Roger Powell (scientist) facts for kids

Roger Powell, born on June 14, 1949, is a scientist and teacher from Britain who now lives in Australia. He is a special professor, called an Emeritus Professor, at the University of Melbourne in their Earth Sciences department. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society, which is a very important science award.

Roger Powell's Education Journey

Roger Powell studied at Durham University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1970. After that, he went to the University of Oxford. There, he earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1973. His research was about how minerals in rocks balance each other, especially in a type of rock called schist near Fort William, Scotland. His teacher for this research was Stephen W. Richardson.

Awards and Recognitions

Roger Powell has received many important awards for his work in science. These awards show how much his research has helped us understand the Earth.

Fellow of the Royal Society

In 2015, Roger Powell was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is a very high honor for scientists. People who nominated him said he was chosen because:

Roger Powell has been a leader in studying metamorphic rocks using numbers and models. He created special computer programs that help us understand how minerals and fluids behave deep inside the Earth. These programs are very famous and are used by many scientists around the world. He has used these models to make big discoveries about how rocks form and change, from the Earth's outer layer (crust) to its deeper parts (deep mantle).

THERMOCALC Software

Roger Powell worked with Timothy Holland from Cambridge University. Together, they created a special database for minerals. They also developed a computer program called THERMOCALC. This program helps scientists do calculations about geological materials. The software and its information are available on the THERMOCALC website.

Other Important Awards

Besides being a Fellow of the Royal Society, Roger Powell also became a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2006.

He has received several other awards, including:

• The Schlumberger Medal from the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 2007.
• The Norman L. Bowen Award in 2009.
• The first-ever Ringwood Medal from the Geological Society of Australia in 2010.
• The Jaeger Medal from the Australian Academy of Science in 2013.
• The Barrow Award in 2021.