Rate My Professor Ed Saunders

Dr Ed Saunders is a Lecturer in Geology in the Earth Sciences division of the School of Environmental and Rural Science at the University of New England. His primary academic interests encompass igneous petrology, geochemistry, and field mapping. He actively supervises honours projects, including one titled 'Source characteristics and genesis of intraplate basalts,' which explores the Cenozoic intraplate basaltic volcanism in eastern Australia. These basaltic rocks serve as messengers from the deep Earth, preserving information about the sub-continental lithospheric mantle, with analysis focusing on early crystallized phases to unravel their source characteristics and origins.

Saunders has made notable contributions to research on mantle processes and mineralization through co-authored publications. Key works include 'Plume-subduction interaction forms large auriferous provinces' (Nature Communications, 2017), examining how plume-subduction interactions generate extensive gold provinces; 'Petrogenesis of Basaltic Lavas From the West Pacific Seamount Province' (Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 2021), investigating the formation of basaltic lavas in oceanic environments; 'Metallogenic fingerprint of a metasomatized lithospheric mantle beneath the Lachlan Orogen, southeastern Australia' (Geological Society of America Bulletin, 2021), characterizing metasomatism's role in mantle mineralization; and 'A fragment of inherited Archaean lithospheric mantle rules magmatic fertility in the Lachlan Orogen, SE Australia' (International Geology Review, 2024), linking ancient mantle fragments to magmatic productivity. His research affiliations include the ARC Centre of Excellence for Core to Crust Fluid Systems. In teaching, Saunders earned the School of Environmental and Rural Science Education Excellence Development Award in 2020 and coordinates geoscience units at UNE.