Post by Jim Roy, Research Scientist at Environment and Climate Change Canada. _______________________________________________ A recent editorial in Nature highlighted the relative scarcity of academic positions available to graduating PhD students (Many junior scientists need to take a hard look at their job prospects; 25 October, 2017). It notes that “it has been evident for years that internatio ...[Read More]
Anyone lucky enough to catch any of the BBC’s recent new series Blue Planet II will have noticed that each episode devotes a portion of the time to the impact humans have on the oceans. A breathtaking series of shots from a recent episode detailed the heart-wrenching demise of a baby whale, possibly poisoned by its mother’s milk due to toxins from plastic pollution. Vast quantities of plastic now ...[Read More]
One of the most common questions faced by the disaster risk reduction community relates to earthquake prediction (see this Geological Society briefing on prediction vs. forecasting). The disaster risk reduction community, however, would perhaps argue that improved buildings, reduction in poverty, and improved governance are a greater priority than predicting earthquakes. Even so, there are still m ...[Read More]
Two words: French Quarter. OK, well beyond that quite a few things… On Sunday the fun kicks off with the Hubbert Quorum (link) – a nice and informal meeting with lots of interaction. On Monday is Advances in Hydrologic Science by Early Career Scientists: A Discussion of the Publishing Process (TH13A; link) On Tuesday is Mars Underground: Subsurface Waters, Diagenesis, Hydrothermal/Meta ...[Read More]
The importance of access to safe drinking water in our lives is quite obvious. Although its relation with gender equality and sustainable development may be less so. In this article, Bárbara Zambelli Azevedo explores the relationship between the two and discusses what geoscientists can do to improve the situation. In 2017, according to the WHO, over 2.1 billion people still don’t have access to sa ...[Read More]
Post by Scott Jasechko, Assistant Professor of Water Resources with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and by Debra Perrone, non-resident Fellow at Water in the West and an Assistant Professor, also at the University of California, Santa Barbara, in the United States. _______________________________________________ In December ...[Read More]
On the 25th October, Laura Hunt (Cardiff University) attended the joint meeting of the International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) and the Hydrogeological Group of the Geological Society, which included the Ineson Lecture at the Geological Society of London. It is a common misconception that Africa is an entirely dry, arid continent, parched for water. A resource that we in the UK take alm ...[Read More]
Post by Kevin Befus, Assistant Professor at the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Wyoming, in the United States. _______________________________________________ I want to share a book with you that has encouraged me through initial academic mires (I was only in graduate school for 7 years…) and inspired me to expand my perception and appreciation of the natural world. ...[Read More]
Each month, Jesse Zondervan picks his favourite posts from geoscience and development blogs/news, relevant to the work and interests of Geology for Global Development . Here’s a round-up of Jesse’s selections for the past month: How successful were people in the Neolithic and ancient times in adapting to climate change? Two contrasting stories emerged this month: A new study from Past Global Chan ...[Read More]
Every culture has myths and legends about their native lands. Before we understood the geological forces that forced up great ranges of mountains or sculpted barren deserts, humans needed an explanation for the scale and majesty of natural phenomena. Stories of deities inhabiting volcanoes, or angry gods shaking the very ground upon which people lived, helped people make sense of disasters when te ...[Read More]
