[part six of a special six-part blog series by Mark Ranjram, MEng student at McGill University. From June 8 to June 13 2014, Mark had the privilege of being a part of the Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) Student and Young Professionals (SYP) Workshop in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Here is the prologue to this series.] The fifth and final day of the workshop started off with a tour of the Sydney ...[Read More]
WaterUnderground
The home of our hearts day 4: the water-energy nexus & deep thoughts on salty water
[part five of a special six-part blog series by Mark Ranjram, MEng student at McGill University. From June 8 to June 13 2014, Mark had the privilege of being a part of the Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) Student and Young Professionals (SYP) Workshop in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Here is the prologue to this series.] The focus of the fourth day of the workshop was the relationship between ene ...[Read More]
WaterUnderground
The home of our hearts day 3: The coal story – mines and mine water remediation
[part four of a special six-part blog series by Mark Ranjram, MEng student at McGill University. From June 8 to June 13 2014, Mark had the privilege of being a part of the Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) Student and Young Professionals (SYP) Workshop in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Here is the prologue to this series.] Coal mining is an essential part of the history of Cape Breton Island, and t ...[Read More]
WaterUnderground
The home of our hearts day 2: The Unama’ki Institute for Natural Resources and a medicine walk to Glooskap’s cave
[part three of a special six-part blog series by Mark Ranjram, MEng student at McGill University. From June 8 to June 13 2014, Mark had the privilege of being a part of the Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) Student and Young Professionals (SYP) Workshop in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Here is the prologue to this series.] After an emotional and inspirational first night together, we had the great ...[Read More]
WaterUnderground
The home of our hearts day 1 – twenty-five strangers walk into a Mi’kmaq talking circle…
[part two of a special six-part blog series by Mark Ranjram, MEng student at McGill University. From June 8 to June 13 2014, Mark had the privilege of being a part of the Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) Student and Young Professionals (SYP) Workshop in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Here is the prologue to this series.] When I first decided to attend this workshop, I made a commitment to myself t ...[Read More]
WaterUnderground
The home of our hearts, Cape Breton – A transformative professional experience with the Canadian Water Network (Part 1 of 6: prologue)
Prologue [part one of a special six-part blog series by Mark Ranjram, MEng student at McGill University. From June 8 to June 13 2014, Mark had the privilege of being a part of the Canadian Water Network’s (CWN) Student and Young Professionals (SYP) Workshop in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia] Let me start this series off by expressing how life changing this event was for me. I am very much a techn ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
GfGD in the Himalaya (8) – Programme Update
Since we last posted about our programme in Ladakh (India) we have participated in a three-day international conference on sustainable resource development in the region, undertaken a 400 km round trip through the heart of the Himalayan mountains to visit and teach at two remote schools, and learn a lot in the process! We will continue to post more detailed analysis in the coming days/weeks – but ...[Read More]
Geology Jenga
Moraines in Costa Rica? Really?
During a recent trip to Costa Rica in May, I had a conversation with some family and friends in which I uttered those words: “Moraines in Costa Rica? Really?” as they were describing a trek they’d undertaken earlier this year to the summit of Cerro Chirripó. This is the highest peak in the country (3819 m a.s.l.), part of the Cordillera de Talamanca (9°30′ N, 83°30′ W) in southern central Costa Ri ...[Read More]
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Science Snap (#28): Brandberg Massif, Namibia
Brandberg Massif is Namibia’s highest mountain, but if you look from above, you’ll notice it’s no ordinary one. Brandberg is a single mass of granite that pierced its way through the Earth’s crust into the Namib Desert. Looking at the Landsat 7 image, Brandberg is a circular dark and steep-sided mountain, imposing itself over the desert below. It reaches height of 2.5 km and stretches across 31 km ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
GfGD in the Himalaya (7) – Conference
From today (Tuesday 24th June) until Thursday 26th June, a conference is being held in Leh on Sustainable Resource Development in the Himalaya. Delegates and participants are expected from across the Himalayan region –including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Furthermore, international delegates will come from across the UK, USA and beyond. Topics will include the geology of the reg ...[Read More]