It was 2021, and we were not feeling good. COVID-19 was in full force. Personally we were experiencing lockdown conditions, disruptions to our work, schooling and childcare arrangements. Our social media feeds were lighting up with stories about how women scientists were disproportionately exposed to the negative career impacts of the pandemic. The US was reeling from the aftermath of George F ...[Read More]
As with all professional activities, one of the greatest challenges for us, geoscientists, is how to reduce our own CO2 emissions linked to our research activities over the coming decades. A collective of 57 researchers came together in 2021-2022 to promote awareness and concrete action to decarbonize scientific activities: it was the birth of Ma Terre en 180 Minutes, whose title is inspired by Ma ...[Read More]
Following an inspiring workshop, as well as our own experiences and informal discussions with students and undergraduate PhD students at the University of Lausanne (see our previous blog post), we collected ideas for a wish list for safe and accessible field classes. It is not exhaustive, and we hope that it will inspire field leaders and students alike. The wish list is summarized here below. It ...[Read More]
Imagine it is your first time going on a field trip. After spending hours in the lecture theatre, you are excited to get outside and see those environmental processes that so far you have only seen in graphs and figures. You get off the bus, and the first thing your professor says is: “people less comfortable with climbing on the rocks can just take the notes”, while looking at you and your femal ...[Read More]
