When most people hear Geology, they might think ‘rocks’, ‘diamonds’ or ‘oil and gas’, and these perceptions of the Geosciences vary from country to country. This week, we have PhD student Ayuni Ina Mohamaad from the University of Florida to tell us more about the Malaysian view of geoscientists. Fresh out of high school in 2009, I was still unclear with how I would like to move forward in life, ca ...[Read More]
Good morning, dear readers, this is your editor-in-chief speaking. We are currently experiencing some difficulties in academia, but we ask you to stay calm and remain in your seats with the seatbelt fastened. In the event of loss of pressure, make sure to publish your own paper first (to increase the pressure on your peers). Yes, it’s me! Your favourite (and only) editor-in-chief! And because runn ...[Read More]
After spending about three decades in the hustle-bustle of Asian megacities, I landed up in a quiet European town to continue my research work as a postdoc. When you know you will not meet your family soon in person, you know that you will not get the food you love and, the climate that has guided you in the sun and shadow will be very different; you may expect a life struggle. Yet, people have di ...[Read More]
It can be tough realising you’re not on the path you want to be on. This week, we have Leiaka Welcome from the Colorado School of Mines showing us how a change of heart led her to start her PhD journey. Currently on social media (Instagram Reel, TikTok), there is a video trend where users are editing a video of themselves in a scenario with an audio sound where you can hear a classic record scratc ...[Read More]
In June 2020 I made (my first!) blog post for the EGU blog on the topic of teaching, describing what I learned by for the first time teaching a full class on my own. It was at the time when teaching suddenly had to shift from in person to online teaching. Last quarter I was teaching again, but now the situation was the reverse. We had to move from online teaching back to in person teaching. In thi ...[Read More]
Social media has become an important tool in science, for everything from getting your results out into the ether, recruiting students and faculty and to educating the masses. Content creators invite us into their world and this week we’re given behind-the-scenes access. PhD student Phylindia Gant from the University of Florida shares some pearls of wisdom to help us get started. Hi, I’m Philly! I ...[Read More]
Imagine my surprise when I found out that one of the regular attendees of our virtual institute coffee in Leeds actually worked on the movie ‘The Core’. Yes, you read that correctly: The Core, maybe the best bad science movie out there! (Although Menno had some great other suggestions last week!) So, in between many cups of coffee (well, mugs of tea actually, we are in the UK after all ...[Read More]
More than a year ago Iris made a great list of geodynamics themed (bad) movies. Since there are so many amazingly bad (and a few good) geodynamics themed movies out there, we felt that it was time for some additional movie recommendations. I tried to keep the list varied with some over-the-top movies and some which are very down to earth, or in some cases more correctly phrased: down into the eart ...[Read More]
Most of us have been directly or indirectly involved in outreach activities, often relying on shiny rocks to capture people’s fascination. This week, Aaron Van Alstine, a member of the Memphis Archaeological and Geological Society, a passionate rockhounder, and moderator of the sub-reddit on radioactive rocks, shares his views on why all earth scientists need a rock collection and how to st ...[Read More]
In this weeks Wit & Wisdom, revisit some cybersecurity 101 nuggets! We are not even half-way through 2021 and I can list more than a handful of occasions where my cyber-safety, both private and professional, was jeopardised (that I have been made aware of, the actual number is probably much higher). The Dutch research council was hacked1 (ransomware; documents leaked after refusal to pay; fund ...[Read More]