Category: careers

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Catherine Craston demystifies the role of a Museum Collections Assistant

The roles of museum curators and archivists are often shrouded in mystery – what do they get up to behind the scenes? In this post I lift the lid on the profession and give you an insight into my job as Sedgwick Museum’s Collections Assistant for the intriguingly named, Moving a Mountain project. But first, I’ll start at the beginning – how I first got hooked on museum collections.   

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Learning from earthquakes, protecting communities

A PhD student from our Department has recently answered a call to join an international mission to improve the understanding of earthquake impacts, response and recovery. Aisling O’Kane was selected as part of a team of volunteer engineers and academics investigating a destructive magnitude 7.0 earthquake and tsunami in the Aegean Sea. She was one of only two geologists selected for the mission and worked alongside structural engineers and response management experts.

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A ‘wet’ Summer: Cambridge and Tenerife

This summer I was lucky enough to complete an internship in Environmental Consultancy with Mott MacDonald followed by a Hydrology Field Training Programme run by GeoTenerife. As a geologist, it can be hard to see how an Earth Sciences degree can be directly used outside of academia or the traditional field of Oil and Gas: the internship and training programme seemed a good way to explore alternative options.

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Interning at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences

Work aboard a research vessel.

Over the summer, I was fortunate enough to complete a research internship at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS), known by locals as the ‘Biological Station’. I was therefore off to a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean for two months to research the effects of climate change and swim with turtles.

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Himalayan Hydrogeology: an ICIMOD internship in Nepal

The Earth is a very blue planet, with almost three quarters of the surface covered in water. It seems perverse, then, that there should ever be water shortages. However, only 4% of Earth’s water is freshwater, and there are seven billion people dependent on this resource for domestic, agricultural and industrial use. Hence, the apparent oxymoron: the Blue Planet has serious water issues.

The field of hydrogeology is one not greatly studied within Cambridge Earth Sciences. However, it is a subject of increasing global importance in the 21st century. As rainfall patterns become less predictable and populations increase, we are increasingly reliant on our ‘backup supply’ of water: groundwater, stored in the pore spaces within rocks, and hidden beneath our feet.

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Is there life beyond Earth (Sciences)?

Poster boards stand tall in a crowded room. Friendly, familiar faces exchange advice over a generous keg. Curious minds eagerly watch and listen, before collecting free pens from a nearby table.

The Department of Earth Sciences’ careers event near the end of Michaelmas term invites alumni and industry representatives to speak to new generations of Natural Scientists about their life after graduation. Started in 2012 by the Sedgwick Club, this annual event has continued to grow, with more businesses, representatives, and undergraduates attending each year.

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