Book review: Island on Fire, Alexandra Witze and Jeff Kanipe In Island on Fire, Alexandra Witze and Jeff Kanipe take the reader on a dramatic tour of volcanic eruptions, death and destruction. At its heart is the story of the great 1783-1784 Laki fissure eruption, one of the most significant historical eruptions of Iceland, which …[Read More]
Latest posts
Monday paper: A dual isotope approach to isolate soil carbon pools of different turnover times
Torn, M. S., Kleber, M., Zavaleta, E. S., Zhu, B., Field, C. B., and Trumbore, S. E. 2013. A dual isotope approach to isolate soil carbon pools of different turnover times. Biogeosciences, 10, 8067-8081. DOI: 10.5194/bg-10-8067-2013. Abstract Soils are globally significant sources and sinks of atmospheric CO2. Increasing the resolution of soil carbon turnover estimates is important for predicting the response of soil carbon cycling …[Read More]
It’s beyond time we ditched the impact factor
“I am sick of impact factors and so is science.” Stephen Curry said it best back in 2012. The impact factor is just one of the many banes of academia, from it’s complete misuse to being falsely inflated by publishers. I want to draw attention to a new article that addresses the causes behind this …[Read More]
The Cambridge Science Festival
Last night, I was honoured to have spoken at the final evening lecture at the Cambridge Science Festival, along with Nick Crumpton, Anjali Goswami, Rob Asher, and Stephanie Pierce, about why palaeontology is important. Below is a rough transcript of some of what my talk was about. Unlike the others, I didn’t discuss my own …[Read More]
A first-timer’s guide to the 2014 General Assembly
Will this be your first time at an EGU General Assembly? With over 11,000 participants in a massive venue, the conference can be a confusing and, at times, overwhelming place. To help you find your way, we have compiled an introductory handbook filled with history, presentation pointers, travel tips and a few facts about Vienna …[Read More]
Friday Photo (120) – Pacaya Lava Flows
Basaltic Lava Flows From the Eruption of Pacaya, Guatemala, in 2010 (Credit: Joel Gill, 2014) (This image, and others taken in Guatemala, is available for free use (subject to terms and conditions) from the EGU Image Repository)
Job opportunity with EGU
The EGU is seeking to appoint a Communications Officer to work with the EGU Media and Communications Manager in maintaining and further developing media- and science-related communications between the EGU and its membership, the working media, and the public at large. The Communications Officer will also work under the direction of the EGU Executive Secretary on activities related to the …[Read More]
Some personal perspectives from a PhD student on the peer-review system
This is a follow-up to a previous post from September 2013 entitled ‘Soliciting peer reviews from PhD students’. In that piece, I summarised the responses I’d received from a number of editors of peer-reviewed journals in the field of Quaternary Science having asked them their feelings on soliciting peer reviews from PhD students. Some recent …[Read More]
EGU 2014 Communicate Your Science Video Competition
Earlier this year we launched the Communicate Your Science Video Competition, a great opportunity to share research in the Earth, planetary and space sciences with the general public. What’s more, there’s a free registration to the 2015 General Assembly up for grabs and we’ve just extended the deadline to give you more time to get …[Read More]
Steampunk takes evolution to the next level
Sharing this purely because it’s amazing. Hat-tip to John Hutchinson for sharing!