David Leaman

David Edward Leaman (1943 in Hobart, Australia – 18 January 2018) was an author, structural geologist, geohydrologist and geophysicist.

Training David Leaman graduated from the University of Tasmania and studied in the Tasmanian Mines Department. His doctoral thesis in 1970 derived from problems recognised in Midlands Tasmania and provided the first comprehensive descriptions of dolerite intrusions coupled with a theory of emplacement. The understanding was important for basin and catchment studies and coal resource evaluations. The supervisor of this research was Prof. S. Warren Carey. From 1966 to 1981, he worked for the Geological Survey of Tasmania. His professional studies focus on dolerite, igneous intrusions, granite and the use of gravity and magnetic geophysical methods. After 1981 His long-term research and experience in holistic catchment assessment and his independence from government and industry groups was valued by many local communities and landowners. He sought to help such groups understand how changes in land use might impact upon their properties and local water resources. He was engaged to act as expert scientific witness in appeals concerning risks to water resources in Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia.

Leaman lead walking tours and led the hiking group during the 2008 Hobart Mountain Festival, celebrating 172 years since Charles Darwin first climbed Mount Wellington. He was a lecturer for the University of the Third Age at Kingborough after 1997.

Leaman was a member of a number of societies and was President of the Royal Society of Tasmania on two occasions.

Works Leaman authored a number of guide books about Tasmania, including Walk into History in Southern Tasmania, published in 1999 and Step into History in Tasmanian Reserves, published in 2001. He co-authored Mount Wellington Walk Map and Notes with K. D. Corbett, published in 2004.

He also wrote The Rock Which Makes Tasmania, published in 2002, a comprehensive, authoritative work on the Jurassic dolerite that dominates the island of Tasmania; other works include Water-Facts, Issues, Problems and Solutions (3rd edition 2007) and Earthly Secrets (2009).

He published many academic papers, numerous industry reports and maps.