Interview with Dr Mike Rickard – field and tectonic geologist

Interview conducted March 2010 at Emeritus Faculty, ANU
Producer, Interviewer and Editor - Peter Stewart
Engineer - Nik Fominas

Biographical introduction: Mike Rickard was born and educated in London, and after field studies and practice in Canada and Fiji, joined the Geology Department in the School of General Studies at ANU in 1963.  He became Reader in Geology and held appointments as Sub Dean and Deputy Dean of Science Head of Department of Geology, and the exalted ceremonial position of Marshall of the University.  

Mike was at different times Secretary and President of the Geological Society of Australia, and was appointed a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, which oversees professional standards in geology.  In 1996, he was awarded the AB Edwards Medal by the Geological Society for best paper in economic geology.

After retirement in 1995, Mike became a visiting fellow at ANU, active in continuing education through the University of the Third Age.  He is now a committee member of ANU Emeritus Faculty.  Mike has recently written a history of geology in ANU, and is a contributor to Geology of the ACT.

Barry has published extensively in various areas of physics and physical chemistry, especially colloid and surface chemistry, and biophysics. He and his department pioneered modern theories, and measurement, of molecular forces, and how these forces conspire with the size and shape of molecules to generate self-assembled aggregates that are so important in biology. He is currently writing books on the paradigm shift occurring in physical chemistry; and on the connections between quantum mechanics, number theory, and perception.

Interview abstract: Mike Rickard was born in 1932 in Thames Ditton, near London, the eldest of four brothers. His father had been a bank officer but became a school teacher after World War 2, his mother a dress maker, both making the best of Great Depression conditions as Mike’s life began.

At high school in Surbiton, Mike was active in the army cadets and in scouting. His dream was to become a scientist, though working in the field rather than in a laboratory. Geology was thus a logical choice. Since his high school did not offer geology, Mike took additional night courses in geology at Kingston Polytechnic to supplement his school studies.

Mike took his bachelor degree at Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, graduating in 1954 with first class honours and the class medal in geology. He continued at Imperial College with a PhD in structural geology and stratigraphy, completing his field work in Donegal, Ireland, supervised and mentored by Professor Wally Pitcher, an eminent British authority on granites. A post-doctoral appointment in 1957 took him to McGill University in Montreal for three years, then to Fiji for a similar period, with the national Geological Survey there.

In Fiji in 1962, Mike was visited by Keith Crook, recently appointed to the Department of Geology in ANU’s School of General Studies, the newly instituted undergraduate teaching arm of the university, headed by Professor David Brown. Keith suggested Mike write to David Brown indicating an interest in an appointment there, and a few months later, to Mike’s delight, he was appointed lecturer at ANU. With his wife Janet, and their then three children, the family arrived in Canberra in 1963. Their fourth child was born in Canberra in 1970. David Brown would become Mike’s mentor and friend over the next four decades and more, an important influence in his professional and personal development.

Mike’s academic interests soon evolved into a balance of teaching, research, and academic management. Mike often wonders now whether he got this balance right, particularly when it later became obvious that at ANU, as in most universities, research was the preferred activity so far as advancement and promotion were concerned. Teaching came naturally to him, and he was well-liked by students and staff in the department, an inveterate entrepreneur and team worker in the creation and development of new courses. Indeed, the department generally, though not without exception, put great score by its teaching such that their best undergraduates were encouraged to undertake graduate studies at other universities and schools, thus broadening their outlook and increasing their options for professional development. Mike was also actively involved in extension education, through involvement in courses for lay audiences in the Centre for Continuing Education. He saw that geology held a great fascination for many ordinary folk, and the satisfying of this became a priority in his extracurricular activities.

Administration and management also came naturally to Mike. Throughout his years at ANU he served in many positions throughout the university, probably to the detriment of his own professional advancement. He was, for example, Sub Dean and Deputy Dean of Science, Head of the Geology Department for eight years, and served on many ANU committees and boards. He even held the exalted position of Marshall of the University, a ceremonial post which required him to defend from assault the Chancellor and its senior officers at ANU Graduations, should the need arrive; fortunately, that aspect of Mike’s academic responsibilities was never seriously tested.

Throughout his administrative career, Mike was guided and helped by many others at ANU: specially important were Doug McAlpine (Science Faculty Secretary) and Giles Pickford (Community Relations Manager). The administrative and technical staff in the department were always supportive, especially Henry Zapasnik as HTO, Robin Westcott as STO, and Maree Coldrick as Secretary.

Mike Rickard was promoted Reader in Geology in 1975. He was a specialist member of the Geological Society of Australia (1963 onwards), then Secretary (1971-73) and President (1983-84) of that society. In 1995, following retirement, he was elected an Honorary Member and Fellow of that society. He was a foundation member (1981) and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, the professional body which set and monitored professional standards in the practice of geology. In 1996, he was awarded the AB Edwards Medal by the Geological Society for best paper in economic geology.

Mike’s research activities were predominantly in regional tectonics, specifically in stratigraphy and field mapping, including consulting in building materials and mineral deposits. He often extended these interests into wider fields, important to the development of new programs in geology. His research field-work has taken him to the Canadian Appalachians, Patagonia, and Norway. Closer to home his work ranged across central Australia and west Queensland and the Lachlan Fold belt along the NSW south coast and southern highlands, often working in collaboration with local experts and companies.

Mike has published numerous primary scientific research papers, mapping surveys and technical reports, teaching pamphlets, book reviews and conference abstracts. His most recent labor of love has been a history of geology at ANU, with editorial and photographic assistance from his colleagues Judith Caton and Dick Barwick. It seems ironic that in the year of publication of its history by Mike, the Geology Department of which he was part will disappear into a larger administrative centre, to include the Research School of Earth Sciences, founded after the Geology Department.

Mike was also a contributing author to a new edition of Geology of the ACT, published by the Geological Society of Australia.

Since retirement in 1995, Mike has become a visiting fellow at ANU, active in continuing education through the University of the Third Age. He is also an active committee member of ANU Emeritus Faculty.