Paul Bishop: the early years in Australia and Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

Paul Bishop began his undergraduate studies in the School of Earth Sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia at a time when plate tectonics had begun to revolutionize our understanding of landscape evolution. His doctoral research on the late Cenozoic evolution of the upper Lachlan Valley in the Eastern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, required an integrated study of the combined impacts of Cenozoic tectonism, vulcanism and erosion in this region. His research interest in erosion, tectonism and landscape evolution in a variety of global settings persisted until he retired. Another influence early in his undergraduate career was working with a team of archaeologists excavating prehistoric sites in the Ethiopian Rift Valley to unravel late Quaternary environments (including climate) in this tectonically and volcanically active region.

KEYWORDS:

• Paul bishop
• Australia
• geomorphology
• cenozoic vulcanism
• plate tectonics
• soils
• bioturbation
• Ethiopian rift valley

Acknowledgements

I thank Chris Philo for initially inviting me to take part via a zoom power point presentation in the celebration of Paul’s life and work and for then inviting me to put pen to paper for a special issue of the Scottish Geographical Journal and for subsequent helpful suggestions to improve the manuscript, and Dr Geraldine Perriam for information and encouragement.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.