Germaine Joplin

Germaine Anne Joplin (26 February 1903 – 18 July 1989) was an Australian geologist and winner of the Clarke Medal in 1963.

Early life Joplin, born in Strathfield, New South Wales in 1903, was educated at Presbyterian Ladies' College in Croydon, Sydney. She initially trained as a nurse on leaving school, but at age 23 Joplin then pursued study in England, earning a Junior Fellowship of the World Federation of University Women to study petrology at Newnham College, University of Cambridge with Cecil Edgar Tilley. A number of Australian women were studying with her at Newnham College during the 1930s, including Dorothy Hill and Betty Ripper. Joplin attained her Ph.D. in 1936. Simultaneous to her teaching and research, Joplin was taking night classes to earn a B.A and a Diploma in Social Studies from the University of Sydney in 1950. After graduation, she left geology and the university for a time to join the NSW Society of Crippled Children as a social worker.

In 1951 Joplin moved to Canberra and worked for the Bureau of Mineral Resources for a year, before commencing a permanent research position as a Fellow in the recently established Department of Geophysics at the Australian National University. This was her first permanent position, and the beginning of a long career at the Australian National University. She was appointed to Fellow of the governing body of University House, a residential college, in 1953, and served on the University Council between 1969 and 1975.