#vEGU21 is over and it was an intense two-week period for many of us. Whether you occasionally zapped in or kept your whole last week free to join online, you certainly have heard a lot about it. Here I have collected a few reflections from the events related to the hydrological sciences division. The conference first week The first week presented several Union-wide debates and sessions. We learne ...[Read More]
Belemnites are a group of now extinct marine coleoids cephalopods that lived during the Mesozoic (240 Mya – 65 Mya). Unlike modern squids, belemnites had a hard internal skeleon made of calcium carbonate called a rostrum. Like many fossil groups, belemnites have been associated with numerous myths and legends in folklore. Belemnites take their name from the Greek word belemnon meaning dart or jave ...[Read More]
PhD students’ struggles are alike; each succeed in their own way[1] It was a Friday morning, and nearly 3 years had passed since I arrived at Sydney. This meant, I only had one month left to submit my thesis! No sooner had I entered my office than a feeling of anxiety had found me. I had no time to dig deep into my own thoughts to discover what was happening, although it was obvious. Instead, I re ...[Read More]
Microplastics are a big topic these days, so I take a look at some vital research… Plastic problems, hurdles, and nurdles A happy, healthy body has veins and arteries free from clogs and constrictions caused by build-up of lipid junk. This includes our external, shared body, a body on which we all rely, the landscape we live in. The veins and arteries of our landscape are rivers, clogged wit ...[Read More]
This year as part of EGU’s 4th annual Games Day we ran two Geoscience Game Jams. A game jam is a challenge to games developers to create games for a specific theme and in limited time. They are becoming increasingly popular and many foster extremely active communities of shared knowledge. We really hope to grow and expand these game jams and create those connections between geoscientists and games ...[Read More]
This one was a challenge to write, and a challenge to get my head around, but I was challenged to write it, so challenge accepted and challenge fulfilled! Kaleidoscope of ice Frozen water, mineral ice, a simple structure, orientation concise. A fabric is woven from many crystals intertwined, axes interlocked. C-axes, crystalline kaleidoscopes of greys, blues and whites, reflecting, refracting and ...[Read More]
For this year’s Photo Contest, EGU received scores of amazing images capturing a broad spectrum of the geosciences. After the selection committee whittled the field down to 10 finalists, members have been voting for their favourites throughout the two weeks of vEGU21. We’ve had thousands of votes, but now we are very excited to announce the winners. Congratulations to these superb pho ...[Read More]
With a name like “atmospheric rivers” this subject is an absolute gift to the poetically-inclined! Atmospheric rivers I float high in the sky, higher than the jagged, ice-hewn nunatak peaks I see below me as I peer over the side of my coracle made of clouds. Down there, beneath frayed candifloss, Greenland glows white in bright polar sunlight. My coracle bobs and sways as I go with the ...[Read More]
Concepts accepted in geology always have room for revision. In this case, time itself is revised! This one melted my brain a little. Deep time, deep circulation, deep thinking Plate tectonics, amongst the most evocative subjects in geology. The entire skin of the earth shifting and reorganising continuously, the most profound of motion. So deep and ancient, that humans struggle to understand it. E ...[Read More]
I find the idea of nature-based solutions hugely appealing. Let’s explore what it means! Nature-based harmony Over billions of years, natural ecosystems have co-evolved solutions that prevent their damage and destruction. So why do we think we can do better, with only 10,000 years of innovation? We can restore and reproduce the natural behaviour of ecosystems in the places we inhabit, Nature ...[Read More]
