Volcanoes at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala In the foreground is the volcano San Pedro, on the south-western shore of Lake Atitlan. San Pedro (approx 3000m) is believed to be extinct, but Atitlan (in the background is dormant). Credit: Joel Gill, Geology for Global Development (2014)
VolcanicDegassing
Friday Field Photo – Alutu volcano, Ethiopia
Update: June 2015 Our open access research paper on Aluto volcano is now available online: Hutchison et al., 2015, Structural controls on fluid pathways in an active rift system: A case study of the Aluto volcanic complex, Geosphere 11, 542-562, doi:10.1130/GES01119.1
Geology Jenga
Making the Most of your PhD – Engage & communicate
As promised, here is the next post in the series I started towards the end of last year: Making the Most of you PhD. This is the third post in the series and I want to cover a subject very close to my heart. (For the previous posts in the series, have a look here and here). Public Engagement, Science Communication and Outreach is something I feel quite passionately about, but the point of this pos ...[Read More]
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Science Snap (#16): Primary colours at Kawah Ijen
Mel Auker is an Earth Sciences PhD student in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol. A mathematician by trade, Mel’s PhD uses numerical approaches to better understand past, present, and future global volcanic hazard and risk. Kawah Ijen volcano forms part of the Ijen volcano complex situated at the eastern end of Java, Indonesia. Kawah Ijen is topped by a 1 kilometre-wid ...[Read More]
VolcanicDegassing
A volcanic retrospective: eruptions of the Soufrière, St Vincent
The records, reports and testimonies of past volcanic eruptions and their consequences contain a wealth of information from which we can learn valuable lessons. This, in a nutshell, is the starting point of one strand of the STREVA project, ‘Strengthening Resilience in Volcanic Areas‘, which is a large programme funded by two British funding agencies (NERC and ESRC) and directed from t ...[Read More]
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
Top ten free apps & websites to make writing your PhD easier
‘Tis the season of thesis writing! Well, in my office of fourth years (!) at least. By this stage of PhD life, most of us have our own ‘toolkit’ of computer applications that we’ve settled upon to complete the task, but in the first year or two, it’s a case of trying lots of options and finding the one that works best for your PhD and style of working. Here, I’v ...[Read More]
Geology for Global Development
Field Research in Guatemala (2) – Observing and Understanding Place
Over the next couple of months, Joel Gill (GfGD Founding Director) will be reporting live from Guatemala, whilst undertaking interdisciplinary field research relating to natural hazards and disaster risk reduction. This fieldwork forms part of a NERC/ESRC funded PhD, supervised by staff in the Department of Geography at King’s College London. One of the first things I want to do when arriving in ...[Read More]
Green Tea and Velociraptors
Absolutely no sniggering – the dinosaur that looked like a cock
Dinosaur skeletons are a thing of pure beauty. Being able to see and touch something that has been dead for millions of years instills a sense of wonder; what did they look like, how did they behave, were they like anything we see today? Palaeontology is a science that raises more questions than it answers, but these questions are the ones that drive the science, but also maintain that sense of fa ...[Read More]
VolcanicDegassing
The Botanic Gardens of St Vincent and the Grenadines
The oldest Botanical Gardens in the western hemisphere lie on the outskirts of Kingstown, St Vincent, in the Windward isles of the West Indies – and what a gem they are. As the ironwork above the entrance declares, the gardens were founded in 1765. The original ambition of Robert Melville, the then Governor in Chief of the Windward Isles, was to establish a horticultural research station for ...[Read More]
Geology Jenga
10 Minute Interview – Earth Science Communicator
Dan and I are both advocates for the communication of science,via all possible means, and that is why this week’s interview is close to our hearts. Sarah Day’s role at the Geological Society of London focuses on conveying the importance of the study of the science behind how our planet works. I met Sarah about a year ago, when I invited her to give a talk here at Liverpool. It was a h ...[Read More]