Natasha is a geologist and geochemist researching the evolution of Earth’s mantle lithosphere and its related magmas through geological time. She currently holds a postdoctoral research position at the University of Copenhagen and is a National Geographic Explorer working on projects in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, SW Greenland, and Australia. Natasha completed a PhD at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada) focusing on using petrology, geochemistry, and radiogenic isotopes to track melt processes in the mantle lithosphere beneath volcanic islands in the SW Pacific. Prior to her PhD, Natasha completed a BSc double majoring in chemistry and geology, and an MSc in geology from the University of Western Australia. She has also completed student internships with the CSIRO Mineral Resources Discovery Program (Perth, Western Australia) and Lunar and Planetary Science Institute (Houston, Texas) funded through NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI).
What is your passion?
Most of my everyday research involves studying how Earth has evolved over its 4.5 billion-year-old history, which people might not consider is “making a difference”. That being said, we need to train more geoscientists to tackle climate change and make important policy decisions. So, by passing on my laboratory and analytical skills to students through outreach and mentorship, students can then go out to tackle environmental and pollution issues. This will be an essential part of my career in the future. Our society needs more well-trained geoscientists in today's green energy transition.
A day in the life of a researcher
The great part of being a full-time research scientist is the variety of work every day. Geological fieldwork often involves accessing remote areas that tourists never visit, so it can sometimes be quite rugged depending on which country you are working in. Fieldwork that I’ve completed in Arctic Svalbard and northern Canada requires helicopter drop-offs and snowmobile access, while our projects in the South Pacific rely on boats and floatplanes to visit remote islands. After collecting samples in the field we bring our materials to a geochemical laboratory where we do all the detective work of understanding what geological processes were at play. I’m currently working on two geology projects in the southwest of Greenland and involved in research looking into geological sampling sites on the Moon for NASA’s upcoming crew-based missions by studying a combination of lunar satellite data, computer modelling, and known lunar sample compositions from meteorites and rocks collected during the Apollo mission.
MY UWA experience
UWA is a great place to socialise and study. Moving away from home at 17 helped me establish lots of independence early on. Living on campus and playing in sports teams was a great way to meet new people from all over the world and feel part of a close-knit university environment.
The most important skills that I still use today were introduced during my MSc at UWA. I was lucky to have a great supervisor with lots of international research experience to pass on.