Rate My Professor Afonso Rodrigues

Dr. Angela Afonso Rodrigues is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow and Assistant Lecturer in the School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University. She completed her PhD in 2022 at the same institution, specializing in the application of data analysis methods for mineral identification from hyperspectral and assay datasets within porphyry copper deposits. Her doctoral research formed part of the AMIRA Global Project P1202, 'Far-field and near-mine footprints: Finding and defining the next generation of Tier-1 deposits,' undertaken in collaboration with the University of Tasmania and numerous industry partners including Newcrest Mining, AngloAmerican, BHP, Boliden, Freeport, Merdeka Copper Gold, Mount Isa Mines, Vale, Newmont, Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group, Codelco, FMG, and Teck Resources. Specifically, she collaborated with Newcrest Mining on the Waivaka Corridor, a 5-km segment of porphyry systems located in Fiji's Namosi District. Her PhD work emphasized automated mineral and textural extraction from hyperspectral data, employing computer vision, deep learning, and data analysis techniques to support geologists in exploration for porphyry copper, epithermal, and skarn deposits.

Currently, Dr. Rodrigues contributes to the ARC Linkage Project Loop3D (LP210301239), developing automated workflows to translate geological map datasets into inputs for 3D geological modeling engines, with a focus on the open-source map2loop Python library and the augmentation of structural data from geological maps. Her research specializations include geological and spatial data analysis, 3D modeling, geochemical modeling, remote sensing, image processing, and Bayesian statistics. She has been honored with the AusIMM Bicentennial Gold Endowment Award in January 2021, the Hugo Dummet Mineral Discovery Fund in July 2020, and a $5,000 award from the Society of Economic Geologists for her PhD research on hyperspectral data and textural analysis in porphyry copper deposits. Additionally, she was a finalist in the ANZ Women in AI (Mining) Awards. Her work aligns with UN Sustainable Development Goals 7, 8, 9, and 13, and she has engaged in media activities such as an AMIRA success interview and recognition among Victorian Women in AI.