Through the eyes of a geologist

Having finally received my certificate in the post with regards to the Online Networking Leicester Award, I have now begun my second - Future Leaders Leicester Award which is sponsored by Enterprise Rent-a-Car. I had my first training session yesterday, 5-8pm, which at first I was dreading as it would be a long day at university from 10am till 8pm, but I was pleasantly surprised. The session was informative and informal, led by terrific examples of successful leaders (rather than managers). What type of leader am I? Having completed the Situational Leadership Styles Questionnaire, I was dominantly a 'coaching' leader, as opposed to an 'encouraging', 'delegating', or 'structuring' leader. Being a 'coaching' leader demonstrates high directive behaviour entwined with high supportive behaviour. I did expect this result, as I do not see myself as a delegator, and do enjoy getting stuck into the work myself. What I also wasn't completely awar...

Click for my video demonstrating my journey through the  Leicester Award for Online Networking It is something I'd recommend to all - old and new, Leicester students as my perception of social media has completely changed! I thought I was 'in the know' with regards to technology, but only now do I realise the importance of taking advantage of the internet.

I am a first year Geology undergraduate at the University of Leicester, with a particular interest in applied Geology such as mining and oil/gas exploration. My goal of this networking Leicester Award is to understand the importance of making a personal brand online, effectively showing my talent and potential as a future employee as I progress on to my second year at the university. I hope to eventually distinguish myself from other Geology undergraduates in the same field and I hope to show this from the beginning of my reflective blog. My audience: you; will be potential employers as well as peers who enjoy a similar amount of enthusiasm for Geology. I believe it is important to not only be enthusiastic, but passionate about your subject area. The aim of the next three reflective blogs will hopefully give you an insight into being a Geology undergraduate in a very challenging and competitive market, which may create awareness of the issues undergraduates face. I hope to port...

First lay in in weeks - well if you call 9am a lay in. Yesterday we mapped inland geology on the peninsula, and were tourists for the day! Coloured in my nearly finished map, just need to do expand my notes into proper, concise annotations. Today is going to consist of making a GVS for the area and doing cross-sections. Tomorrow we'll enter the field for the last time to get any information we may be missing. The Langness peninsula is a combination of straightforward and challenging - would recommend it for practice. Getting a view from above Is anyone home? View for lunch Tourists for the afternoon

Day 2 of Fieldwork Today it was a comfortable temperature of 19 degrees Celsius - more days like this please! We thanked the fairies as we crossed the Fairy Bridge on the way home for the lovely weather, fingers crossed for more. This was our view at lunchtime: Today we focused primarily on the limestone, of which is only visible at low tide, so we had to cherish the few hours we had with today's outcrop.  Working hard as usual:  Zeinab for scale, on the bedded limestone outcrop Grace (left) and myself locating ourselves using bearings Unfortunately this blog is going to be short and sweet due to the amount of work I need to do tonight, in preparation for another 8 hours in the field tomorrow. Wish me luck! Jo