Research Interests
Kevin’s personal passion for spending time in high, snow-clad mountains and other wild places has been manifested in a primary research focus on mountain and cold climate geomorphology, but he has also undertaken extensive research into karst geomorphology, hydrology and management and been involved in other work on volcanoes, coasts, cave archaeology and other topics. A major focus of his present research is on the environmental cost of armed conflict. Much of his research has been focused on providing the basis for improved environmental management although he derives some of his greatest research enjoyment from topics of a less applied nature that are further removed from politicians and recalcitrant bureaucrats, thereby reducing the amount of time he feels grumpy and keeping himself as sane as he can ever hope to be. Kevin subscribes strongly to the axiom of the late Prof. Joe Jennings, founder of Australian geomorphology, that “you don’t have to be sombre to be serious”.
Kevin’s fieldwork experience has been gained on various continents and oceanic islands from the Antarctic and Arctic to the tropical regions. He has published the results of his research in a variety of journals including Nature, Quaternary Research, Arctic and Alpine Research, Geology, Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, Environmental Policy and Law, New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics, Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, Australian Archaeology, Australian Geographical Studies and Australian Geographer. He has also produced some small monographs and chapters in books. His research has been funded from a number of sources including the Australian Antarctic Science Grants, the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science, Tasmanian Forest Research Council, Australian Heritage Commission, and Australian National Parks & Wildlife Service. However, Kevin strongly believes that quality scientific research does not need to cost the Earth and that in a hungry world spending excessively on his research projects is inappropriate. Hence, he consciously seeks to keep his research expenditure as low as possible and limits his potential research funding catchment to exclude sources he feels would compromise his personal values. As a result he ends up paying for a lot of his research costs personally and seeking to elevate daggy tee shirts and worn out volley sandshoes to the status of fashion icons.
Kevin has served on Commissions and Study Groups of the International Geographical Union, and is presently a member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, the International Association of Geomorphology (IAG) Working Group on Human Impacts in Landscapes and the IAG Working Group on Geosites.
He is a Fellow of the Australasian Cave and Karst Management Association.
Teaching
Kevin’s principal undergraduate teaching involves a second/third year unit in Conservation Geomorphology but he also contributes to the physical geography component of two first year units, the Environmental Research Project Unit, Wilderness and Natural Area Management, and other units from time to time. His postgraduate coursework includes contributions to the Ecosystems unit. He also supervises honours and postgraduate students working in various aspects of geomorphology, Quaternary Studies, geoheritage conservation and environmental management. He strongly believes that the real world is the best place to learn and dreams of a university without buildings and walls and a government and business sector with sufficient commitment to education to ensure a budget adequate to allow more excursions and fieldwork. Kevin also coordinates the Master of Applied Science course for the School.
Community Engagement
Kevin focuses his community engagement on supporting various causes, particularly environmental and social issues. In earlier years he had a long history of participation in environmental NGOs, including as Secretary of the Lake Pedder Action Committee, Chairman of the South West Tasmania Action Committee and founding Director of the Wilderness Society. He subsequently worked as a national park planner and occasional consultant and then gained insight into the view from the other side of the coin by spending 15 years working in the Tasmanian forestry system until leaving his position as Senior Geomorphologist with the Tasmanian Forest Practices Board in 2002. While he has at times contributed as a member of official bodies such as the Balanced Panel of Experts established by the Tasmanian government as part of the Tasmanian Forests and Forest Industry strategy process, his long-term real world experience of public policy, coupled with his earlier university studies of public administration have left him with the view that much of what masquerades as an attempt to harness diverse perspectives in shaping policy is too often merely a mechanism to neutralise viewpoints contrary to preconceived political or bureaucratic agenda by diverting the time and energy of advocates. For this reason, Kevin now generally restricts himself to low key, grass roots community engagement such as informal advice and pro bono consultancies for organisations and individuals espousing causes that he considers worthy of support.
UnitsSelected Publications:- Kiernan, K., Fifield, L.K. & Chappell, J. , 2004, 'Cosmogenic nuclide ages for Last Glacial Maximum moraine at Schnells Ridge, southwest Tasmania', Quaternary Research , 61, pgs. 335-338
- Kiernan, K. , 2002, 'Conservation,timber and perceived values at Mt Field,
Tasmania. Chap. 15 [in] J. Dargavel, D. Gaughwin & B. Libbis (eds.)', Australia's Ever Changing Forests V, ANU, Canberra.
- Kiernan, K. & McConnell, A. , 2002, 'Glacier retreat and melt-lake expansion
at Stephenson Glacier, Heard Island World Heritage Area. ', Polar Record, 38(207): , pgs. 297-308
- Kiernan, K, Lauritzen, S-E & Duhig, N. , 2001, 'Glaciation and cave sediment
aggradation around the margins of the Mt Field Plateau, Tasmania.', Australian Journal of Earth Sciences , 48: , pgs. 251-263.
Full Publication List Current and Supervised Project/s:
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