Ken has a First Class honours degree from New England University and a PhD from the University of Adelaide. He has been involved in teaching and research in academia for more than 30 years, holding positions at Memorial University in Newfoundland, ANU, University of Regina in Saskatchewan and University of California in Santa Cruz. He is currently Professor of Earth Sciences at The University of Queensland.  His research publication record is extensive and spans many fields of geology. Ken’s interest in kimberlites and diamonds was initiated while, as a PhD student at The University of Adelaide, he identified the first kimberlite dykes at Walloway in the Flinders Ranges. His interest in diamonds has continued throughout his career, prompting him in 1997 to map and carryout petrological and geochemical research on Gaussberg in Antarctica.  This volcano erupted 50,000 years ago, and is Earth’s youngest lamproite. Through collaborations with colleagues at Tohoku University and Tokyo Institute of Technology, he has now developed a barometer for majorite, an important diamond inclusion that is stable in the mantle transition zone (between 410 – 670 km). During visits to Japan he also carried out high-pressure experiments at transition zone and lower mantle pressures to investigate the origin of certain members of the megacryst xenolith suite.  Ken is currently assisting in several Greenfield diamond exploration ventures based on a new model for diamond exploration that he developed.