Rate My Professor David Close

Professor David Close is an Industry Professor and Director of the Gas & Energy Transition Research Centre at The University of Queensland. He earned a D.Phil. in Marine Geophysics from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and a B.Sc. (Hons) from the University of Tasmania. Throughout his career, Close has held extensive private sector senior leadership roles, directing subsurface, stakeholder engagement, operations, and commercial workstreams. His commitment to collaboration and science communication is evidenced by his widespread volunteering on professional association boards, editorial boards, and conference and workshop organising committees. These experiences have shaped his transition to academia, where he now leads a multi-disciplinary team at the Gas & Energy Transition Research Centre, focusing on the responsible development of gas resources and accelerating the energy transition within the Faculty of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology.

Close's research specializations include geology, geophysics, tectonics, basins, oceans and climate interactions, with emerging expertise in energy and climate policy and energy systems. His contributions to the field are reflected in key publications such as 'An Improved Depositional Model for the Organic Rich Shales of the Amungee Member of the Velkerri Formation in the Beetaloo Sub-basin, Northern Territory, Australia' (Close and Wilson, 2024, CABS IV Special Publication Volume 2); 'Carbon Isotope Fractionation in Coal and Marine Source Rocks and Implications for Exploration' (Faiz et al., 2018, ASEG Extended Abstracts); 'Slope and fan deposition in deep-water turbidite systems, East Antarctica' (Close, 2010, Marine Geology); 'A marine geophysical study of the Wilkes Land rifted continental margin, Antarctica' (Close et al., 2009, Geophysical Journal International); 'Assessing the contribution of corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of the oil and gas sector to sustainable development in Timor-Leste' (Aleixo et al., 2025, Australian Energy Producers Journal); and 'Seismic stratigraphy and sediment distribution on the Wilkes Land and Terre Adelie margins, East Antarctica' (Close et al., 2007, Marine Geology). Close's industry-informed perspective enhances academic discourse on energy systems and geosciences.