Education

Apply now to take part in the 2016 GIFT workshop!

Laura Roberts-Artal October 7, 2015

Rosetta and Philae preparing for comet landing. The topic of the 2016 GIFT Workshop is ‘The Solar System and beyond’ and is co-organised with the European Space Agency (ESA). (Credit: ESA)

The General Assembly is not only for researchers but for teachers and educators with an interest in the geosciences also. Every year the Geosciences Information For Teachers (GIFT) is organised by the EGU Committee on Education to bring first class science closer to primary and high school teachers. The topic of the 2016 edition of GIFT is ‘The Solar System and beyond’. This year’s workshop is co- ...[Read More]

Life after geoscience

Sam Illingworth October 2, 2015

After spending 13 years (give or take) at school you are faced with a tough decision: what to study at University (if anything at all, the academic path may well not be for you)? You sift through a bunch of university prospectuses and try to plan your future. Of course, lots of things can change, prior to, during and after you finish your studies. Nevertheless, there is no harm in starting to plan ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Soil in art

Laura Roberts-Artal September 18, 2015

Soil profiles and associated vegetation represented as paintings in Walter Kubiena’s textbook (1953) Bestimmungsbuch und Systematik der Böden Europas (The Soils of Europe). Taken from Feller et al., 2015 .

When you think of soil, what is the first thing that comes to mind? The answer will depend on your perception of soil: to some it has a patriotic meaning (“soil of Britain”, for example), while to others it has a strong agricultural connection and to an Earth scientist, well, it’ll depend on their field of expertise. A geotechnical engineer’s perception of soil is different to how it might be view ...[Read More]

GeoEd: A Framework Too Far?

Laura Roberts-Artal August 28, 2015

Dr._Thomas_Dwight_lecturing_students. Source: Wikimedia Commons, distributed via Countway Repository .

In this month’s edition of GeoEd, Sam Illingworth, former ECS PC representative and Lecturer of Science Communication at Manchester Metropolitan University, talks about a new framework introduced by the UK government to measure the quality of teaching at higher education institutions. Although Sam explores the issue from a UK perspective, there is no doubt cross over within the European realm. Als ...[Read More]