International students come to Stockholm to study Geological Sciences

 

An active blogger Barbara, from Stockholm University's Department of Geological Sciences, also maintains a YouTube channel alongside her regular teaching and research duties.

"I see social media and the web in general as a great channel to show how abrupt climate shifts in the past provide perspectives on our present and future climate," says Barbara. "Film in particular is the best way to provide outreach to the wider community about our research. I'm committed to helping people understand how geologists work and the exciting work the department is doing within the field of geological sciences."

In January 2010 Hywel George from Plasticbuddha, a British production company, traveled out to Thailand to film the work of Barbara and colleagues. The brief was to make a short science movie about the field work of the research group as they collected sediments from different lakes.

The film follows the research group from Stockholm out on lakes in Thailand, using coring equipment to collect sediments, and also back at Stockholm University, where the sediment cores are analysed.

The medium of film has helped us to communicate

"We've had such a wonderful response to the film Hywel made with us," explains Barbara. "We've had quite a lot of hits on YouTube too. One of the best things about the film is that we've been able to show it to students and to our colleagues in Thailand."

The group has been collaborating within the Asian monsoon project with geologists from Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

"Since a lot of people don't speak much English in Thailand we've also been able to help them better understand the work we're doing. The medium of film has helped us communicate with, for example, National Park officials and smaller municipalities in the country," says Barbara.

In 2011 filmmaker Nerys Evans from Plastic Buddha joined the research group to southern Thailand. This second film focused on the role the Thai students play for the research project.

The research group is currently working on the data collected during the different trips to Thailand.

"We can see shifts between very dry climatic conditions and much more humid conditions over the last 9000 years. Periods of extreme drought alternated with periods of considerable precipitation," explains Barbara. "We're studying biological, chemical and physical indicators to obtain a picture of how climate conditions looked like at certain points in the past."

Both research faculty and masters students involved in the film

It's not just research faculty seen in the films; they also show masters and research students really involved in the project.

"This is a great way of showing others just how exciting and important past climate research really is," says Barbara. "The work we do is, of course, important in terms of scholarly research. But our work is financed by tax payer’s money and therefore we would like to provide information about it that is understandable for everyone.

The work of Barbara Wohlfarth and her group in Thailand has also seen international students coming to Stockholm to study Geological Sciences. Last year two master students from Chulalongkorn University stayed for six months, and two doctoral students from Thailand are studying in the department.

"We have excellent international connections through the work we're doing and as well as bringing students from abroad to Stockholm, our home students also have the opportunity to go to Thailand and study."

The last and final film about the Thailand and Asian monsoon research is in progress and will focus on the laboratory work, on international collaboration, and on the results emerging from the project.

Future projects

Another recent film project Barbara is involved in is a documentary about research and teaching at the Department of Geological Sciences. This project is also a collaboration with Plastic Buddha Productions. Staff, graduate and undergraduate students feature in the film, which also shows excursions to Iceland and Scotland..

"It should be completed in a couple of weeks," says Barbara. "I think it will really show who we are at the department, how committed we are to teaching, how varied our research topics are, and how well we stand internationally. It will give potential students, researchers and the wider community further insight into our research and why geology is such an important subject. I'm very excited."

“Of course we want to encourage the next generation of students to study geology. We have a lot of exciting research going on at our department, and we have many excellent teachers."

A first glimpse of the new Department film is the two short trailers now on the department’s Youtube

To find out more about Professor Wohlfarth's research and films, visit the Geological Sciences YouTube channel.

By Jon Buscall
www.jontusmedia.com