Playford, Phillip Elliott (Phil) (1931 - 2017)

Summary

Phillip Playford was a geologist known as an international authority on Devonian reefs. During a 30-year career with the Geological Survey of Western Australia, of which he was Director at the time of retirement, he made landmark studies of the Canning Basin and Shark Bay areas, the Kimberley and Rottnest Island, and was instrumental in the discovery of commercial quantities of oil in Western Australia. He was the co-discoverer with Daryl Johnstone of stromatolites at Hamelin Pool, and identified evidence of huge tsunamis along the Western Australian coast. Playford's interest in the search for Dutch wrecks stemmed from his location in 1954 of the Zuytdorp, the first of four wrecks so far identified. His book Carpet of Silver: the wreck of the Zuytdorp was awarded the Western Australia Premier's Book Award for History in 1997.

Details

Chronology

1952 - 2017

Career position - Founding Member (later Fellow), Geological Society of Australia

1953

Education - BSc (hons), University of Western Australia

1953 - 1954

Career position - Field Geologist, Bureau of Mineral Resources

1954 - 1959

Career position - Staff Stratigrapher (later Field Geologist),WA Petroleum Pty Ltd

1959

Award - Fulbright Scholarship

1962

Education - PhD, Stanford University, California, USA

1962 - 1970

Career position - Supervising Geologist, Sedimentary (Oil) Division, Geological Survey of Western Australia

1963 - 2017

Career position - Honorary Associate, Western Australian Museum

1969 - 1971

Career position - President, Royal Society of Western Australia

1970 - 1971

Career position - Exploration Manager (later General Manager), Abrolhos Oil NL

1971 - 1978

Career position - Supervising Geologist, Geological Survey of Western Australia

1978 - 1980

Career position - Assistant Director, Geological Survey of Western Australia

1980 - 1984

Career position - Deputy Director, Geological Survey of Western Australia

1984 - 1986

Career position - Assistant Director General of Mines, Geological Survey of Western Australia

1986 - 1992

Career position - Director, Geological Survey of Western Australia

1990

Award - Gibb Maitland Medal, Western Australian Division, Geological Society of Australia

1992

Life event - Retired

1992

Award - Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE)

1992

Award - Special Commendation Award, American Association of Petroleum Geologists

1995

Award - Lewis G. Weeks Gold Medal, Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA)

1998

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) - for service to geology, and to historical research on early Dutch exploration and shipwrecks in Australia

1999 - 2017

Award - Honorary Associate, Geological Survey of Western Australia

1999 - 2017

Award - Honorary Life Member, Royal Society of Western Australia

2001

Award - Medal of the Royal Society of Western Australia

2001

Award - Centenary Medal - for service to geology and historical research

2001

Award - Distinguished Service Award, Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia

Related entries

Published resources

Journal Articles

• Anon, 'Earth scientist, author and shipwreck discoverer: Dr Phillip Playford AM FTSE', Focus, 204 (2017), 52, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-537141812. Details
• Cockbain, Tony, Hocking, Roger and Reid, Pam, 'Vale Phillip Elliot Playford, a life of geology, exploration and history, 27 December 1931 - 12 July 2017', Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 100 (2) (2017), 46-8. Details
• Cockbain, Tony; Hocking, Roger; and Reid, Pam, 'Phillip Elliott Playford 27 December 1931 - 12 July 2017', TAG: the Australian geologist, 184 (2017), 39-41. Details
• Cooper, Barry, 'Phillip Elliott Playford (1931 - 2017)', INHIGEO annual record, 50 (2018), 50-1. https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/pdfplus/10.3366/anh.2018.0521. Details