science

Geoff Lawton

Geoff Lawton is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Geoff Lawton rather than just read about it. In short: Geoff Lawton (born 10 December 1954) is a British-born Australian permaculture consultant, designer, teacher and speaker. Since 1995 he has specialized in permaculture education, design, implementation, system establishment, administration and community development.

Key takeaways

Geoff Lawton belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Geoff Lawton to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Geoff Lawton from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Geoff Lawton (born 10 December 1954) is a British-born Australian permaculture consultant, designer, teacher and speaker. Since 1995 he has specialized in permaculture education, design, implementation, system establishment, administration and community development.

Career Since 1985, Lawton has undertaken a large number of jobs consulting, designing, teaching and implementing in over thirty countries around the world. Clients have included private individuals, groups, communities, governments, aid organisations, non-governmental organisations and multinational companies. Lawton's aim is to establish self-replicating educational demonstration sites. He has educated over 15,000 students in permaculture worldwide. These include graduates of the Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) Course and courses focused on the practical design of sustainable soil, water, plant, animal, energy, structures, legal and economic systems. Lawton's 'master plan' is to see aid projects being replicated as fast as possible to help ameliorate the growing food and water crisis. In 1996 he was accredited with the Permaculture Community Services Award by the permaculture movement for services in Australia and around the world. In October 1997 Bill Mollison, upon his retirement, asked Lawton to establish and direct a new Permaculture Research Institute on the 66 hectare Tagari Farm developed by Mollison. Lawton further developed the site over three years and established The Permaculture Research Institute Australia as a not for profit company. PRI was eventually moved to Zaytuna Farm, in The Channon, where it continues today. Lawton is the managing director of The Permaculture Research Institute Australia and The Permaculture Research Institute USA, a registered not for profit organisation that has tax deductible gift recipient status. Establishing sustainable aid projects as permaculture demonstration sites that also function as education centres for local and international students has become a major focus with the establishment of permaculture research institutes in Jordan, Afghanistan, Spain, Malaysia, Vietnam, Yemen, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Thailand, China and many more countries underway. Lawton and Mollison have taught a number of courses together. Lawton is also a presenter in Mollison's teaching DVD set. Lawton is friends with John D. Liu, a Chinese-American film-maker and ecologist who documented large scale ecological recovery in the Loess plateau, China after a government project set to rehabilitate an area the size of Belgium. Lawton appears in Liu's documentary Hope in a Changing Climate. Recently, Lawton has achieved success in establishing a permaculture ecosystem in Wadi Rum, in southern Jordan. He has also helped to begin the Al Baydha Project, a land restoration program, in western Saudi Arabia. On 31 March 2012 Lawton appeared at TEDx conference in Ajman. In 2019 Lawton opened enrollment to his online PDC 2.0, which began January 30 and, lasting 28 weeks, will be the longest course he has taught.

Works Lawton, Geoff. "Brick and Tile Permaculture" (PDF). Permaculture International Journal No. 51. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2017. "The Sleeping Jaguar" (co-author), Permaculture International Journal "Ecuador" (co-author), Permaculture International Journal "Permaculture Aid in the Balkans", Permaculture International Journal "Future Food Security", Green Connections

Films Harvesting Water the Permaculture Way (2007) Establishing a Food Forest (2008) Introduction to Permaculture Design (2009) Greening The Desert II (2009) Permaculture Soils (2010) Urban Permaculture (2011) Green is the new Silver (Lining): Crisis, Hope, and Permaculture (2019)

Awards The Permaculture Research Institute Australia won the Humanitarian Water & Food Award for 2010 for their initiative "Greening the Desert". The Permaculture Research Institute and founder Geoff Lawton, based in Australia, were the 2015 winners of the Energy Globe Award. The Permaculture Research Institute recognised with UNCCD Accreditation

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Geoff Lawton

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Geoff Lawton claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Geoff Lawton before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Geoff Lawton ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Geoff Lawton

In research: Geoff Lawton appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Geoff Lawton in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Geoff Lawton is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1954 births, Australian scientists, Desert greening conservationists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Geoff Lawton outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Geoff Lawton in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Geoff Lawton means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Geoff Lawton out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Geoff Lawton in simple terms?

Why does Geoff Lawton matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Geoff Lawton?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Geoff Lawton.