Hello everyone, I hope you're doing well.
Welcome to the Geology part of your
Virtual Open Day here at the University
of Derby. Now I guess you're here because
you're considering studying Geology with
us.
My name is Dr Katy Chamberlain, I'm a
volcanologist here in the department
and I need to give you just a taste of
what you will study with us if you
choose to come here. So in this short
talk I'll cover our courses that we
offer, what you'll study as part of those
courses, our Environmental Sustainability
Research Centre, the facilities and
fieldwork that we have within the
department, and where you might go
following the conclusion of your
study with us.
I should add all of this information is
correct at the time of delivery in April
2020 and is of course subject to change
but if you need any more information or
up-to-date information please do visit
our website or get in touch. So the
courses that we offer as part of the
Geology degree and you can do a pure BSc
(Hons) in Geology, you can do a Geology
and Environmental Hazards degree or you
could decide to mix Geology with another
Joint Honours subject. For more
information on how to choose
your Joint Honours subject and how you
might decide whether you want to do
Geology as a minor, a joint or a major
subject please do visit their Joint
Honours area of our University of Derby
website. Now I'm not going to touch on
this anymore and there's lots
more information available online about
our postgraduate courses but directly
feeding on from Geology there's an
opportunity to do three different MSc, 
which might lead you to a more
specialised employment and those are
Intelligence, Security and Disaster
Management, Environmental Assessment and
Control and also an MSc in GeoEnergy.
So as part of these courses
we'll cover the fundamentals of geology,
whether you choose Geology as a joint
honours subject, pure Geology or Geology
and Environmental Hazards, we will be
giving you a grounding in what it means
to study the Earth and how the Earth
looks in its present day. So we will
cover the very basics of how we can
understand different processes by
looking at rocks and the minerals that
make those rocks up and some of those
minerals might be fossils and so we can
look at
fossils and work out what environment
these organisms lived in and what that
meant for the Earth tens to hundreds of
millions of years ago. We will give you
skills and a grounding in geophysics and
tectonics to think well how do we
actually study our Earth and study below
the surface of the Earth, things that we
can't physically touch and you can also
be very applied in your study. You can
choose to take modules in Engineering
Geology, which leads to employment for a
lot of our students or you could look at
Site Investigation and Geotechnics.
We will take the very fundamentals of
geology and give you the opportunity to
apply them into more applied areas that
lead more directly into employment
following your studies. One thing we are very
proud of is our professional
accreditation. So the degree programmes are
accredited by the Geological Society of
London and that's really important for
two main reasons. The first that you know
we've been assessed by an external body
and they've decided that the material
that we cover is up to standard and it gives
you all of the background that you
would need to become a professional
geologist once you leave us. Secondly it
means that you have a fast-track
into accreditation individually
so chartership, by coming from a
degree programme that has already been
accredited it will be easier for you to
apply for chartership individually
following your graduation from the
University of Derby. Another thing that I
should point out is that I actually sit
on the regional group, the East Midlands
regional group of the Geological Society
of London, who hosts lecture events and
other events within our region, sometimes
those are at Derby, sometimes those are
at the British Geological Survey in Keyworth.
So there's always an opportunity for
you to be involved even as a student, you
don't have to wait until after you've
graduated. So what will you study with us?
I'm going to go through the
Geology programme in more detail and then
I'll talk about the differences with
the Geology and Environmental Hazards
and the Joint Honours option as we get
there. Now I hope you all achieve the
grades that you're looking for in your
A levels, but if that's not the case
there's always the option to come and do
a foundation year,
which will build up those skills that we
feel you need to be able to succeed in
geology with us. This includes things like
physics and chemistry. We need to know
the principles of these kind of
pure sciences to be able to apply them
to our Earth's system. I am in fact a
Geochemist, I use the chemical
compositions of different minerals
within volcanic rocks to tell me what
happened
deep within the magma chamber before an
eruption. So I do need to have an
understanding of these principles of
chemistry to be able to interpret my
data. Now once you've completed your
foundation year, you'll come into Stage
One or this is where you join us if
you're coming straight from A levels.
All of these modules are prescribed
modules so you must take all of these
modules in the first year and we cover
things like Rocks and Minerals and
Gemstones, different Earth surface
processes and what that means for your
stratigraphic record and including
Environmental Hazards and Disasters, so a
whole range of environmental hazards
things from volcanic eruptions to
climate change to flooding. You'll
notice that there are these red FW
letters next to some of the modules and
all that means is that those modules
have fieldwork days associated with them.
We're really lucky to live in wonderful
Derbyshire and that we've got loads of
rocks close by to us that we think are
excellent for outdoor
classrooms for you to practice the
skills that you've learned with us in
the classroom. To take that to a next
level the RFW is residential fieldwork
within the UK, so you can see four
Fundamental Skills for Geoscientists
there is a residential field trip
approximately six days or more where we
take you away and you get an opportunity
to really put into practice all the
skills that you've learnt with us during
studying that module. In second year once
you've built that really strong
foundation in geology,
you can then start to be more applied
and so this is where you might have some
optional choices for whether you take
Economic Mineral Deposits or Glacial
Environments or Water: Resource and
Hazard. There are still a lot of core
modules here or prescribe modules that
we think you really need to take to have
that grounding
as a geologist. So those include
Volcanology, Deformed Terrains, how do you
make these rocks be so buckled and bent
rather than just linear planar surfaces
as they were deposited in their
sedimentary environments and then how do
we map them, the Geological Mapping and
Applied Skills for Geoscientists is a
really key component of your geological
training. I'm actually standing in
front of the geological map of Mount
Fuji and I thought that would be a nice
background so maybe we can look at this
in class. After Stage Two you can take an
industrial placement year but you can
also go straight on to your third year.
Now this is where you get chance to
really take the lead on your own studies,
your Independent Studies module is your
dissertation module and it counts for
two modules and even so it's 40 credits
worth of work, and you get an opportunity
to go out into the field with a small
group of students and map an area for
yourself. Maybe you'll create something
that looks like this but that would
probably be rather more weeks than you
would be out there for yourself. On top
of your Independent Studies, there is
also a Basin Analysis and Crustal
Evolution modules that both have
overseas fieldwork associated with them.
They share a kind of capstone trip to
the Pyrenees in your final year to look
at the evolution of mountain belts and
because you're in your third year and
you've built that really strong geology
foundation you then get to choose which
of these optional modules you would like
to complete be it Engineering Geology,
Applied GIS, all of these are very
applied modules that mean you build lots
of skills that are really valuable in
the job market. Geology and Environmental
Hazards is very similar, again you can
take a foundation year and the first
year is the same. Second year is where we
start to differ so you don't take
any more, well you don't have to take any
more the Deformed Terrains module and the
Applied Sedimentology module, instead you
must take the Water: Resource and
Hazzard module, because water plays such
a controlling factor in so many
geological and environmental hazards so
that's a really key module to take and
that also has day field trips associated
with it. But you can still choose to take
them all kind of geologically focused
modules such as Deformed Terrains or
Applied Sedimentology if you so wish,
there is that optionality within this
degree programme. Again you can take an
industrial placement year and then in
your final year again you have a more
broad choice of modules. You can still
take lots of the pure Geology modules as
long as you've completed the required
prerequisites, but you also have the
options to take things like Climate
Change or Terrain Evaluation, which you
may not have had access to as part of
the pure Geology programme. You'll also
notice you have this Applied
Environmental Hazards module which looks
not only at the physical process of
these hazards but also how we can
mitigate their effects and how we can
manage and communicate with the affected
populations. In terms of Joint Honours
depending on whether you choose Geology as a
minor, joint or major, so
two to four, three and three, or four to two
split depends which of these modules
you'll take but you'll see that at each
stage there's a really core geology
progression including the Fundamental
Skills, Mapping, Basin Analysis and
Crustal Evolution, but if you need more
information on the Joint Honors options
based on whether you choose minor, major
or joint please do get in touch and
we'll happily answer questions for you.
Now one thing that is also important for
us at the University of Derby is making
sure that we give you kind of a
future-proofed degree. The United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals are really
key in this. Geology is not just a
science for today it's a science for
tomorrow and how we can prepare for the
challenges that are facing us in the UK,
but also us as the global population. So
in particular you know geology plays a
key role in looking at how we can
provide clean water, how can we provide
affordable and clean energy. Geoscientists 
need to be involved in
these debates and so our degree is
underpinned by the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals, which feed
into the material that we cover. We also
have an active research centre, the
Environmental Sustainability Research
Centre, which we are all part of and we
all contribute to. There's an annual
conference where we get together
and present our work to each other
and also to interested parties
externally. We have people who
research a huge range of topics so from
Gondwana break up, to mineralising
processes, to kind of old fossils and
what that meant for paleo environments
back in deep time. So it includes
sedimentology and paleontology, I'm a
volcanologist so I specifically research
different volcanic environments. I'm
currently working on some volcanoes in
Chile. Sian Davies-Vollum who is our Head of
the Environmental Sciences School, has an
active research programme in Ghana where
she's looking at coastal change in sea
level rise. Dr Jordan Phethean looks at
mantle dynamics and Dr Holly Elliott is
looking at mineralising environments and
how we can find these really key
deposits of things like rare Earth
metals,
rare Earth elements that we are kind of
reliant upon in our move to green
technology. The facilities that we have
here at Derby are excellent, especially
our teaching facilities we have
dedicated petrology and sedimentology
labs that we will come in and we will
teach you in those environments. We
have a lot of dedicated study space just
for Geoscience students and that's
really important so you don't have to
go and fight your way through the
library to find a desk. We have our own
map library which provides a quiet
working space for students, we have a
specialist computing laboratory which if
it's not booked you're welcome to go in
and use and we have a student lab which
has microscopes set up in so you can go
in and look at thin sections in your own
time without having to book a microscope
out. Another thing that we're really
proud of is that we have a scanning
electron microscope and the ability to
make thin sections in-house so as part
of your final year dissertation, you
could collect samples of rocks which
then are turned into thin sections for you
to analyse both with an optical
microscope in the student lab but also
with a scanning electron microscope
which requires significant training
but develops those skills that
industry will be looking for. You know
you've been able to operate expensive
pieces of machinery and this brightly
colored crystal that you can see here is
an example of some of the maps that we
might produce from a scanning electron
microscope. Our Geological Society, our
student Geological Society is incredibly
active they organise talks throughout
the academic year, they have many socials.
It's a really great opportunity for you
to meet not just people within your year
group but across the whole year group, as
well as interact with the staff on a
more social level. So I really do
encourage you to join the Geological
Society they are incredibly active and
they consistently win awards from the
Union for doing so much and
being so proactive in their activities.
I'll just quickly look over some of the
different pieces of fieldwork.
Your first residential fieldwork is in
Northwest Scotland and this is where you
look at classic geology. The Lewisian Gneiss 
is three billion years old and you
have the opportunity to go and walk all
over it and work out why is it here,
why is it next to rocks that are only a
billion years old, what's led to this
process, what's led to this juxtaposition
of different rock types and it really
has allowed you to kind of cut your
teeth on residential fieldwork and a
beautiful area. In second year we have
a lot of residential fieldwork we're
really preparing you for your
independent study and at the moment we
go to Snowdonia, Tenerife, Anglesey and
Pembrokeshire, a lot of really classic
areas of geology where a lot of
fundamental principles have been worked
out. In your final year you go to the
French Pyrenees with the Crustal
Evolutional and Basin Analysis modules and
you can see the weather can be pretty
variable then even though we go in
May and it can be very sunny or it can
be very snowy. It's a really great
opportunity for you to experience four
seasons in one day whilst also applying
all of the skills that you've learnt
through your three years with us at
Derby. If you do the Geology with
Environmental Hazards degree you're
final year field trip will be the Pacific
Northwest field trip and this is to
Washington and Oregon States in the
northwest of the USA and we give you an
opportunity to go and observe the impacts
of a whole range of environmental
hazards and this is an image of Mount
St. Helens that erupted catastrophically
in 1980 as I'm sure you're all aware.
It's really rather breath-taking to go
and visit it in person so we look at
whole range, not just volcanic hazards
but wildfire, flooding, management of
water in the desert area, all of these
are encapsulated within the Pacific
Northwest field trip which is where we
currently go. The final piece
of fieldwork that I haven't really
talked about is your independent study
and this is fieldwork that is led by you.
You will go away for up to five weeks
with colleagues from your year
group, a small number of them and you'll
be mapping different areas within your
assigned field area. But we won't
just let you go, we won't just wave you
off at the start of summer and say see
you in September, we do keep in
touch with you and one of the ways we
provide support is through coming up and
visiting you and this is Dr Jordan
Phethean in the picture
and he has gone all the way up to the
Isle of Skye to check in on his students
and make sure they're doing okay, make
sure they're progressing, answer any
questions they have in the field. So in a
way it's an opportunity for you to
lead us around and say well I'm not sure
about this rock, can you come and have a
look with me. So we do provide you that
support during your independent study
and then obviously all of the support
once you return back to Derby.
So why
should you choose Derby? Well one thing
which I think is really important and I
am really proud of is that any fieldwork
associated with a compulsory module
is included in your course fee. That
means you don't have to pay for any
accommodation or any extra transport,
it's all included. So I think that's
really really important, it means you can
budget effectively and not have to
suddenly spend hundreds of pounds to go
on a field trip that would be a really
valuable learning experience for you. We
have a range of optional modules and
these are incredibly applied so you can
develop the skills and knowledge to
apply to the specific career that you're
interested in from petroleum, through to
mining, through to geotechnical or
environmental sectors. You can take a
placement here if you so choose and
build that industrial experience 
and within all of our
modules we have personal development
planning and workplace experience. So
we're looking at how does the material
that you learn within your study here at
Derby make you employable, how does it
give you experience to cope in the
workplace, for example, I teach on a final
year geochemistry course here at
Derby, Crustal Evolution and we deal with
a lot of geochemical data that looks at
the origin of plate tectonics and what
did the first continental crust look
like and yes most of us won't go into
careers that look at the origin of the
continental crust, but by handling
complex datasets and drawing conclusions
from incomplete datasets, 
those are really valuable skills that
industry will really value moving
forwards. You can choose single honours
or joint honours so it gives you that
flexibility to try out different topics
and you would come and be part of a
research active teaching team. So not
only do we teach you the fundamentals
but we'll also expose you to the current
areas of debate, what's the new knowledge
that we're generating as part of our
research and we'll give you that cutting
edge experience of our current
understanding. As part of that and
why you might want to choose to study
Geology at Derby there are lots of
different statistics that we are proud
of here at Derby, including the fact that
we rated Gold in the Teaching Excellence
Framework and really that just means
that we deliver excellent teaching on
our degree programmes, including being
rated within the Top 30 of the Guardian
University Guide. So what might you
do following your study at Derby? Well
there's a whole range of career options
open to you just because you choose to
study geology doesn't mean you have to have
a geological career. It gives you a broad
range of transferable skills which are
really valuable within any workplace but
in particular there's some case studies
from past graduates here who've gone
into geotechnical and engineering
geology or they've gone into producing
BBC documentaries, so there's a huge
range of options there. That's all I've
got to say
for this talk. Thank you very much for
taking the time to go through it. If you
have any questions please do get in
touch with the details on the screen
here. You can find the email address at
the beginning of the slides as well. 
I look forward to meeting you.
