Geology for Global Development
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Dr Joel C. Gill

Joel is the Founder/Director of Geology for Global Development (@Geo_Dev) an organisation working to support geologists to make a sustainable contribution to the fight against global poverty. He is an interdisciplinary researcher, with a PhD in geography (natural hazards), and research interests in multi-hazard frameworks, disaster risk reduction, rural water projects, and sustainable development. This work has taken him to Chile, China, Guatemala, India, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. Joel is currently based at the British Geological Survey, and tweets at @JoelCGill.

Friday Photo (112) – Volcano San Pedro, Guatemala

Volcanoes at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala In the foreground is the volcano San Pedro, on the south-western shore of Lake Atitlan. San Pedro (approx 3000m) is believed to be extinct, but Atitlan (in the background is dormant). Credit: Joel Gill, Geology for Global Development (2014)

Field Research in Guatemala (2) – Observing and Understanding Place

Over the next couple of months, Joel Gill (GfGD Founding Director) will be reporting live from Guatemala, whilst undertaking interdisciplinary field research relating to natural hazards and disaster risk reduction. This fieldwork forms part of a NERC/ESRC funded PhD, supervised by staff in the Department of Geography at King’s College London.  One of the first things I want to do when arriving in ...[Read More]

Get Involved: Guest Blogs

We love the fact that our blog can be a forum for many different people to share their expertise and ideas. Our guest blogs are always very popular, giving people access to a much wider range of knowledge and opinion that just one or two authors can provide! We have had some great blogs from students, academics and professionals, from the UK and overseas. We would love to have more guest blogs, pr ...[Read More]

Friday Photo (111) – Sanitation Infrastructure

Continuing the theme of sanitation from earlier this week, here we present a range of sanitation infrastructure, taken across Tanzania. There are some obvious and some subtle differences in the infrastructures being used. Consider how the different building types may have an impact on (i) security and personal safety, (ii) hygiene, (iii) latrine longevity, (iv) smell (note the ventilation pipe in ...[Read More]

Field Research in Guatemala (1) – Introduction

Over the next couple of months, Joel Gill (GfGD Founding Director) will be reporting live from Guatemala, whilst undertaking interdisciplinary field research relating to natural hazards and disaster risk reduction. This fieldwork forms part of a NERC/ESRC funded PhD, supervised at King’s College London. Today Joel gives an introduction to his research and why he is focusing on the Central Am ...[Read More]

Guest Blog: Geology and Sanitation

In October last year, Dr Alison Parker (Cranfield University) gave a brilliant talk at the GfGD conference – discussing the role of geologists in providing access to clean water and safe sanitation. The importance of the latter half of this duet of basic needs came as a surprise to many. In this guest blog, our first of 2014, Alison writes in more detail about geology, sanitation and support ...[Read More]

Christmas Break

We’ll be taking a break from blogging over the festive season – returning on January 6th! Do join us again then for more articles, photographs and opportunities to get involved in the fight against global poverty. In the meantime – if you haven’t ‘Liked’ our Facebook page or followed us on Twitter – do that now to keep up to date with breaking news and opp ...[Read More]

Friday Photo (110): Imaggeo – A Great Resource!

Rather than share one of our photographs with you this week, we thought we would share the fantastic, new-look Imaggeo website (brought to you by the EGU). This repository of beautiful images are all open access and can be used within your blogs and work – following the guidance on how to credit images. Website Snapshot from: http://imaggeo.egu.eu Photo (Being Displayed) Credit: Ian Joughin ...[Read More]

From Our Archives: Guest Blogs (2)

We’ve gone back even further into our archives (back to our old blog site in fact!) to bring you some brilliant guest blogs written by students and professionals on topics ranging from water to ocean nutrients!  **Hydrogeology/Water and Sanitation Donald John MacAllister – Groundwater Use and Challenges in South Asia Christopher Barry – Water of Life Project – Safe Drinking ...[Read More]

External Opportunities – Conference, Training, Competitions and Research

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve had a few emails with some exciting opportunities that may interest our members. We’ve outlined each of these below  and given some details for getting involved! **Nile Research – Intrepid Explorers, King’s College London – Walking the Nile Expedition Intrepid Explorers is an initiative based in the Department of Geography (King&#82 ...[Read More]