12/05/2023
Have you ever wondered how scientists share their findings with other scientists? One of the main ways is to attend scientific conferences. Last week Danijela Dimitrijević, a PhD researcher studying the fossil record of stony corals and the evolution of reefs, visited EGU, which is the largest geoscience conference in Europe. Around 19000 participants from 121 countries attended the conference this year, and more than 16000 presentations were completed!
Danijela presented her research investigating the impact of global warming on ancient reef communities (over the last 500 million years) in the format of a poster - which she designed herself. Being able to communicate your findings is a key skill for a scientist - who knew they also had to be graphic designers!
Events like this are vital for early career researchers like Danijela because they give the opportunity to meet other scientists, talk with them about their findings, and come up with ways to work together to answer the next big question. “EGU was a brilliant event, lots of people came to talk to me about my research and gave me really positive feedback. It was also great to get to hang out with the other researchers after the conference, so you get to know them much better which really helps to create new collaborations.”
05/05/2023
Laura is a 6th semester who has been taking part in the hydrogeology course. One area of study that interests her is learning about how to prevent and track the spread of pollutants in groundwater. Groundwater contamination is a growing concern, especially in Germany. Nitrates and pesticides from agriculture are one of the major polluters of the groundwater system - over 40% of groundwater bodies in are contaminated with pollutants (European Commission, 2019). This is a major problem with climate change driving warmer summers - the increased heat, low levels of rain, and increased demand for water means that more and more groundwater is being extracted, increasing the risk to humans and animals from this pollution.
We asked Laura why she chose to study at FAU: “At school, I really loved studying natural sciences and geography. I did not want to choose one subject to study, so I decided to study geosciences, because it connects all the natural sciences. I chose because the research on biomaterials really interested me - plus the location of the GeoZentrum in the Schlossgarten was also a big plus!”
07/04/2023
Jessica is a masters student studying and . At the moment she is employed as a HiWi (student research assistants) to help collect data for a large ongoing project at the . This equipment measures the flow of gas through a rock to test the permeability - and she is using this equipment to help collect permeability data on over 600 rock samples from Northern !
Jessica is excited to learn about the project and to get the opportunity to undertake practical lab experience. “We get taught lots of information during our undergraduate degrees here, but it is totally different gaining actual practical skills and collecting the data myself. I want to get a better view of work I can do after my degree, and gaining skills and experiences is really important to me - you have to start somewhere!”
