Researcher profile: Dr George Cresswell

Dr George Cresswell’s studies have included the East Australian and Leeuwin Currents, and the waters of NW Australia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and SE Asia. He played a central role in planning the ASEAN-Australian Regional Ocean Dynamics Expeditions 1993-95 and worked on an extension of that program with Vietnamese scientists/trainees.

His seagoing experience includes: Chief scientist for voyages on HMAS Kimbla, HMAS Diamantina, Islander and RV Sprightly in the 70s and 80s and RV Franklin in the 80s and 90s. He was Co-Chief Scientist on Baruna Jaya (Indonesia), Penyu (Malaysia) and Atyimba (Philippines) in 1993-95. He was a participant on voyages of Thala Dan (Antarctic icebreaker), Thomas Washington (Scripps), Oceanus (Woods Hole), Alpha Helix (University of Alaska), Marion Dufresne (France), Aurora Australis (Australia) and Galathea 3 Expedition 2006 (Denmark).

Present research centres on the East Australian Current, eddies, and wind-driven upwellings and down-wellings with data collected with a research vessel, moorings, satellite imagery, and satellite-tracked drifters.

He has carried out desktop research for various clients in the seas of Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, PNG, New Caledonia, and northern Cuba.

What is your role on board the RV Investigator?

I am on board supporting researcher Elise Tuuri from Flinders University, to interpret the current water property information of the samples taken when isolating microplastics at sea.

What personal qualities are needed to work at sea?

Curiosity, grabbing opportunities and tolerating repetition in adverse conditions. A sense of adventure doesn’t go astray.

What has been your most memorable experience?

I have had many adventures throughout my time at sea, as a Chief Scientist for CSIRO along with working in Antarctica. One that stands out is my first trip to Antarctica on the Thala Dan to study the Aurora Australis in the 1960s. We were retrieving a geological and survey team by aircraft to be informed that our support aircraft had been blown off the ice and damaged. This meant that we were without fuel and had to rely on one of our diesel engineers who happened to be a yachtsman to locate a known fuel dump to be able to make it back to base.

This trip was also one where I was able to take my motorbike to Antarctica and during that time the world was a different place that allowed us to ride the motorbike on the ice.

Some of my bigger discoveries and most exciting have been working with new technologies at the time regarding satellite tracking of Spar Buoys to monitor the EAC eddies. To discover that two eddies had joined together and that the signature layer was under the other was significant. This led to wind-driven upwellings and down-wellings with data collected with a research vessel, moorings, satellite imagery, and satellite-tracked drifters.

Exciting times providing historical data that is used in much oceanographic science to this day.

I spent some time working in WA on the RV Spritely discovering a current that needed a name – The Leeuwin Current.

The differences from what we are doing today to back then was that the scientists did all of the loading and unloading of equipment along with placing equipment into the water. Ship crews would often help us. Nowadays, all of the deck work is run by the ship’s crew. We are left to the science.