Honour for DMIRS team in international competition

Book on WA’s mapping history scores highly in Association of Earth Science Editors’ 2017 awards
Date: Thursday, 14 December 2017

A team of senior geologists at the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) has won third place in an international competition.

Honour for DMIRS team
GSWA’s staff members Tom Lenane, Angela Riganti and Jean Johnston examine old State and reference maps by GSWA alongside a printed version of the new digital State map.

Angela Riganti, Jean Johnston (retired), Roger Hocking (retired) and David Martin were recently awarded third place in the Outstanding Publication competition by the Association of Earth Science Editors for their collaboration on a book of fascinating stories highlighting the Geological Survey of Western Australia’s (GSWA) mapping history.

The book was launched at the GSWA’s Open Day in February 2016 to coincide with the official unveiling of the Survey’s all-new digital map of the State – the first new map of WA since 1998.

Lead author Angela said that she believed the book, Mapping Western Australia – State geological maps 1894–2015, had a chance to win the prestigious annual award and that success would be a timely retirement present for Senior Editor Special Projects Jean Johnston, who edited and co-designed the book.

They didn’t win the top gong, but Angela and the other team members were proud of having come so close.

“In the end, it’s a way of letting people know about the good work we do here at GSWA, and I am always looking for opportunities to promote the Survey and the fantastic geology of WA” she said.

GSWA’s Geoscience Mapping Content Manager, Angela described the book as a visual documentation of the milestones in the geological understanding of Western Australia, and a tribute to the passion of all the geologists who, since the 19th Century, had mapped every part of the State.

She paid tribute to Murray Jones, also now retired, who did the graphic design for the book and was named as an entrant alongside Angela and Jean for their writing and research, editing and layout contributions.

The hardcopy book is available for $11 from the Information Centre or can be downloaded as a free pdf from the Department eBookshop.