We’re kicking of a series of themed years, by declaring 2015 the year of mud, mud, glorious mud! Geological Society Council Member Lucy Slater explains…

“In 2015, we’re focusing on the importance of mud in its many forms, from recent soil, through shale, to ancient slate.

GSL’s series of themed years, starting with Mud, aim to:

• Bring together scientists from a variety of disciplines to talk about the challenges they face, cross fertilise ideas and create new solutions and concepts
• Raise awareness of the importance and economic value of geology to our everyday lives
• Address key issues in geoscience

In our lives every day mud is so important, from food supply to bricks, from energy to waste disposal (nuclear and CO2). It is home to the simplest and some of the most complex organisms on the Earth. Recent advances in technology means that we can look at modern and ancient mud right down to the nanometre scale.”

The Year of Mud will feature a range of events and meetings, starting on January 21 with a public talk from the Geological Society’s President, David Manning, on ‘Glories of Mud.’

The lecture will shortly be available to watch on our YouTube Channel – in the meantime, here’s David talking about what the Year of Mud is all about in our podcast.

To stay up to date with Year of Mud events, visit www.geolsoc.org.uk/mud15