Professor P H Armstrong CGeog

Biography

Occupation: Adjunct Professor of Geography Employer: Edith Cowan University Memo: After Graduating in Geography and Geology from the University of Durham, Patrick taught for 10 years at the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology (the institution that later became Anglia Ruskin University), specialising in Biogeography and Ecology, for 'O' and 'A' level, and for London University and CNAA degrees in Geography. While so engaged he completed research for Masters (MA, Durham) and Doctoral (PhD, CNAA) degrees in Geography. On moving to Australia permanently in 1975, he lectured at the Department of Geography at the University of Western Australia until retirement from full-time teaching in 2004. Patrick served a term as Head of Department. His research areas have included the distribution of plants and animals; the ecology of remote islands; and the history of Geographical thought. He has published around 30 books and over 150 journal articles and papers. A special interest has been the life and work of Charles Darwin; he has approached this from a geographical point of view, undertaking field work in the localities visited by Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle with photocopies of his field notes in hand, attempting to reconstruct his exact routes, locate the sites from whence he collected specimens, and explore his attitude to 'place'. Throughout his career Patrick has had an interest in the school-to-university transition, and has had role in curriculum development and examining for examinations boards in the UK, Australia, and internationally, in both Geography and Environmental Science subjects. He has been deputy chief examiner and chief examiner for the International Baccalaureate Organisation 1996-2010, and he served for four-and-a-half years on the IBO's Diploma Review Committee, the senior academic committee of the IBO.