We have advertised a range of positions on our national committee over the past month. The positions have been filled by enthusiastic, dedicated people and the team will be working together for the year ahead. Having a national committee will increase both the capacity of GfGD to produce resources and support University groups, and also the number of opportunities for you to become involved with o ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Water Series (1): The Quantity and Quality of Groundwater
The water available in or near your home can vary dramatically over short distances. In Manchester, there is a robust supply of fresh water from the Lake District, whereas in London (only 200 miles away) the water has passed through limestone, leaving it with a cloudy taste and causing limescale build-up. Signs up on the London underground at the moment are encouraging people to save water by taki ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Friday Photo (54) – Debris Flow Channel, Gansu Province, China
Southern Gansu Province, China: Poorly Maintained Debris Flow Channel This channel is designed to transport debris flow material away from the road, thus preventing a major road blockage. The poor design and maintenance of the channel, however, is resulting in material coming down the channel and then being pushed back on to the road. (c) Geology for Global Development, 2012
GeoSphere
Geology Photo of the Week #9 – Oct 21-27
Check out this wicked awesome rock!! This awesome formation is aptly known as “Split Apple Rock”. It is probably one of the more unique rock formations that I have seen. It is located in Abel Tasman National Park in New Zealand’s South Island. As the with the Pancake Rocks post a few weeks ago I was in the area for a conference and was touring around afterwards. Split Apple Rock ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Introducing the GfGD National Committee (1)
Geology for Global Development has now been operating for around 18 months. In such a short time, the Founder and Director, Joel Gill, has overseen vast amounts of growth. GfGD has expanded beyond its initial horizons and so we have established a national committee. These positions were advertised through the blog over the past few months and have been enthusiastically taken up by a team of dedica ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Guilty: L’Aquila Earthquake Scientists Sentenced to 6 Years Imprisonment
As a young scientist undertaking research into natural hazards and disaster reduction, I found the decision yesterday to find a number of scientists guilty of manslaughter very worrying. The case against the scientists is centred on the L’Aquila earthquake of 2009 and argues that they were guilty of providing “inexact, incomplete and contradictory” information. There is helpful a ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Week 3, and the rising of a new dawn
It hit me. As I stared in to the depths of the ~500 or so papers I’d carefully curated in Mendeley, the gravity of a PhD came down like a tonne of dinosaur bones. This is big. Even simply in terms of background reading, there was so much to do it would probably take a year just to get through it. It was time for a pondering and a pint, and a reassessment of strategy. Week 3 in the Big Brothe ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Friday Photo (53) – Earthquake Emergency Shelter – Lanzhou, China
Lanzhou, China – Earthquake Emergency Shelter Interesting questions about preparedness, local education and awareness were raised on a recent visit to Lanzhou, China, after I was told on a coach from the airport that Lanzhou was not affected by earthquakes. During my visit to the University there, I came across this sign which offered a stark contradiction. Lanzhou regularly experiences smal ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Co-evolution, the greatest show on Earth?
One of the great questions that Palaeontology poses is how did life and the Earth co-evolve together? This is especially so in the case of early life during the Phanerozoic period (540 million years ago until now), when complex multi-cellular life took off and ultimately came to dominate the planet. When one considers the vast number of potential factors involved in this, it can be pretty overwhel ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Workshop Advertisement: Dynamics and Impact of Interacting Natural Hazards
The workshop below may be of interest to some of our readers undertaking research into natural hazards, or working within the disaster risk reduction community. Please note that this workshop is not organised by Geology for Global Development: THE DYNAMICS AND IMPACT OF INTERACTING NATURAL HAZARDS An interdisciplinary workshop on current research and future directions 14th‒15th February 2013 To b ...[Read More]