warren Carey.
Endeavors
Leaman used to lecture and perform research at the University of TasmaniaUniversity of Tasmania
The University of Tasmania is a medium-sized public Australian university based in Tasmania, Australia. Officially founded on 1 January 1890, it was the fourth university to be established in nineteenth-century Australia...
. From 1966 to 1981, he worked for the Geological Survey of Tasmania. His professional studies focus on dolerite, igneous intrusions, granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
and the use of gravity and magnetic
Magnetism
Magnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
geophysical methods. Since 1981 he has maintained a geophysics consulting firm, Leaman Geophysics. In this role he participated in discovering mineral deposits at North Hilton, Queensland, North Rosebery in Tasmania, and coal in Queensland. Also he has been involved in oil and gas exploration in Papua New Guinea and Bass Strait
Bass Strait
Bass Strait is a sea strait separating Tasmania from the south of the Australian mainland, specifically the state of Victoria.-Extent:The International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Bass Strait as follows:...
. He has also assisted local communities and landowners who believe forestry has affected or will affect their land. He was a lecturer at the University of Tasmania from 1972 to 2001 in the areas of civil engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
, tectonics
Tectonics
Tectonics is a field of study within geology concerned generally with the structures within the lithosphere of the Earth and particularly with the forces and movements that have operated in a region to create these structures.Tectonics is concerned with the orogenies and tectonic development of...
and environmental geology
Environmental geology
Environmental geology, like hydrogeology, is an applied science concerned with the practical application of the principles of geology in the solving of environmental problems. It is a multidisciplinary field that is closely related to engineering geology and, to a lesser extent, to environmental...
and led field excursion for applied geophysics. In this time he supervised Honours and Doctoral students as well. Funding cuts led to the termination of employment in 2001. He was a member of the Key Centre team for study of Ore Deposits.
Leaman was secured by applicants for appeal to the Tasmanian Resource Management and Planning Appeal Tribunal as their expert scientist to establish proof of the danger of logging and harvesting in the area of South Sister, near St. Marys, Tasmania. His long-term research and experience in holistic catchment assessment, and his independence from government and industry groups, has been valued by many local communities and landowners. He has sought to help such groups understand how land use changes might affect their properties and local water resources. He has been engaged to act as expert scientific witness in appeals concerning risks to water resources in Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia.
Leaman leads walking tours and led the hiking group during the 2008 Hobart Mountain Festival, celebrating 172 years since Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
first climbed Mount Wellington. He has also been a lecturer for the University of the Third Age at Kingborough since 1997.
Leaman is a member of a number of societies and has been President of the Royal Society of Tasmania
Royal Society of Tasmania
The Royal Society of Tasmania was formed in 1844.The RST was the first Royal Society outside the United Kingdom. It started as the "Tasmanian Society" formed by Sir John Franklin assisted by Ronald Campbell Gunn....
on two occasions.
Works
Leaman has authored a number of guide books about Tasmania, including Walk into History in Southern Tasmania, published in 1999, and Step into History in Tasmanian Reserves, published in 2001. He co-authored Mount Wellington Walk Map and Notes with K. D. Corbett, published in 2004.He also wrote The Rock Which Makes Tasmania, published in 2002, a comprehensive, authoritative work on the Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
dolerite rock that dominates the island
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
of Tasmania; other works include Water-Facts, Issues, Problems and Solutions (3rd edition 2007) and Earthly Secrets (2009).
He also published many academic papers, numerous industry reports and maps.
External links
- Review of 'The Rock that Makes Tasmania' at Leatherwood Online One of three winners