In contrast to last week’s snowy photo, geologists trying to squeeze into a patch of shade during field work in the betics, Spain, April 2011. Get involved with our Friday Photo series – send us your favourite photos of geologists in the field! (c) Geology for Global Development 2013
Green Tea and Velociraptors
A new feathered dinosaur – worth getting ruffled for?
Two new feathered dinosaur articles appeared in the latest edition of Nature Communications; one on gender identification in a well-known theropod (the meat noshing ones), and the subject of a forthcoming blog post, and another on a new feathered fiend from, surprise surprise, China. I normally really don’t like writing about theropods, especially of the feathered variety, as it just seems l ...[Read More]
GeoSphere
Geology Photo of the Week #19 – Jan 27 – Feb 2
Hi Everyone, Sorry this post is a bit late. Things have been crazy the last few days in the lab. I am trying to get enough done in the next few weeks to submit an abstract to a conference and I still have quite a long way to go. The 19th photo of week was taken by me at the Hogan Sand Pit just north of Ottawa near Cantley, Quebec. It is a pretty interesting sedimentological feature called a “ ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Resources: ‘World We Want’ Discussion forums
It’s been a while since we posted anything in our resources series. This week we direct you to a group of discussion forums on the ‘world we want’ website. They have discussion boards covering a range of development themes, some of which are particularly relevant to GfGD; water, energy and environmental sustainability. They direct you to articles and blogs, as well as facilitatin ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
DINOSAUR! But what does it mean..?
Palaeontology probably isn’t the most difficult of sciences, but it does incorporate aspects of chemistry, biology, and physics to a certain degree, as with many other geoscientific disciplines. Palaeontologists are also well known for the mysterious and unintelligible ‘science-speak’ that they use in research papers, fueled by this combination of a multitude of various sciences, ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Guest Blog: From the President of the International Association for Geoethics
Prof. Jesús Martínez-Frías is the head of the planetology and habitability department in the ‘centro de astrobiologica’ in Madrid. He is also the new president of the International Association for Geoethics (IAGETH). We did a short piece promoting another geoethics organisation in December, and here Jesús elaborates on the history and significance of geoethics… Although Geoethics ...[Read More]
GeoSphere
Guest Lecture – Dr. Tim Lowenstein
Our department was recently lucky enough to have Dr. Tim Lowenstein from SUNY Binghamton come give a guest lecture on the changes in the chemistry of seawater throughout geologic time. Originally, we thought that the major ion chemistry in the past was more or less the same as it is today. However, over the last 10 years this long standing belief has been challenged by many researchers and champio ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Friday Photo (64): Geologists in the field – snow in Greece
After our successful ‘active geology’ series, we begin a new, fun photo series looking at ‘geologists in the field’. This week, clearing snow off the outcrop on an undergraduate field trip to Greece, December 2009. Please send us your favourite field photos! (c) Geology for Global Development
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Which direction to take!?
One of the most important things palaeontologists and taxonomists do is the description of new species or fossils. Focussing on dinosaurs, because they’re the ones I know the best, there is a whole host of descriptive anatomy to get your head around. It’s not just the names of the bones; it’s also the names of the parts and structures within bones, including muscle scars and hypo ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Event: Water security at the Overseas Development Institute
Despite the clear advantages to investing in water and sanitation, water security remains an elusive goal for many communities around the world. We discussed the importance of a clean and reliable water supply last year in the GfGD Blog ‘water series‘. The Overseas Development Institute are hosting a public event to discuss ‘water security: global concerns and local realitiesR ...[Read More]