Yesterday, the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly in Vienna played host to an informal discussion on ‘best practice’ when working in the global South. Organised by Geology for Global Development, the event gave people an opportunity to reflect on the skills and practices that could be integrated into our geoscience work to promote sustainability …[Read More]
Retired blogs
EGU15 Photos: Natural Hazards Demonstrations Short Course
These photographs were taking during the European Geoscience Union (EGU) General Assembly in Vienna, at a short course on Natural Hazard Teaching Demonstrations (Photo Credits: Bruce D. Malamud, Faith Taylor, Joel Gill): In the coming weeks we will start collating photographed examples of teaching demonstrations with teaching guidlines in captions. We hope to …[Read More]
EGU15 Session Overview: Putting Geoethics at the Heart of Geoscience
This week we’re reporting live from the European Geoscience Union (EGU) General Assembly in Vienna. Yesterday afternoon was the turn of the Geoethics session, which has become something of a regular feature in my EGU diary over the past four years. Organised by the International Association for Promoting Geoethics (IAPG), the session began by looking at …[Read More]
EGU15 Opinion: Space Science and International Development
Evidence for water on Mars is growing, with new research presented at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly demonstrating novel ways we can evaluate the presence of groundwater and surface water on Mars by looking at key geomorphic features and using Earth and laboratory analogues. Also at the General Assembly, the latest results from the …[Read More]
EGU15 Feature: Equipping to Educate, Educating for Empowerment
Education empowers communities and enables effective accountability between individuals, scientists, government, business and the charity sector. Geo-education is no exception, and while natural hazards education is only one area of this, it demonstrates well the importance of knowledge exchange. In this first blog, from the EGU Press Office, I explore this theme further, reflecting on the …[Read More]
Back to Basics – Geology and International Development (Part 3/4)
How can an understanding of geology support and strengthen international development? #7 – Identifying, extracting and managing natural resources, including appropriate environmental protection and post-mining restoration. Minerals and other natural resources are used in every sphere of society – every mobile phone, every computer, every wind-turbine. The income these can raise, also offers an exciting opportunity …[Read More]
EGU General Assembly 2015 – Events and Schedule
Next week I’ll be heading to Vienna for the European Geosciences Union General Assembly (12-17th April). This annual gathering of thousands of geoscientists from all over the world, has been a regular feature of my research calendar since 2012 and a great opportunity for GfGD to talk with experts from around Europe and beyond. This year …[Read More]
Guest Blog: Scarcity-Waste – The Syngenta Photography Award 2015
Luke Maxfield is an undergraduate student and GfGD Ambassador at Oxford University. Today he writes about a recent visit to a photography exhibition at Somerset House (London, UK) on the theme of Scarcity-Waste: Upon entering the Syngenta Photography Award exhibition visitors are greeted with one of those worrying statistics: “In the past 50 years, the world’s …[Read More]
Back to Basics – Geology and International Development (Part 2/4)
How can an understanding of geology support and strengthen international development? #4 – Geotourism. Many geological features carry enormous value, not just in terms of their scientific importance, but also as an attraction to domestic and international visitors. Unusual rock formations, key geomorphic features, volcanic landscapes etc are all destinations that may help countries generate …[Read More]
The great eruption of Tambora, April 1815
April 2015 marks the 200th anniversary of the great eruption of Tambora, on Sumbawa island, Indonesia. This eruption is the largest known explosive eruption for at least the past 500 years, and the most destructive in terms of lives lost, even though the precise scale of the eruption remains uncertain. The Tambora eruption is also one of the …[Read More]