Passion, patience and perseverance in spades

University of the Sunshine Coast lecturer Dr Javier Leon has worked everywhere, from the Great Barrier Reef to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Dr Leon is a ‘’geomorphologist’’.

Dr Javier Leon is a geographer with a broad remit.

That means his job is to scrutinise landforms, in particular coastal ones, and gauge coastal erosion and coral reef dynamics, to see ‘‘how they change in form and structure’’.

And change is a theme of his career.

‘‘I guess I do a lot of fieldwork, so the key skill there is being able to adapt to changing conditions, ’’ Dr Leon, 40, says.

‘‘So, for example, overseas fieldwork on the Pacific Islands: you need to be able to adapt to changes in flights, lost equipment, too much rain – anything like that. So you need to be constantly aware that things change, and you need to be able to adapt.

Read the story by David Wilson from The Age - “Passion, patience and perseverance in spades.”