Tuhia he tohutoro mō tēnei wāhanga - I whānau a Mawson ki Ingarangi, ā, i tae mai ki Ahitereiria i a ia e pēpi ana. I whakaoti ia i nga tohu mo te miihini maina me te matawhenua i te Whare Wananga o Sydney. I te tau 1905 i whakawhiwhia ia hei kaiwhakaako mo te petrology me te mineralogia i te Whare Waananga o Adelaide. Ko te wheako tuatahi a Mawson i Antarctica i te mea he mema ia o te "Nimirota" o Shackleton
(1907<unk>1909), i te taha o tana kaiako a Edgeworth David. Ko rātau tētahi wāhanga o te rōpū raki o te haerenga, ko rātau te tuatahi ki te eke ki te Pou Ā-Mātai ki te Tonga, ki te eke ki Maunga Erebus.