Sarah Collins, a PhD student from the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge, has won this year's perspectives poster competition at the BA Festival of Science, for her poster expressing the risks and the benefits of volcanic eruptions.
“Volcanoes are both dangerous and beneficial to those who live among them, they also provide a gateway to the interior of our planet for the many scientists who study them,” says Sarah.
“My research investigates the geochemistry and petrology of the rocks erupted from volcanoes, most recently the eruption of Mt Etna in Sicily.”
Sarah’s poster highlighted the environmental risks caused by escaping volcanic gases and the danger posed to human and animal life and to land and property from lava flows and ash falls, in comparison with the benefits such incidents provide to local soils and metal deposits and to the local economy, through jobs brought in by tourists visiting the area.
Sarah, whose research is sponsored by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), also emphasised different aspects of her lab and field work and their role in the prediction of future eruptions and the provision of risk assessment for areas of high volcanic activity.
perspectives – a poster session with a difference – aimed to encourage postgraduate and postdoctoral scientists, engineers and social scientists to explore the social and ethical implications of their research. Finalists for the competition were asked to consider the impact their research has on society, both directly and indirectly, and the extent to which their research has been shaped by society. They presented their work at the BA Festival of Science at the University of East Anglia in Norwich from 4-8 September 2006.
“It is important that students at all stages of university consider the social implications of their work,” says Sue Hordijenko, Director of Programmes at the BA (British Association for the Advancement of Science). “The perspectives competition was created to challenge young scientists to focus on the broader impact of their research. Sarah communicated the social aspects of her work on volcanic eruptions both clearly and vividly, and greatly impressed the judges.”
perspectives is a BA initiative, supported by Research Councils UK. The BA Festival of Science is taking place in Norwich from 2-9 September and will bring together over 400 of the UK’s top scientists and engineers to discuss the latest scientific developments with the public. In addition to lectures and debates at the University of East Anglia and Norwich Research Park, the Festival will also feature a host of events throughout Norwich as part of the Science in the City programme.
This year’s Festival is supported by the University of East Anglia, the East of England Development Agency and Microsoft Research. The Press Centre is sponsored by AstraZeneca.