Earth Science Week Lecture | From Jesmond to the World: A Journey of Translation Impact
Description
Celebrate Earth Science Week 2026 with an afternoon of insightful discussion, professional networking and career exploration centered on this year's theme: Critical Minerals for a Thriving Society.
Join us at the University of Newcastle for a FREE special guest lecture by Dr Paul Ebert, Executive Director of the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources (NIER). The lecture will be followed by a 15-minute audience Q&A.
Featured Lecture
From Jesmond to the World: A Journey of Translation Impact
Dr Paul Ebert commenced as the new Executive Director of NIER in late March 2026, but prior to this was a thirty-year career focused on translating science into real world impact. In this lecture, Paul will outline just what he learnt on that journey of change through some of the toughest, dirtiest and hard-nosed industrial sectors, and his part in helping to build a more sustainable world. He will then outline the role of NIER, in particular how it relates to the critical minerals area and the building of sustainable and resilient economic prosperity.
What to Expect
Guest lecture by Dr Paul Ebert
15-minute audience Q&A
Insights into critical minerals, sustainability and the energy transition
Networking with students, researchers, alumni and industry professionals
Canapés and refreshments hosted in partnership with Local Connections
Event Schedule
Thursday 15 October 2026 - Venue: Brennan Room, University of Newcastle, Callaghan Campus
2:30pm - 3:15pm | Earth Science Week Lecture
3:15pm - 3:30pm | Audience Q&A
3:30pm – 4:30pm | Networking, canapés and refreshments (Local Connections)
Lineup
Dr Paul Ebert
Dr Paul Ebert is Executive Director of the Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources (NIER) at the University of Newcastle. In this role Paul is leading the next phase of NIER’s strategic vision, which brings industry and academia together to accelerate transformational impact in sustainable energy, resources, food, and water. Paul’s career has centered on change, focused on energy technology and related business, markets, policy and value chain adjacencies. A mechanical engineer with a PhD in aerodynamics, his early work was in the electrical utility sector in Australia focused on delivering what really were the country’s first larger scale renewable energy projects, particularly their integration into grids and markets and the building of business case value around such. His work grew internationally into heavy industrial processes involving technologies at the heart of a broader energy transition, including energy storage, low-emission gases, synthetic fuels, variants on hydrogen, and carbon neutral and negative processes. Through this he has worked in over 30 countries. Paul’s previous role was Global Director Sustainability & Energy Transition Leadership, for the global engineering company Worley, based in London, UK. He has been Chair of the ARENA Advisory Panel, has sat on Advisory Boards for CSIRO, ANU and the Net-Zero Australia consortium, and represented Worley at forums including the World Economic Forum and Energy Transitions Commission. He is a lead author on the From Ambition to Reality series between Worley and Princeton University and until 2025 was a director of a related bi-annual Summit at Princeton.
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