Dr Bryant Ware, Dr Hayden Dalton2, Ms Ashley Savelkouls2, Dr Angus Nixon3
1Curtin University, Perth, Australia, 2The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, 3The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Biography:
Bryant Ware is a Research Fellow at the John de Laeter Centre, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, and the coordinator of the AuScope Geochemistry laboratory Network (AGN). He leads a national team of analytical geochemists to enhance the capability and capacity of geochemistry laboratories across Australia. His work focuses on advancing geochemical data management, international best data reporting practices, and laboratory workflow developments. Within the AGN he oversee’s key initiatives within AGN, including the development of the AuScope EarthBank platform, outreach efforts, and fostering a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) geochemistry data ecosystem. My strategic objectives include improving laboratory capabilities, developing new analytical techniques and data management workflows, standardising geochemistry data, supporting user access, and promoting best practices in data management.
Abstract:
As the volume of geochemical data grows, driven by advanced instrumentation, improved digital infrastructure, and a global push toward Open Science, there is an increasing need for clear community guidelines, standardised reporting practices, and shared vocabularies. The ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology technique, widely used to determine the timing of geological events throughout Earth’s history, generates complex datasets that require detailed documentation and correction before they can be interpreted or reused. For meaningful reuse, these datasets often need recalculating or recalibrating using updated reference and/or decay constant values. While the ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronology community has developed recommended reporting formats (e.g., Schaen et al. 2021), adoption can be difficult in practice. A key barrier is the lack of simple, accessible digital tools to move data from laboratories into structured formats that are consistent, discoverable, and easy to share. Existing systems often rely on manual data entry and fail to capture core outputs from analytical instruments. To address this, two labs in the AuScope Geochemistry Network are implementing: (1) open-source, automated data capture tools (e.g., Pychron) that allow direct upload from instruments to trusted platforms like the AuScope Data Repository and EarthBank platform, and (2) streamlined workflows for collecting essential metadata from researchers and analytical facilities without adding extra steps to already complex workflows. These initiatives aim to make ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar data more accessible, reusable, and aligned with Open Science practices. By improving digital infrastructure at the point of data generation, this work supports more transparent, efficient, and collaborative geoscience research.