So long and thanks for all the geology!

Hi! I’m Gillian, a recent graduate of the MSci Environmental Geoscience programme. Through my time at UCL, I’ve developed a strong passion for sustainability and climate change, and a fascination for Arctic sea ice dynamics, solar geo-engineering and of course, geology! 

People always say you have to make the most of your time at university: do something, learn everything, try anything. When I first stepped foot into the Kathleen Lonsdale Building in 2018, as a shy, quiet girl fresh off the boat from Singapore, I certainly felt the need to ‘invent myself’, and ‘find my true calling’. 

The modules I took as part of my degree programme shone a torch into the crevasses of geoscience that I could barely fathom: crystallography, volcanism, seismicity, evolution of life, climate modelling, and atmospheric and ocean physics. Pulled in so many directions with so little time to ‘find my calling’, I spent most of my time jumping between labs, seminars, career talks and department events.

I’m immensely grateful for the nurturing and collaborative culture of the department’s academic community that helped me shape a more intentional exploration into my varied interests. After falling in love with rocks and minerals in GEOL0001 Earth Materials, I spent a good chunk of my second year on the second-floor spectroscopy lab, studying the formation of botryoidal minerals, mapping thin-sections of chrysocolla and quartz minerals and penning down notes (which were, in hindsight, very rudimentary, but everyone’s gotta start somewhere!). In Year 3, the GEOL0014 Geosciences Report module gave me the freedom to dive deep into another area of Earth Sciences. I worked with Dr Pete Irvine on the terrestrial vegetation response to a solar geo-engineering technique known as stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI).

Perhaps most excitingly, I had the incredible opportunity of working with Dr Michel Tsamados on my Master’s Project: High-resolution Arctic Sea Ice Concentration Budget in the Arctic’s Last Ice Area. My most challenging task yet, this project was a constant uphill battle of synthesising existing literature, troubleshooting lines of code, project management, and resisting that second evening coffee.

My time at UCL would be meaningless without the friends I’ve made along the way. Over the course of my degree, I had the chance to forge meaningful connections and work with many inspirational, passionate individuals in the Women in Earth Sciences and the UCL chapter of Geology for Global Development, organising social events, talks, mapathons, and even a bake sale! Some of the best bonding experiences I’ve shared were on the amazing field trips across the UK – from losing a boot at Lyme Regis, to embarking on our pilgrimage to the structural geologist’s mecca, Ben Arnaboll, to sliding down a scree slope to catch the bus and getting eaten alive by midges.

My four years in the UCL Department of Earth Sciences culminated in a final field trip to the Isle of Skye. On our last day, we took a one last 6-mile trek through geologic time together as a cohort, and I swear, you could almost hear the Funeral March playing through the gusty Scottish winds and pelting rain. 

Navigating my time at university has not been a straightforward task, and my compass still seems to change direction on a whim. While some of my peers have continued to explore their passions in geoscience through fantastic Masters and PhD programmes across Europe, or jumping into exciting careers in ecological fieldwork, geophysical surveying and environmental consulting, I’ve decided to venture into the business world (God no, turn back before it’s too late!) and gain some corporate exposure as a management consultant for a couple of years. As I continue to learn what else the world has to offer, I’ll be sure to stay in touch with the sustainability and climate science space through producing Pete Irvine’s climate podcast, Challenging Climate, and working on publishing my Master’s project.

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I’m deeply thankful to the department, the staff and students I’ve encountered along the way. The people of the department are truly so inspiring, from candidly sharing their academic journeys and life stories, to embodying the spirit of lifelong learning through their relentless curiosity, work ethic, and humility. I won’t take these four years for granite!

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