Jack Ward

View Jack's 2020 Global Change Scholars Program Showcase video.

I am a PhD student in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, and my project is titled ‘Late Cenozoic alkaline magmatism in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia: Tectonic controls on melt generation and implications for mineral prospectivity’.

Recent estimates suggest that the demand for copper, a critical metal for the growth and development of modern technology, is expected to increase twentyfold by the end of the century. Driven by shifts toward the decarbonisation of energy and transport, this challenging situation has begun to place elevated stress on effective exploration for large copper deposits.

My PhD research aims to better understand the physical structure of the upper part of Earth in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. This is important because these areas host some of the world’s largest copper deposits. By developing more detailed models of where, how and why mineralisation occurs in these areas, mineral exploration may be made more efficient, thereby alleviating some of the growing strain placed on the resource sector.

Jack's principal advisor is Associate Professor Gideon Rosenbaum.