BIOGRIP appoints Dr Roger Diamond as director
BIOGRIP has a new director! Dr Roger Diamond brings to BIOGRIP a background in geological sciences and a passion for integrating research across government, private and the educational sectors.
Dr Roger Diamond was appointed to the role of permanent Director of Biogeochemistry Research Infrastructure Platform (BIOGRIP) in January 2023. He was previously in the Geology Department at the University of Pretoria where he taught hydrogeology, environmental geochemistry, and other subjects.
Diamond’s research covered the fields of groundwater, hydrochemistry, stable isotopes (hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen) and more recently the radioactive element radon. These methods were mostly applied to issues around water quality, both surface water and groundwater.
The role of BIOGRIP director is based at UCT, temporarily in the Department of Geological Sciences, until BIOGRIP finds a more permanent home for the hub operations. This is something of a full circle moment as Diamond started his university career 30 years ago at UCT.
Diamond received his BSc in geology and honours degrees in geochemistry from UCT around the time the original Departments of Geology and Geochemistry were merging. Since then, he has also completed his MSc and PhD, both using stable isotopes of water to investigate groundwater in the Cape Fold Belt.
He has worked widely in and out of the biogeochemistry field, including being an exploration geologist, hydrogeologist, environmental consultant, lecturer, and government official. In these various roles he has been based in Albany and Perth in Western Australia, as well as Pretoria, Johannesburg, and Cape Town, where he has worked in corporate, consulting, government and for himself.
His key vision for BIOGRIP is to see scientists get excited about the work they do, especially when that work has social and environmental relevance. He hopes to integrate research across government, private and the educational sector and attract students from all walks of life, in and around South Africa, southern Africa and internationally.
In so doing, Diamond envisions that BIOGRIP will not only be generating relevant research, but also training a new generation of researchers, teachers, and problem solvers to tackle the rising tide of challenges society faces.
Diamond is currently the treasurer of the Groundwater Division (GWD) of the Geological Society of South Africa and on the organising committee for the GWD-IAH50 Congress in October 2023 in Cape Town. He is very involved with the Mountain Club of South Africa, especially their invasive alien clearing programmes, and will always make time to get out into the mountains, hiking, climbing, and hacking