This is such sad news. Richard's enthusiasm for the science and the people in geophysics has had a profound influence that goes well beyond the lengthy contributions listed by James.
Richard and I both started work at Geoscience Australia in 2001. I was a young geologist in my first job, and he was already a leading geophysicist. In just the second year of my career I was lucky enough to have Richard teach me all of the fundamentals of gravity, magnetics, physical properties, and inversion, helping me transition to being a geophysicist. I don’t know how I got to be so lucky, but for a few hours every week for most of a year, I would sit in his office, and he would slowly and thoughtfully unpack and describe every single detail I needed to know to be an effective geophysical practitioner. It was a private, personalised education. I learned so much in such a short period of time, and it was always a joy. I didn’t realise at the time, but we were pioneering the use of integrated 3D geologically-constrained inversion, with me riding his coat-tails. He set GA up with the UBC-GIF gravity and magnetic modelling codes (only 2 years after Yaoguo and Doug published their 3D gravity inversion paper), and laid the foundation for all the integrated 3D modelling that followed. Just one of many achievements in his long and illustrious career, but so crucial for my own. His clarity of thought and depth of knowledge was astounding. His patience knew no end. He would always find time for me, and he was always genuinely interested in me and my career. I know there have been many others before and since that would have had very different careers without his deep passion for both the people and science. He would often stop by one’s cubicle for long chats about life and geophysics – seeking nothing, always giving and supporting. Everything I do in geophysics everyday is a reflection of the foundations he gave me. He suffered much, but now it is our turn to suffer without him. Regards, Nick Get Outlook for Android<https://aka.ms/ghei36> From: SEGMIN <[email protected]> on behalf of [email protected] <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, January 4, 2021, 6:31 p.m. To: [email protected] Subject: SEGMIN Digest, Vol 31, Issue 4 Dear Colleagues A sad message from our colleagues in Australia regards the passage of Richard Lane. I regarded Richard as one of the ‘rabbis’ of exploration geophysics. He was well-steeped in the science of geophysics but more importantly for me, passionate about its application. For decades he was a fixture at ASEG conferences and while I tended to hang back to the middle of the auditorium, Richard was always in the front section, with a preference to be on the right hand side, I thought so he could catch every word. Every profession is only gifted with so many like Richard each generation and they really are key in defining who we are. Richard, you will be missed. Ken From: Johnson James <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Tuesday, 5 January 2021 11:51 AM Colleagues, It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of our colleague and friend Richard Lane. Richard joined Geoscience Australia nearly 20 years ago and, due to his professional contribution, is now widely recognised throughout the global geophysical community for his keen intellect and insight into geophysical methods in minerals, energy groundwater and hazards. His role at Geoscience Australia allowed him to share his knowledge widely to improve the science of understanding the potential of Australia's resources wealth. Richard first joined Geoscience Australia in 2001 following a distinguished career in industry and academia. His expertise and contributions were wide ranging, including innovations in the airborne electromagnetic technique, 3D inversion and modelling of magnetics and gravity, as well airborne gravity and gravity gradiometry. These fields are now areas of technical strength in Geoscience Australia, with much of this capability due to Richard's endeavours. Richard was instrumental in the development of the Geomodeller 3D geological modelling package and in establishing a national rock properties database to inform regional modelling studies. He has organised numerous pertinent and timely geoscientific seminars as well as mentoring many younger scientists and graduates in the application of numerical methods for geoscientific problems. Richard authored or co-authored numerous scientific publications, and was the recipient of many awards, the most prestigious being the Australian Society of Exploration Geophysicists Gold Medal in 2017 for "exceptional and highly significant distinguished contributions to the science and practice of geophysics by a member, resulting in wide recognition within the geoscientific community". Richard made significant contributions to a number of high profile Cooperative Research Centres. Late last year Richard played a leading role in the development of the 6th edition of the National Gravity Grids, incorporating, for the first time, ground, airborne and satellite data. This represented the culmination of one of Richard’s long held visions for integrating gravity data. Richard was a patient, deep thinking, outstanding scientist. He effortlessly juggled multiple domain specialties and was humble about his own achievements. Richard was incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. He would share his insights, knowledge and wisdom openly through mentoring and workshops. Richard will be deeply missed by us all. Peace and comfort be with you, Richard.
----------------------- SEGMIN community mailing list service ([email protected]). Change your personal options here: https://lists.geosoft.com/mailman/options/segmin/archive%40mail-archive.com Colleagues can join here: https://lists.geosoft.com/mailman/listinfo/segmin Archives: https://lists.geosoft.com/mailman/private/segmin/ NOTE that <Reply> will reply to all members of the list.
