About
About this blog
This blog covers the latest discoveries about how the Earth’s mountains, atmosphere, coasts, oceans, ice, deserts and rivers work. It’s not a green or a climate change blog – there are thousands of blogs on these topics already.
The aim of this blog isn’t to decry the future of the planet and it’s only accidentally political. Partly it’s a news source for the geoscience that climate change forgot. The rest is a science exhibition for the outdoors – explaining what we know about our surroundings.
I set this blog up to share my enthusiasm for the natural world. I’m a keen hiker and there’s something wonderful about understanding everything you see on a walk. Take, for example, the changes in plant species, the colour and texture of the rocks and the shapes of the mountains and valleys. More importantly, we’re less immune from the Earth’s fierce beauty than we’d imagine – coastal erosion, volcanic eruptions, floods, mudslides and rockfalls continue to ruin lives and livelihoods.
About me
When I was little, I didn’t want to be a ballet dancer, a train driver or a princess. I wanted to be a TV geologist. I imagined myself running up hills with a hammer, followed by a BBC camera crew.
At age 17, I went on a geography trip to Switzerland and saw how the valleys were smoothed and sculpted by vast rivers of ancient ice. I was awed by these immense forces of nature that could carry away mountains and which dwarfed today’s human settlements. My dream changed from pointing at rocks to standing on glaciers.
I pursued my passion through a degree in geography, a PhD in climate change monitoring and many hiking holidays. But, at some point, I realised a science researcher’s main job wasn’t communicating science. So I quit science and had a messy period where I did an NCTJ preliminary Certificate in Newspaper Journalism and acquired a secondary specialism in medicine and healthcare.
Today, I’m a freelance science writer who works part-time at the Progress Educational Trust. I write a lot about genetics, health and medicine, but am still passionate about the science of the world around us. I hike less than I’d like because I live in London, but I weight train in the gym or cycle most days. I also love racing around the park with my amazingly vibrant and wild working cocker spaniel, Toqey.
