The last few months have seen a return to in-person conferences, alongside face to face teaching and fieldwork, and our group has been at the forefront of restarting these more human forms of teaching and learning. In addition we have had seven more publications out and sustained media interest in Tim’s group. We have had two keynote attendances at RawMat2021 for Nicky and Adrian in Athens, which was a dual-mode conference with both physical and remote attendance. Aayush and Nicky have been involved in outreach and Adrian has been invited to join the University Centre for Energy Ethics.
Publications
Sokół K, Finch AA, Hutchison W, Cloutier J, Borst AM, Humphreys M (2021) Quantifying metasomatic HFSE-REE transport from alkaline magmas, Geology, in press.
Allison N, Cole C, Hintz C, Hintz K, Rae J & Finch AA (2021) Resolving the interactions of ocean acidification and temperature on coral calcification media pH. Coral Reefs, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-021-02170-2.
Bateman M, Kinnaird TC, Hill J, Ashurst R, Mohan J, Bateman RBI & Robinson RAJ (2021) Detailing the impact of the Storegga Tsunami at Montrose, Scotland. Boreas, available on-line/early view.
Turner S, Kinnaird TC, Koparal E, Lekakis S & Sevara C (2021) Landscape archaeology, sustainability and the necessity of change. World Archaeology, 52, 589-606.
Holdridge G, Kristiansen SM, Barfod GH, Lichtenberger A, Olsen J, Philippsen B, Raja R, Kinnaird TC, Simpson I (2021) A Roman provincial city and its contamination legacy from artisanal and daily-life activities. PLOSone, 16.
Masters and PhD Studentship Opportunities
We are always interested in hearing from candidates who would like to complete studies of the mineralogy, petrography and petrogenesis of alkaline igneous rocks and/or critical metal resources.
The University also runs taught Masters programmes including Masters in Strategic Earth Resources and the Masters in Geochemistry. Adrian and the research group contribute several aspects to the delivery and content of these programmes and frequently supervise Masters projects.
Presentations
Adrian and Nicky were both invited to give keynotes to the RawMat 2021 conference in Greece in September 2021. Adrian presented both presentations including one talk on the genesis of critical metal ore deposits and another presenting Nicky’s PhD research on smart sorting.
Aayush presented a talk (virtually) on OSL and proxy dating of Late Prehistoric Cultivation terraces sediments on Arthur’s Seat, Central Edinburgh, Scotland in the 27th Annual meeting of European Association of Archaeologists in Kiel, Germany. He also had a poster presentation (Cultivated Landscapes of the Mediterranean Novel discourses around the issue of chronological gaps) in the 16th International Luminescence and Electron Spin Resonance Dating conference (LED2021) held online.
Anouk presented at the Belgian geological forum ‘Geological Belgica‘ in 2021 on our work in Nejoio: Borst AM, Nielson G, Finch AA, Eugenio A, Bambi A (2021) Alkaline magmatism and critical metals in Angola: Field Observations and Petrography of the Nejoio Nepheline Syenite complex.
Fieldwork
Tim and Aayush have been taking advantage of the lifting of restrictions on travel to catch up international fieldwork programmes related to their research. June saw them in Naxos, Greece, with colleagues from the University of Newcastle, sampling several agricultural terraces (see below).
At the end of September, Aayush and Tim were also involved in fieldwork at Caerlaverock Castle in Scotland to explore whether medieval climate emergency and coastal changes caused abandonment of the older castle and construction of the new one. The fieldwork was covered in a blog by one of their colleagues at the University of Stirling.
Outreach
Adrian submitted an entry to the St Andrews Climate, Energy, Environment and Sustainability (StACEES) photo competition and it is now on their virtual image gallery. Adrian has also joined the St Andrews Centre for Energy Ethics and his profile is published here.
Aayush is an Early Career Scientists (ECS) rep for EGU and he is organising a webinar, “Meet the Editors” on October 13th, 2021. There are more EGU activities planned but in 2022, so watch this space.
Nicky contributed teaching materials on critical metals and fluorescence to the Sutton Trust and First Chances Fife initiatives at the University of St Andrews in late June. These projects are designed to increase the visibility of Earth Science issues to sixth form students, particularly those who come from family backgrounds without a history of University attendance. Adrian gave a fieldwork tour of the Elie Rubies site as part of Scottish Geology week.
And Finally….
Congratulations to the graduating MSc students in Geochemistry, particularly Janice Caldwell (now Ball) who was married in St Salvator’s Chapel in the University in August. Best wishes to all of you!
Professor Adrian Finch 