This year’s William Smith Medal – named for the man responsible for the first geological map of a nation – is presented to Dr Michael de Freitas, Distinguished Research Fellow at Imperial College London. Continue reading
Category Archives: Interviews
2016 Awards – Susan Brantley, Wollaston Medallist
In two week’s time, the Society will be holding our annual Awards Ceremony, at which we will present the 2016 medals and prizes. (See below for details of how to come along!) This year, our highest honour, the Wollaston Medal – named for William Hyde Wollaston – is awarded to Susan Brantley of Penn State … Continue reading
The Water Book
‘We’ve built our entire world around water. Our temperature scale, our bodies. Water shapes our continents, flows through our oceans and rivers, creates atmosphere and weather – this one substance does all of that. And we’ve got to a point where we’re so used to it, we ignore it.’ Alok Jha has written about a … Continue reading
Deadly volcanic flows
As everyone of course knows, Dante’s Peak is the greatest of all geological disaster movies (fight with me in the comments.) So I was thrilled last month when University of Hull volcanologist Dr Rebecca Williams not only delivered a brilliant London Lecture, but confirmed that the film is, at least pyroclastically speaking, more or less … Continue reading
Walking Through Time
Nearly three years ago, two researchers uncovered a series of footprints on a beach in Happisburgh, Norfolk. Preserved for at least 800,000 years beneath layers of sediment, the footprints had been exposed by recent storms. There was just enough time to record 3D images of them before they were swallowed up by the tide. Continue reading
Terra Infirma: What has salt tectonics ever done for us?
Our London Lecture series ended on a high last year with Imperial College’s Chis Jackson explaining why we should all be halophiles. For those who missed out, it’s now available to watch again on our YouTube channel. Or you can listen to our podcast with Chris on why he thinks salt is the greatest of all rocks: Says … Continue reading
Living with a Volcano
What is it like to live in the shadow of an active volcano? Since its last eruption in 1979, La Soufriere on the island of Saint Vincent has been quiet. But it is an ever present threat for those who live on the island. Continue reading
Underground or overground?
Geological disposal of radioactive waste A couple of weeks ago, the UK government published a White Paper, setting out a revised process for disposing of our radioactive waste. You can read our response to it here. Continue reading
Oil and Gas in the Arctic
In the second of our Climate Week blogs, we look at the controversial issue of exploring the Arctic for oil and gas resources. The Arctic has fascinated explorers for hundreds of years, from Rennaissance attempts to find a Northwest Passage, to the 20th century race for the North Pole. For the oil and gas industry, … Continue reading
Balancing act
Sarah Day visits the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival and meets local artist Adrian Gray, whose amazing stone balancing sculptures have audiences on the beach enthralled. Originally published in Geoscientist Online, 30 May 2012 ‘Balance is intuitive. You have to stop thinking about the physics of it.’ Like most scientists, faced with the seemingly impossible, my … Continue reading
