Science Communication

GeoSciences Column: Is smoke on your mind? Using social media to assess smoke exposure from wildfires

Laura Roberts-Artal July 14, 2017

A wildfire in the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana, United States . Credit: John McColgan – Edited by Fir0002 [Public domain], distributed via Wikimedia Commons.

Wildfires have been raging across the globe this summer. Six U.S. States, including California and Nevada, are currently battling fierce flames spurred on by high temperatures and dry conditions. Up to 10,000 people have been evacuated in Canada, where wildfires have swept through British Columbia. Closer to home, 700 tourists were rescued by boat from fires in Sicily, while last month, over 60 pe ...[Read More]

June GeoRoundUp: the best of the Earth sciences from around the web

Laura Roberts-Artal June 30, 2017

We take our oceans, a valuable and beautiful resource, for granted. Credit: While the wind blows , Alevtina Evgrafova (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

Drawing inspiration from popular stories on our social media channels, as well as unique and quirky research news, this monthly column aims to bring you the best of the Earth and planetary sciences from around the web. Major Story With June being the month when the world’s oceans are celebrated with World Ocean Day (8th June) and the month when the UN’s Ocean Conference took place, it seemed apt t ...[Read More]

Light years from home – a geologist’s tale

Conor Purcell June 21, 2017

Sunrise seen from space . Illustration inspired by the opening scene of Stanley Kubricks film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Credit: Grafiker61 (Own work), distributed via Wikimedia Commons .

In a departure from the usual posts we feature on the blog, today Conor Purcell (a freelance science writer) brings you a thought provoking science fiction piece. Grab a drink and dive into this geology inspired adventure! “It’s typical geology for a rocky planet” K reported. “Captured beneath the ocean at its northern pole, the core is a mix of metamorphic and sedimentary rock, with sand an ...[Read More]

Enmeshed in the gears of publishing – lessons from working as a young editor

Robert Emberson June 14, 2017

Robert shares details about what he learned while working as associate editor at Nature Geoscience . Credit: Lum3n.com (distributed via pexels).

Editors of scientific journals play an important role in the process research publication. They act as the midpoint between authors and reviewers, and set the direction of a given journal. However, for an early career scientist like me (I only defended my PhD in early December 2016) the intricacies of editorial work remained somewhat mysterious. Many academic journals tend to appoint established, ...[Read More]