Crikey, it’s been 3 months already?! *panics* At Imperial College, new PhD students have to produce an initial plan of study within the first three months of setting off, and submit it for independent assessment. Having uploaded mine just now (not in the slightest bit late..), I figured I’d share it here! It’s a broad …[Read More]
Retired blogs
Field report: beware of the sealions
Beware of the sealions (‘cuidado lobos marinos’) declares the sign at Valdivia fish market, which stretches along the docks in this southern Chilean city. And it’s no joke either, as a large clan of these creatures has set up stall in the estuary beneath the fish market, ready to feast on the daily pickings cast …[Read More]
Conference: Geophysics in Future Energy Challenges
The British Geophysical Association is hosting a two day conference on the 14th and 15th of February, 2013. The focus of the conference will be the use of geophysics in future energy challenges. Novel geophysical techniques will be needed to maximise output from conventional reserves and safely explore unconventional reserves. Once the deep reserves are …[Read More]
Geology Photo of the Week #17 – Jan 6-12
Happy New Year everyone! I hope that you all had relaxing and enjoyable holidays. I sure did. It is time to start off the new year with the 17th edition of the photo of the week. Here in Ottawa it is a balmy -19 degC with the wind chill making it feel like -28 degC …[Read More]
Natural Resources: A Natural Hazard?
In this post I explore some of the issues that can arise when an economy is dominated by the oil or mining industry. I discuss some of the inherent problems with the nature of the extraction industry. In next week’s blog post, I will move on to talking about how we can manage the extraction …[Read More]
Virtual Palaeontology – taking science communication to the next level
I recently wrote a small series about how geoscientists can become more effective communicators of scientific knowledge to the general public, and the pitfalls and issues associated with this. The overall strategy revolved around using the right type of language, along with a context and narrative to create relevant stories, but above all this, to …[Read More]
A Christmas Message from GfGD
We will be taking a break from blogging until the New Year, and we wanted to take this chance to wish all of our readers a very merry Christmas. In 2012 we ran our first blog competition, expanded our university group network, organised our first GfGD placement, established a national committee and re-housed our blog …[Read More]
Geology Photo of the Week # 16 – Dec 16-22
It’s photo of the week time! I hope you’re excited…I am! There has been a lot of consternation in the twitterverse and geoscience community lately about the true identity of the Ediacaran biota, particularly the little guy pictured below. The abstract can be found here. The basic proposal is that the Ediacaran fossils are not marine, but rather are …[Read More]
OxfordSparks: animating volcanoes
Today sees the launch of a project that I have been working on for the past few months – with the release of a short YouTube animation which explores processes in subduction zones. This is a part of a larger-scale public engagement activity called OxfordSparks which has been coming together over the past eighteen months. This …[Read More]
Guest Blog: Earthquake Risk Reduction in Bangladesh
Dr Susanne Sargeant works as a seismologist for the British Geological Survey. Susanne is undertaking work on the enhancement of knowledge exchange between earthquake scientists and NGOs for disaster risk reduction, preparedness and response. Her research is an excellent example of the integration of geoscience and development, and she is a member of GfGD’s Advisory Group. …[Read More]