Tectonics and Structural Geology

The power and pitfalls of compliments

Anne Pluymakers January 19, 2022

Credit: cottonbro. Distributed via Pexels.

Part of a good workplace vibe is good contact between colleagues, as well as good contact between you and your supervisor – or between you and your supervisee. A potentially complex ingredient is the power of compliments. Compliments, per definition, are meant well. However, they can backfire enormously, when they are not received in the spirit in which they are meant. Additionally, part of being ...[Read More]

Mind your Head: Taking care of yourself during the Corona-virus crisis – Part 2

Anne Pluymakers and Hannah Davies December 11, 2020

Credit: Bongkarn Thanyakij. Distributed via Pexels

It has been many months since the first lockdown, in some countries about a year, in other countries perhaps eight months. A continuing learning curve, with many ups and downs. Now the end is slowly appearing on the horizon, with promises of vaccines, and several countries making definite plans on when and how to vaccinate. Still – it will take at least 6 months, quite possibly more, until it is o ...[Read More]

Mind your head: Overcoming Anxiety

Anne Pluymakers November 18, 2020

Credit: Suzy Hazelwood. Distributed via Pexels

This Mind Your Head blog post is a follow-up from Jean Holloway’s talk during the online short course on mental health that aired during the last EGU General Assembly, where she discussed overcoming anxiety. Anxiety is excessive worry or fear, and is a normal part of life, until it becomes frequent or debilitating. This post is written by someone with lived experience as an academic who struggled ...[Read More]

Mind your head: The Imposter Syndrome

Anne Pluymakers July 3, 2020

Credit: Bich Tran. Distributed via Pexels

This Mind Your Head blog post is a follow-up from one of the talks during the online short course on mental health that aired during the last EGU General Assembly. Imposter syndrome is about the feeling of being afraid to be found to be an imposter. Note that I do not claim to be an expert; in the following, I simply list a few tricks that help me, and people I have talked to, to find their way i ...[Read More]

#ShareEGU20: An online EGU General assembly?

Anne Pluymakers April 21, 2020

Credit: cottonbro. Distributed via Pexels

In mid-March it was decided that the EGU conference in Vienna was to be cancelled, with an alternative proposed, the online GA. Being the first EGU general assembly to be held online, many people are doubtful about many aspects, such as how the conference will be organised and conducted. EGU has been providing answers to questions on their page and on Geolog, and we thought we would provide some h ...[Read More]

Neutrons and X-rays: 3D and 4D imaging in geoscience

Anne Pluymakers April 6, 2020

In-situ 4D Neutron imaging of imbibition of heavy water in an Indiana limestone (Cordonnier et al., 2019).

Anne Pluymakers is an assistant professor at TU Delft, whose hobbies include experimental rock mechanics and fluid-rock interaction. She focuses on the effects of fluids on mechanical behaviour of rocks at representative in-situ temperature and pressure conditions, with a strong focus on hydrochemical fluid-rock interaction. Investigating the microstructure of the rock and how it is altered is cri ...[Read More]

Mind your head: Taking care of yourself during the Corona-virus crisis

Anne Pluymakers March 17, 2020

Credit: Bongkarn Thanyakij. Distributed via Pexels

By now more and more countries in Europe are hit by the Corona-virus, leading to increasingly strict measures and closures of many public places. We are being asked or obliged to work from home, to limit social contact by staying away from bars, restaurants, sports clubs, museums, theatres and all other places where gatherings of people take place. Simultaneously, we continue to receive worrying m ...[Read More]

Geothermal Energy and Structural Geology?

Anne Pluymakers October 25, 2019

Green pipelines and cooling towers of geothermal power plants in the hills of Tuscany. Credit: Anne Pluymakers.

Fieldwork is a necessity to expand the brain, to kick-start 3D thinking. Field studies with a specific application in mind have – until now – usually been geared towards hydrocarbon reservoirs. However, with the increasing use of the subsurface, for example for CO2 storage and geothermal energy, alternative field studies gain importance. Here, we will focus on geothermal energy, which is in ...[Read More]

The Netherlands: In search of the oldest rocks of a muddy country

Anne Pluymakers June 17, 2019

The flat countryside of the Netherlands. Credit: Anne Pluymakers

Technically speaking, the Netherlands isn’t really a city, even though it is the most densely populated country in the European Union and one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with 488 people/km2. It is a delta, and for many people geology is not the first thing that springs to mind when thinking about the flat countryside. Large parts of the country have been more often below ...[Read More]