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WiES Mentor Scheme
WiES sets out to support and inspire, mentor and socialise, empower and encourage.
As part of our aims, we proudly announce the launch of our mentoring scheme.
If you could offer your support to someone as a WiES mentor, or if you would like the support of one as a mentee, you can sign up to take part as either a mentor or a mentee (or both!) by contacting Frances (frances.cooper@ucl.ac.uk). We will then make introductions between suitable mentors and mentees.
If you have registered your interest for our mentoring scheme, we will be in touch with you soon. Don’t worry if you don’t hear from us straight away. We will continue to make enquiries and find suitable mentors as and when they become available.
Our new Chairperson, WiES welcomes Dr. Frances Cooper!
Frances recently joined UCL as an Associate Professor in Earth Sciences. She is a geologist who studies continental deformation, the evolution of orogenic systems, and the role of tectonics in ore formation. Her research has included active normal faulting in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, the exhumation of middle crustal rocks in the western USA, and the role of extension in the high Himalayan peaks of Bhutan. Over the past decade she has worked closely with the mining company BHP to understand how tectonics, magmatism, volcanism, and surface processes combine to control the formation and enrichment of copper deposits, particularly in the Central Andes.
Frances is a proud UCL alumna who graduated with an MSci in Geology in 2003. She then crossed the pond to do a PhD at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, followed by a postdoc at Arizona State University in Phoenix. She returned to the UK in 2012 to take up a lectureship at the University of Bristol but was recently lured back to UCL to relive her (misspent) youth!
““I’m really thrilled to be taking over WiES and would like to thank Lidunka for creating this fantastic and much-needed group. As a woman working in two traditionally male-dominated and non-diverse fields – field geology and mining – I am only too well aware of the challenges that women and gender minorities face on a daily basis. As a mother, I am also acutely aware of the added pressure and guilt that comes with juggling an academic career with parenthood. In my role as WiES chair, I intend to build on Lidunka’s great work to cultivate an inclusive and supportive network of people who will work together to increase the representation of women across the Earth science sector.”
WiES News
- 'A Lagrangian Snow-Evolution System for Sea-Ice Applications (SnowModel-LG): Part 1-Model Description', an article by Prof. Julienne Stroeve has been recognised as the top cited article in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans between 2020 and 2021!
- Dr Anna Joy Drury is the recipient of the Wollaston Fund for 2022, which is awarded by the Geological Society of London to an early career researcher “on the basis of noteworthy published research in either or both 'pure' and 'applied' aspects of geoscience". The award is named in honour of William Hyde Wollaston (1766-1828) and has been bestowed annually since 1873.
- Professor Lidunka Vočadlo has been awarded the Neumann Medal 2022 (previously the Schlumberger Medal), the premier medal of the Mineralogical Society. Lidunka has been recognised for: “her scientific excellence and her significant and impactful publication history". Find out more about the WiES Chair and her prestigous medal in the UCL Earth Sciences Autumn Newsletter 2021.
- New Article: Scientists from historically excluded groups face a hostile obstacle course published in Nature Geoscience (23rd December 2021
- Ever wanted to know more about thermohaline circulation? Find out all about it in this a cappella by WiES member Alessanda Quigley! This video is my presentation for Ocean Physics and Climate Change on Thermohaline Circulation. I made it a parody of "Under the Sea", and I loosely based my a cappella arrangement off DCappella's arrangement. I hope you enjoy!
A focus on gender-race intersectionality to understand BAME women under representation in geoscience
Dr. Sudeshna Basu, Dr. Andrew Thomson and Isabelle Hoppe from UCL, are working on the project A focus on gender-race intersectionality to understand BAME women under representation in geoscience with colleagues from other universities in UK and Australia [Dr. A. Basu, RHUL; Dr. C. Persano, Glasgow University; Dr. C. Tiddy, UNISA, Australia].
The aim of the project is to improve our understanding on the double bind facing women from minority ethnicity in geoscience, to provide insights to their near invisibility in this field from enrolment to senior positions.
Multiple factors deter women from continuing in academic careers. In geoscience, the lack of gender diversity is being addressed in UK and Australia, although it remains far from achieving a healthy balance. However, the lack of racial diversity hasn’t received a similar level of attention. Most of the geoscientists to be awarded a doctoral degree are white, with an even smaller proportion of academic positions held by people of colour, a situation comparable for US, UK and Australia. The picture gets more complex when intersectionality comes into play.
