… brought to you by Earth System Science (ESS) and Cambridge Climate, Life and Earth (C-CLEAR) DTP students. This is a series of blogs written by PhD students involved in the NERC Doctoral Training Partnerships at Cambridge. They have a diverse range of expertise and research areas, with students from the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Cambridge in the following departments: Archaeology, Chemistry, DAMTP, Earth Sciences, Genetics, Geography, Plant Sciences and Zoology.
One of the best things about working in Earth Systems Science is the opportunities to travel and do fieldwork across the globe.
By Mairenn Attwood, PhD student in the department of Zoology.
It’s an hour after sunrise, and an African cuckoo chick has just hatched. But it hasn’t hatched in an African cuckoo nest: instead of building their own nests, cuckoo parents lay their eggs in the nests of other birds. This chick has hatched in the nest of a fork-tailed drongo, and is sharing the space … Continue reading
In January 2019 I started the mammoth 9500+ mile journey to reach the “land of always winter”… Antarctica. What laid ahead was two months of field work collecting diatom specimens for my PhD research. No need to sweat though, as temperatures down in Antarctica during the summer hover around 0°C … Continue reading
By Emily Tilby, PhD Student in the Department of Archaeology
Last summer I was lucky enough to take part in a season of excavations at Shanidar Cave in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains in Kurdistan, northeastern Iraq, as part of an ongoing project investigating the chronology, environmental context and hominin use of the Cave and the wider region. I was nervous as this was … Continue reading
By Euan Mutch
In a world where the power of nature is misunderstood, and rocks don’t collect themselves. Two clueless igneous geologists must travel to the mysterious land of fire and ice to unravel the hidden secrets of the mantle. They must scale mountains, ford ferocious torrents, fight the elements and evade local law enforcement to collect samples vital in the fight for geological understanding. … Continue reading
Written by Jenny Woods
To most I imagine Iceland needs little introduction. Found on the mid-Atlantic ridge above a hot spot, dominated by volcanic processes as tectonic plates diverge, it is a land of geological extremes. My first encounter with its wonders was just over a year ago, when began what I hope will be a long love affair with the chilly and remote, northern … Continue reading
Written by Jenny Woods
To most I imagine Iceland needs little introduction. Found on the mid-Atlantic ridge above a hot spot, dominated by volcanic processes as tectonic plates diverge, it is a land of geological extremes. My first encounter with its wonders was just over a year ago, when began what I hope will be a long love affair with the chilly and remote, northern … Continue reading
Written by Claire Nichols
A motley crew of zoologists, plant scientists and earth scientists met in Heathrow Terminal 2 on a Monday morning with a plethora of rucksacks and tent bags. The mood was mixed; both excitement and trepidation – 8 days of camping in Newfoundland was a treat for some, and a new, concerning prospect for others. Having stocked up in duty free and … Continue reading
Written by Claire Nichols
A motley crew of zoologists, plant scientists and earth scientists met in Heathrow Terminal 2 on a Monday morning with a plethora of rucksacks and tent bags. The mood was mixed; both excitement and trepidation – 8 days of camping in Newfoundland was a treat for some, and a new, concerning prospect for others. Having stocked up in duty free and … Continue reading
Blog post written by our talented bilingual industry contact, Sarah-Jane Kelland (Principal Geoscientist, ERCL Ltd)
Étant géologue, j’adore faire de la recherche, surtout à l’étranger. Donc j’étais emballée à l’idée de passer huit jours au Canada avec des étudiants de l’université de Cambridge qui finiront leur doctorat dans deux ans. L’objectif de notre expédition était d’apprendre la géologie, l’écologie et la zoologie en allant le … Continue reading
Hi, I’m Tim and I’m a PhD student in the conservation science group of the zoology department. I’m interested in “rewilding” – which means the restoration of natural processes in order to create healthier ecosystems. Over the past few thousand years, humans have supressed many natural processes – by killing off large predators and herbivores, canalising and controlling rivers with dykes and dams, supressing wild … Continue reading