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Hazel Gibson

Hazel Gibson is Head of Communications at the European Geosciences Union. She is responsible for the management of the Union's social media presence and the EGU blogs, where she writes regularly for the EGU's official blog, GeoLog. She has a PhD in Geoscience Communication and Cognition from the University of Plymouth in the UK. Hazel tweets @iamhazelgibson.

Imaggeo On Monday: Patterns in the landform

June 29, 2020
Imaggeo On Monday: Patterns in the landform
Patterns in the landform. Credit: Basudev Biswal (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

The badlands at the Zabriskie Point (Death Valley, California, USA) rest upon a mudstone foundation. In the prehistoric lakes of Death Valley, fine grained sediments were deposited to form soft rocks. The clay minerals in the mudstone are shaped like tiny plates, which helps create the layers. The combination of the almost impermeable mudstone and Death Valley’s low rainfall makes plant grow ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Thunderstorm asthma, the unexpected impact of lightning storms on pollen allergies.

June 26, 2020
Geosciences Column: Thunderstorm asthma, the unexpected impact of lightning storms on pollen allergies.
Image credit: Michiel Baatsen, (distributed via imaggeo)

In October 2015 a series of massive thunderstorms rolled across the Eastern Mediterranean. In the hours and days that followed many people living along the Israeli coast had to go to their nearest medical centre because they were experiencing respiratory problems, which appeared very similar to asthma. But what could have caused these breathing problems? Well in research recently published in Natu ...[Read More]

LGBTQIA+ in the field

June 19, 2020
LGBTQIA+ in the field
Image credit: François Dulac, (distributed via imaggeo)

As a part of any field-based science work, whether it be as an individual scientist, research team or with students, we must first conduct a risk assessment. This often focuses on the physical dangers that you, your colleagues or students may encounter whilst working in stressful and sometimes unfamiliar environments. More recently, field-based risk assessments for physical/environmental scientist ...[Read More]

Imaggeo On Mondays: “The most valuable thing we extract from the ocean is our existence” Dr Sylvia Earle

June 8, 2020
Imaggeo On Mondays: “The most valuable thing we extract from the ocean is our existence” Dr Sylvia Earle
"The most valuable thing we extract from the ocean is our existence" - Dr Sylvia Earle. Credit: David Jones (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Marine plastic is just one of the many challenges facing the future of our oceans. For many years researchers have been attempting to understand this problem, but it can be surprising to learn how many things are still unknown, even in oceans we may think of as being familiar. The Mediterranean Sea is one such place, where this photograph was taken by David Jones just off the coast of Malta.   ...[Read More]