ERE
Energy, Resources and the Environment

Energy, Resources and the Environment

Call for abstracts EGU 2016!

Call for abstracts EGU 2016!

The call for abstracts is now out for EGU 2016!

Have a look at our exciting proposed programme in the ERE Division under the topics:

ERE1 – Integrated studies
ERE2 – Impact of energy and resource exploitation on the environment
ERE3 – Non-carbon based energy
ERE4 – Carbon based energy
ERE5 – Geo-storage for a sustainable future
ERE6 – Geo-materials from natural resources

The abstract deadline is 13th January, 13:00 CET.

If you are an Early Career Scientist and would like help with submitting an abstract please email me on Sian@bgs.ac.uk

Hope to see you there!

Change to Early Career Scientist definition

Change to Early Career Scientist definition

Earlier this year the term Young Scientist (YS) was replaced by Early Career Scientist. Now, in a positive move, the EGU Council has approved a change to the definition of an ECS.

Previously the definition of an ECS was:

A scientist who is 35 years old* or younger, AND who can be an undergraduate or postgraduate (Masters/PhD) student or who has received his or her highest degree (e.g., BSc, MSc, PhD) within the past seven years*.
* Where appropriate, up to one year of parental leave time may be added per child.

However, feedback from early career scientists at the 2014 and 2015 Young Scientists Forums, supported by the findings of the Young Scientist Survey of 2014, highlighted that ECS benefits are important at the onset of an academic career, independent of the age of the recipient. Taking into account this view, the EGU Council has approved a new definition which is inclusive of those who start their research career later on in life.

The new definition reads as follows:

An Early Career Scientist (ECS) is an undergraduate or postgraduate (Masters/PhD) student or a scientist who has received his or her highest degree (BSc, MSc, or PhD) within the past seven years*.
* Provided parental leave fell into that period, up to one year of parental leave time may be added per child, where appropriate.

For more information contact

Laura Roberts
EGU Communications Officer (early career scientists’ contact person at the EGU Office)
Munich, Germany
Tel: +49-89-2180-6717
Email: roberts@egu.eu

Oil in Kenya: Blessing or Fuel for Fights

Words on Wednesday aims at promoting interesting/fun/exciting publications on topics related to Energy, Resources and the Environment. If you would like to be featured on WoW, please send us a link of the paper, or your own post, ERE.Matters@gmail.com

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Citation: J. Schilling, R. Locham, T. Weinzierl, J. Vivekananda, and J. Scheffran. The nexus of oil, conflict, and climate change vulnerability of pastoral communities in northwest Kenya. Earth Syst. Dynam. Discuss., 6, 1163-1200, 2015

Blog by Janpeter Schilling

“Now, we will all be rich”, I was told by Eduang, a Turkana pastoralist in northwest Kenya. That was in 2011, when people first heard about oil located under their feet. A year later, the company Tullow Oil actually struck oil in Turkana, announced its commercial viability and estimated the reserves to be in the neighborhood of 600 million barrels. Everybody was excited. Local community members like Eduang expected wealth and jobs. The former president of Kenya, Kibaki, called the oil discovery “very good news” in anticipation of significant revenues. So has oil been a blessing for Turkana?

To answer this question, one has to understand the situation in Turkana before oil was found. Turkana is the poorest and least developed county in Kenya. The pastoralists living in Turkana are well adapted to the harsh and dry climate but increasingly unpredictable rainfall and a higher drought frequency pose a significant challenge for the local communities. On top of the climate uncertainty come the violent conflicts between different pastoral groups. The Turkana fight particularly with the Pokot over land, pasture, water and livestock. In this very conflict hotspot the oil has been found.

Coming back to our initial question, yes, a few Turkana have gotten a casual jobs with Tullow as a security guard or road assistant. And, yes, the water situation for the Turkana communities has somewhat improved as Tullow has given some water to the communities. However, no, the high expectations of the communities for employment and development have not been met. In addition, the communities feel that land has been taken from them and pollution associated with the oil exploration is likely to become another source of community frustration. Community road blocks and an attack on an oil site show the level of frustration.

Kenya9

The government of Kenya, currently undergoing the process of devolution, has not used the opportunity of oil to improve the situation in Turkana in terms of education, economy, health and infrastructure. Currently, Nachoo, another pastoralist who I recently interviewed in Turkana seems to be right. Nachoo told me “where there is oil, there is conflict”.