Professor Malcolm Walter
- Position: Professor
- Room: 111, Biological Sciences
- Phone: (+61 2) 9385 3761
- Fax: (+61 2) 9385 1483
- email: malcolm.walter@unsw.edu.au
Professional Experience
- 1963-1965 SA Department of Mines and Geosurveys of Australia Ltd
- 1970 Research Assistant, University of Adelaide
- 1971-1972 Research Staff Geologist, Yale University
- 1973-1979 Geologist Class 4, Bureau of Mineral Resources, Geology & Geophysics, Australia
- 1979-1980 Visiting Scholar, University of California, Los Angeles
- 1980-1987 Snr Principal Research Scientist, Officer-in-charge, Baas Becking Geobiological Laboratory
- 1987-1988 Leader, Onshore Basin Analysis, Bureau of Mineral Resources
- 1988-1989 Leader, Basin Hydrogeology, Bureau of Mineral Resources
- 1989-1990 Honorary Associate, School of Earth Sciences, Macquarie University
- 1990-2007 Professorial Fellow, Biotechnology Research Institute, Macquarie University
- 2008 Professor of Astrobiology, School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, UNSW
Research Contribution
Professor Walter has been working for 35 years on the geological evidence of early life on Earth, including stromatolites. He is considered one of the world experts on both living and extinct stromatolites. He completed his PhD on stromatolite biostratigraphy and palaeobiology, and has worked at different levels on the oldest convincing evidence of life on Earth. Since 1989 he has been funded by NASA in its exobiology and astrobiology programs, and has made substantial contributions to understanding microbial life in high temperature ecosystems, and the search for life on Mars. Professor Walter conducted seminal work on the earliest evidence of life on Earth, the 3.5 billion year old stromatolites of Western Australia.
Many of his articles on the geology of stromatolites and other ancient formations have been published in the highest impact journals, such as Nature and Science, with several cited over 100 times. Professor Walter has published substantially on the palaeontology and biostratigraphy of the Archaean, Proterozoic and Cambrian in the environmental context of early evolution and the geochemical consequences of that evolution. He has also developed the use of stable isotope geochemistry to investigate the palaeobiological aspects of ancient formations and their significance in determining the composition of the contemporary atmosphere. Professor Walter is a member of the Executive Council of NASA's Astrobiology Institute and helps coordinate Mars exploratory programs. He has developed what has become one of the dominant exploration models for former life on Mars, and the NASA lander "Opportunity" landed at such a site on Mars in January 2004. Professor Walter is one of three people to represent Australia's space interests among 21 space agencies called together by NASA to discuss international involvement in the return to the Moon and further exploration of Mars.
Honours & Awards
- South Australian Government Studentship (1962-1964)
- James Barrans Scholarship (1964)
- CSIRO Research Scholarship (1965)
- John L. Young Scholarship (1965)
- Tate Memorial Medal in Geology (1965)
- Conzinc Riotinto of Australia Research Scholarship (1966-1969)
- Fellow, Geological Society of Australia
- Fellow, Australian Academy of Science (2004)
- Eureka Prize (2005)
Active Research Projects
Publications
- Leuko, S., Raftery, M., Burns, B.P., Walter, M.R., and Neilan, B.A. (2009)
- Global protein-level responses of Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1 to prolonged changes in external sodium chloride concentrations.
- J Proteome Res. 8, 2218-25.
- Burns, B.P., Anitori, R., Butterworth, P., Henneberger, R., Goh, F., Allen, M.A., Ibanez-Peral, R., Bergquist, P.L., Walter, M.R., Neilan, B.A. (2009)
- Modern analogues and the early history of microbial life.
- Precambrian Res (in press)
- Burns, B.P., Walter, M.R. and Neilan, B.A. (2008)
- Stromatolites.
- In: From Fossils to Astrobiology. Seckbach J and Walsh M (Eds). Springer, New York, pp 143-158.
- Ibanez-Peral, R., Bergquist, P.L., Walter, M.R., Gibbs, M., Goldys, E.M. and Ferrari, B. (2008)
- Potential use of quantum dots in flow cytometry
- International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 9: 2622-2638.
- Leuko, S., Goh, F., Ibanezz-Peral, R., Burns, B.P., Walter, M.R. and Neilan, B.A. (2008)
- I Lysis efficiency of standard DNA extraction methods for Halococcus spp. in an organic rich environment.
- Extremophiles. 12: 301-308.
- Bek, E. and Wilkins, M.R. (2008)
- Using yeast to study protein-protein interactions relevant to disease.
- In: Yeast as a Model for Human Disease. Witt S (Eds). Signpost Research Press, Kerala, India, pp in press.
- Mackenzie, K.L., Marshall, C.P. and Walter, M.R. (2008)
- Regional organic geochemistry of host sediments of Palaeoproterozoic McArthur River Ore deposit, Australia.
- Theoretical Chemistry Accounts. 119: 143-153.
- Summons, R.E., Hope, J.M., Swart, R. and Walter, M.R. (2008)
- Origin of Nama Basin bitumen seeps: Petroleum derived from a Permian lacustrine source rock traversing southwestern Gondwana.
- Organic Geochemistry. 39: 589-607.
- Marshall CP, S Leuko, CM Coyle, MR Walter, BP Burns, BA Neilan (2007)
- Carotenoid analysis of halophilic Archaea by resonance Raman Spectroscopy.
- Astrobiology 7 (4),631-643.
- Williams, G.E., Jenkins, R.J.F., & Walter, M.R. (2007)
- No heliotropism in neoproterozoic columnar stromatolite growth, Amadeus basin, Central Australia: Geophysical Implications.
- Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 249 (1-2), 80-89.
- Allwood, A.C., Walter, M.R., Kamber, B.S., Marshall, C.P.& Burch, W. (2006)
- Stromatolite reef from the early Archaean era of Australia
- Nature 441, 714-718
- Knoll, A.H., Walter, M.R., Narbonne, G.M., & Christie-Blick, N.( (2006)
- The ediacaran period: A new addition to the geologic time scale.
- Lethaia, 39 (1), 13-30.
- Brown, A.J., Cudahy, T.J., & Walter, M.R. (2006)
- Hydrothermal alteration at the panorama formation, North Pole dome, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia
- Precambrian Research, 151 (3-4), 211-223.
- Marshall, C.P., Javaux, E.J., Knoll, A.H., & Walter, M.R. (2005)
- Combined micro-fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and micro-raman spectroscopy of proterozoic acritarchs: A new approach to palaeobiology.
- Precambrian Research, 138 (3-4), 208-224.
- Brown, A.J., Walter, M.R., & Cudahy, T.J. (2005)
- Hyperspectral imaging spectroscopy of a mars analogue environment at the North Pole dome, Pilbara Craton, Western Australia.
- Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 52 (3), 353-364
- Brown, A., Walter, M., & Cudahy, T. (2004)
- Short-wave infrared reflectance investigation of sites of paleobiological interest: Applications for Mars exploration.
- Astrobiology, 4 (3), 359-376
- Shen, Y., Knoll, A.H., & Walter, M.R (2003)
- Evidence for low sulphate and anoxia in a mid-proterozoic marine basin
- Nature, 423 (6940), 632-635
- Grey, K., Walter, M.R., & Calver, C.R. (2003)
- Neoproterozoic biotic diversification: Snowball earth or aftermath of the acraman impact?
- Geology, 31 (5), 459-462