Through the eyes of a geologist

It's surprising how times change and how time flies. I'm sat in the sofa in the spare room with a warm glass of red wine, spending my bank holiday Sunday evening blogging... It's been two years since I've posted anything on here. I'd say the usual excuse I don't have the time. But if you enjoy something, you should make time. I recently tweeted an image linking the importance of mining to smart phone technology and I've been completely blown away by the reception. In just two days, it's reached over 32,000 timelines and over 1000 people have engaged with the tweet! Bar a few negative tweets, I've been messaged and tweeted by members of the public engaging with mining statistics and fascinated by production and recycling of raw materials. Often, people don't make the link between how the cars we drive, the phones we use, the laptop I'm blogging on - all these components came from the ground. It's important to carry on researching how ...

The idea of undertaking a PhD application never sounded too scary. I had been toying with the idea for six months or so… A PhD or straight into industry? For me the deciding moment happened when I presented my ongoing MGeol Masters Research Project at MDSG (Mineral Deposits Study Group) back in January this year. Since the majority of NERC DTP application deadlines were January, it was quite a late confirmation. Attending the conference made me realise just how much I’m enjoying my project and the prospect of continuing in research is really exciting! Providing I found the right project, I’d love every minute of it. For me, the best website was FindaPhD.com – it had all the information you needed in one place. There were hundreds of projects to choose from which really allowed you to consider the vast range of topics. I was very keen to find a project that was fully funded, either privately or through NERC DTPs. What’s a NERC DTP I hear you ask? NERC (Natural Environment R...

Fourth-years are beginning to reach the final hurdle of their undergraduate degree. Some are nearing completion of their Masters Research Projects, whilst the majority (me included) run around like headless chickens trying to complete a to-do list that seems to have no finish. I’m going to share with you a normal day of data collection. This insight is aimed at early geology undergraduates as well as outsiders. Hopefully, everything explained in this post is as if you’ve never had the pleasure of SEM analysis! But let me know if you have questions. Lab facilities tend to be fully booked as other students begin to realise the deadline is looming and panic begins to set in. So when your designated lab day finally comes around, it really is precious. You need to set yourself deadlines otherwise you might run out of time and have to wait another three weeks until you can re-visit a sample. One facility many of us having been using for our Masters Research Project is the SEM. T...

Hello 2016! I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year. Mine was the usual, but still great to spend so much time with family, eating, catching up with Netflix favourites and watching awful tele, but that’s what Christmas is about right? Now that the New Year has arrived, and so have exams, for the first time ever (!) I’ve had a Christmas break which actually consisted of a break! Lucky me, I have no exams this January (sorry, but not sorry). Having a week or so off from studying, was surprisingly really hard to switch off. I’m always on the go, with a constant growing to-do list. My 2016 has started off pretty good. I attended the  MDSG  (Mineral Deposits Study Group) Winter Conference held at the  University College Dublin , where five friends and myself were lucky enough to present our MGeol research projects to fellow students, academics and industry professionals. The Monday to Wednesday was jam-packed with talks and coffee, occasionally some cheese and...