Recent  

Virtual field trips have become a crucial resource during the COVID-19 pandemic within geoscience education. This study presents a critical evaluation of their use, using real-world examples delivered to a masters-level class at the University of Aberdeen. Our work highlights several key findings which can be used to help plan virtual field trips and how associated disadvantages of their use can be mitigated through a blend of physical and virtual field trips.

Participants answered four questions concerning their experience writing a haiku based on a geoscience extract. Data were categorised as being part of the Task Process or Task Meaning. The themes involved in the Task Process were Identification of significant information, Distillation of information and Metamorphosis of text, while the themes related to Task Meaning were made up of Enjoyable, Challenging (which has sub-themes Frustrating and Restricted) and Valuable.

How do kids imagine the onset and outcome of a volcanic eruption? A workshop proposed for schools tries to answer this question by collecting stories and drawings done by kids (aged 6–13). The eruption they have in mind is an excellent starting point for building classroom conversations about volcanic risk and its mitigation. Concurrently, the workshop provided us with valuable hints to improve educational materials and lesson plans to account for kids’ knowledge and beliefs.

Geology is not apolitical. Here, we explore what decolonising the curriculum means, both in a wider sense and specifically for the discipline of geology. We outline some of the colonial past of the discipline and also point to its colonial present in the hope that we can do better in the future. We explain some of the discipline-specific jargon, theory, and practice associated with decolonising. Some suggestions are included to help geology teams begin their decolonising the curriculum journey.

In this paper, we discuss the instrumental role of the press in informing and educating the public on the subject of climate science and climate change. We illustrate this using an example of a dissemination format called Weather Stories, published daily in one of the most read newspapers in Spain. The particularities of this journalistic format are described using a practical example of a relatively complex physical concept: the jet stream.

This paper extracts key learning from two case studies (India and Mozambique), outlining solutions and approaches to challenges in developing forecast products. These lessons and solutions can be used by forecasters and practitioners to support the development of useful, appropriate, and co-designed forecast information for institutional decision-makers to support more effective early action in advance of disasters.

W.A.T.E.R. stands for Workshop on Advanced measurement Techniques and Experimental Research. It provides a structured approach for the learning and training platform to professionals with an experimental background in fluid mechanics. It offers an opportunity to learn about state-of-the-art instrumentation and measurement techniques and the latest developments in the field by partnering with academics, instrumentation manufacturers, and public sectors for sharing knowledge and good practices.

Natural events like earthquakes provide an opportunity for geoscientists to communicate Earth science with the public. YouTube has a large number of users, but little is known about how YouTube videos on natural events engage and communicate geoscience to the public. Our results show that timely videos about geologic events in the news better engage younger and more diverse audiences to be interested in Earth science and stimulates more meaningful dialogues with certain YouTube users.

Educational research highlights that improved careers education is needed to increase participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Current UK careers resources in the space sector, however, are found to perhaps not best reflect the diversity of roles present and may in fact perpetuate misconceptions about the usefulness of science. We, therefore, compile a more diverse set of space-related jobs, which will be used in the development of a new space careers resource.