Why did I become a scientist?

This is a question I love to ask other people – I love to find out why they first embarked on their career, or project, or why they chose a specific degree, etc. Some people have a story you can tell they love to talk about, and some people I’ve asked have kind of just

PhD Update: 3 months to go!

Wait… but it hasn’t been 3 months since your “6-months-to-go” update?! No, it’s only been 2 months (and it feels like it’s only been about 2 weeks!). I promise I can count! It turns out that the “what’s next?” part of my plan has changed a little, and so I need to submit my thesis

How can we forecast river flow around the globe, months in advance?

My PhD research looks into how we can provide earlier indications of flood hazard at the global scale. One way of doing this is through seasonal forecasts of high (or low) river flow. Seasonal forecasts are designed to provide an early indication that a given variable, such as temperature, rainfall or even river flow, will

Natural Hazards: Hurricanes, Typhoons & Cyclones

Ever wondered what the difference is between a hurricane, a typhoon and a cyclone? If so, you’re not the only one! And I can answer this one pretty quickly for you: there’s no difference at all! Hurricane, typhoon and cyclone are all different names for the same natural hazard: tropical cyclones. In the Atlantic, they’re

PhD Update: Less than 6 months to go!

So I’ve now been working on my PhD for ~3.5 years – which means only one thing – I have to submit my thesis within the next 6 months! (Well, 5.5 because I’m a little late writing this…) Time is a funny thing; in some ways the past few years have flown by, but when

What is El Niño? (And can it really impact coffee & chocolate prices?)

You may have seen the infamous El Niño mentioned in the headlines as the cause of floods, droughts, fires, storms, expensive coffee & chocolate etc etc. But if El Niño is the cause of all of these different hazards, what actually is El Niño? Psst! Keep reading to see a fantastic cartoon of El Niño and

10 tips & take-homes from the London SciComm Symposium

On Friday, Louise and I went along to our first London SciComm Symposium, having both been more and more involved in various SciComm events recently. Louise co-organised Reading’s Planet Earth Pint of Science events this year, did a stand-up set at Science Showoff in London and has been doing some fantastic SciArt, while I’ve been

Pint of Science 2018 – Flooding: Is it all water under the bridge?

Pint of Science is all about taking science outside of the “lab” (or field, or office!) and bringing researchers into local pubs to present their science to people who wouldn’t normally get to hear about and discuss it. I first heard about Pint of Science last year through twitter and was keen to get involved

My experience at EGU 2018: chairing a session & presenting a PICO

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) has one of the largest scientific conferences in the world, held every year in Vienna. Last week, 15,075 scientists from 106 different countries made their way to the Austria Center for more than 17,000 talks, posters and PICO presentations over 666 sessions. I’ve previously seen the Austria Centre likened to

Storm Chasing & the Science of Tornadoes

Six years ago, I was studying at Oklahoma University in the USA – for my undergrad year abroad. I’d been excited about living and studying in Oklahoma because classes at the OU School of Meteorology took place in the National Weather Centre in Norman, and also because Oklahoma is in the heart of tornado alley. I’ve always been fascinated by storms (more on that another time), and I was really hoping to have the chance to see some supercells or even tornadoes – and tornado alley did not disappoint!