These two images show an Icelandic geyser when calm (top) and then when ‘erupting’ (Bottom). Historical reports associate increased activity in the geysers with earthquakes. (c) Geology for Global Development
Latest posts
Guest Post – Things go up, things go down – Dr. Martin Wolstencroft
This post is the first of hopefully many guest posts by graduate students and geologists I work with. This post is by Dr. Martin Wolstencroft, a post doctoral fellow with Dr. Glenn Milne here at UOttawa. Martin is a geophysicist by trade and hails from a small town in central England. He did his undergraduate degree …[Read More]
Geology Photo of the Week #13 – Nov 25-Dec 1
So the 13th photo of the week is this sweet as pic of boiling mud from New Zealand’s North Island. Both photos were taken by me in July of 2009. I had to stand at the ready for quite a while to try and get good pictures of the bubbles bursting and there were many …[Read More]
The crux of the matter – language, context, and narrative
Throughout this series, I have highlighted the pitfalls and issues associated with effective communication of scientific knowledge to and with the public. This has largely been fueled by a recent paper highlighting these points as stepping stones and hurdles which scientists face and can develop upon to create strategies for becoming better at public communication. However, I’ve …[Read More]
Launch of Foresight Report: Reducing the Risk of Future Disasters.
Today the UK government released their highly anticipated foresight report into “Reducing the Risk of Future Disasters”. This report, led by the UK government’s chief scientific advisor, Sir John Beddington, looks at disasters in developing countries that have resulted from natural hazards. The aim has been ‘to provide advice to decision makers on how science …[Read More]
Story-telling rocks.
‘Story-telling’ is often quoted as a way of communicating scientific ideas to non-scientific audiences. It’s seen as a way of providing a form of narrative with which an audience can relate to, and thus provide a more engaging account of a scientific report. Admittedly, not everything can be transformed into a story of sorts, but …[Read More]
Imaggeo on Mondays: Ephemeral winter wonderland
Today’s text is brought to you by the author of this impressive picture, Patrick Klenk (Heidelberg University, Germany). This photograph is part of a series of images which I took in Death Valley National Park on a brisk December morning in 2011. In this case, we were close to Aguereberry Point, a mountain viewpoint located …[Read More]
China: The Future Looks Bright…
China, one of the largest and most populated countries on Earth, is emerging as an economic superpower. More and more frequently, emerging economies are choosing to peg their currency to the Yuan, rather than the US dollar. Their success is built on a strong research and development sector. Having just come under new leadership, China …[Read More]
The role of TV in geoscience communication
This is now the fifth part in a series exploring the public communication of geoscience, this time focusing on the role that television can play as a communication medium. It is based on, and a development of the ideas conveyed within a paper by Iain Stewart, no stranger to TV himself, and Ted Nield, a …[Read More]
Friday Photo (58): Active Geology – Striations on a Fault Surface, Greece
An active fault surface in Greece – one of the most seismically active places on Earth. The striations on the surface can be used to measure the direction of movement on the fault. The exposed surface can be dated at various heights (using dating systems such as Beryllium-10) to infer the rate of slip. …[Read More]