Last month GfGD provided two small bursaries to allow Victoria Gill (Aberdeen University) and Mike Rose (Camborne School of Mines) to attend a conference on Hydrogeology and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) at the Geological Society of London. The conference was organised by Hydrogeologists without Borders. On Monday Victoria reported on her experiences, and today Mike gives his overview and t ...[Read More]
Water and Sanitation
GUEST BLOG: Hydrogeology & WASH Conference – What can hydrogeologists contribute to safe water supply and poverty reduction?
Last month GfGD provided two small bursaries to allow Victoria Gill (Aberdeen University) and Mike Rose (Camborne School of Mines) to attend a conference on Hydrogeology and WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) at the Geological Society of London. The conference was organised by Hydrogeologists without Borders. Here Victoria reports on the event… The main theme of the conference explored how ...[Read More]
#EGU2014: Cleaning with Coffee
We’re drinking an enormous amount of coffee in Vienna this week, but the residues at the bottom of the cafetière usually end up in the bin. Kalliopo Fotopoulou, from the University of Patras in Greece, has found a way to transform that residue into something far more useful. Baking coffee residues in an oven changes them into a carbon rich “biochar”, which can be added to soils t ...[Read More]
External Conference Opportunities
A number of interesting and relevant external conferences have come to our attention this week. If you’re interested in water and sanitation/hydrogeology or disaster risk reduction then these may be of interest to you! — **Hydrogeology and WASH Conference – What can hydrogeologists contribute to safe water supply and poverty reduction?** When: Thursday 5th June 2014 Where: Geolog ...[Read More]
Guest Blog: Groundwater Quality Management in Rural Uttar Pradesh, India
Donald John MacAllister, serves on the Executive Committee of Geology for Global Development. He is currently leading the Hazard Factsheet project. Donald John is a PhD student at Imperial College London and is researching the application of self-potential monitoring to seawater intrusion problems in coastal aquifers. He has a BSc in Geophysics from the University of Edinburgh and an MSc in Commun ...[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]
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]
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]
Building Peace and Cooperation Through Science and Academia
In today’s blog post we discuss the role that both science and academia have in successfully bringing together stakeholders in areas where co-operation is essential, but challenging. In December 2011 I was fortunate to attend a workshop in Leicester in which academics and researchers from Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan gathered with others from the UK to talk about strengthening the teaching ...[Read More]
Guest Blog: Before the wells run dry… New Competition!
Geraint Burrows, Head of HWB-UK, shares an exciting competition that Earth Scientists could enter in collaboration with engineers or other stakeholders…Hydrogeologists without Borders UK (HWB-UK), in partnership with Engineers Without Borders UK (EWB-UK), have launched a competition entitled ‘Before the well runs dry’. The competition challenges innovators to design a new cost-ef ...[Read More]