Fossils of the Earth’s earliest animals appear abruptly in the geological record ~574 million years ago (Mya), and then suffer a mysterious decline in diversity just a few million years later ~550 Mya. Some researchers consider this biological change to be Earth’s first mass extinction event.
Continue reading “Exploring the environments inhabited by Earth’s earliest animals in Namibia”
We are four Earth Sciences undergraduate students from the University of Cambridge. We use samples from the Sedgwick Museum’s collections in our studies, so these placements were an exciting chance for us to work behind the scenes on current projects in the Museum. We each spent 1-4 weeks on a project during the summer of 2022, generously funded by the Friends of the Sedgwick Museum.
Continue reading “Friends of the Sedgwick Museum Summer Placements 2022”
I recently accompanied an intrepid group of Cambridge alumni on board the Ocean Endeavour as we sailed a section of the fabled Northwest Passage from West Greenland to the western Canadian Arctic.
Continue reading “Into the Northwest Passage: four billion years of Earth history”
This August, the Earth Sciences Department hosted a week-long summer school for college-level students, as part of the Sutton Trust programme.
The Sutton Trust is an educational charity which aims to improve social mobility and address educational disadvantage. The summer school is a widening participation programme open to state-school students and high-achieving students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Continue reading “Reflecting on the Department’s first Sutton Trust Summer School”
Alasdair Knight, a second year PhD student in the Department of Earth Sciences, reports back from the 2022 Goldschmidt conference in the blog post below.
Alasdair can normally be found researching the chemical reactions that occur between greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere and the rocks at Earth’s surface. These reactions are thought to have been important for keeping Earth within the correct temperature range for life to exist.
Jenny Omma is Chief Geologist at Rocktype — a mineralogy consultancy using big data to revolutionize rock analysis.
After studying for her M.Sci in Natural Sciences, and continuing at Cambridge to do a PhD in earth sciences, Jenny spent five years in industry before setting up her own company in 2014. We caught up with Jenny in the following blog post to find out more about her career path and work in the energy and mineral sectors.
Continue reading “Careers in earth sciences – Jenny Omma talks big data and rock analysis”
I can normally be found writing news stories or running outreach events for the Department, but this year I decided to dust off my walking boots and tag along to Arran with our first years to find out what makes this fabled Island so geologically exciting. Let’s just say it didn’t disappoint, and in the post below I’ve managed to condense down what — according to our students and demonstrators — makes this trip so special.
Continue reading “Arran 2022: best bits, as chosen by staff and students!”
Sarah Hammond, Sedgwick Museum Administrator, tells us about improving the visitor experience for families at the museum.
In the year or two before the pandemic, the museum team had a big push to improve access for families to the museum. Our work began where our visitors start their journey – outside. We updated the imagery and added more signs to guide people from the street to the museum.
Continue reading “Transforming the visitor welcome”
