Until his untimely death, Bob Carter was a Research Professor at James Cook University (Queensland) and the University of Adelaide (South Australia). He was a paleontologist, stratigrapher, marine geologist and environmental scientist with more than thirty years professional experience, and the held degrees from the University of Otago (New Zealand) and the University of Cambridge (England). He held tenured academic staff positions at the University of Otago (Dunedin) and James Cook University (Townsville), where he was Professor and Head of School of Earth Sciences between 1981 and 1999.