Abstract
From over three decades of close contact with Pacific Islands geoscience, the author reflects on key issues (what he wished he had known earlier) about the nature of islands, their landscapes and their peoples. Experience elsewhere in the world rarely prepares you for the Pacific, from its youthful and often tectonically unstable landscapes to the understandings of its inhabitants, which are sometimes time-consuming and difficult to access yet frequently illuminating. Mysteries abound in Pacific geoscience, often in places as difficult to access as they ever were, yet which have the potential to inform global ideas about earth-surface evolution. Geoscience research and enterprise remain largely foreigner-driven in the Pacific Islands, which is often anathemic to sustainability, privileging ideas that are uncritically assumed to be shared by their peoples. An opportunity exists for Pacific peoples to own the geoscientific knowledge and potential of their islands.
Highlights
A few days after I arrived in Fiji, so did Eric and Nigel, the first tropical cyclones to hit Suva directly in more than forty years
Like no doubt most other overseastrained geoscientists arriving in the Pacific, I spent ages trying to mold the Pacific Islands to my worldview, but in the end it proved pointless
I wrote a book, Oceanic Islands, that explained the origins of islands like those in the Pacific, paying special attention the ways they were different from continental landmasses [1]
Summary
A few days after I arrived in Fiji, so did Eric and Nigel, the first tropical cyclones to hit Suva directly in more than forty years. Things moved up and down, they sank, collapsed, slipped, were periodically hammered by huge waves, pummeled by hurricanes, split and rocked in massive earthquakes, and even blasted in volcanic paroxysms around the entire planet. Like no doubt most other overseastrained geoscientists arriving in the Pacific, I spent ages trying to mold the Pacific Islands to my worldview, but in the end it proved pointless. To celebrate this understanding, I wrote a book, Oceanic Islands, that explained the origins of islands like those in the Pacific, paying special attention the ways they were different from continental landmasses [1]. I have achieved several insights into the geology of the Pacific Islands of which I am proud, but I regret not having done more to drive the agenda of empowering Pacific Island peoples to lead geoscience research within their region
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