Helen Bone– Chartered Geologist
As an alumna of Royal Holloway, it is always enjoyable to go back and support the latest group of MSc students when they present their end of course projects. Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the event for the 2024 cohort.
Two things immediately stood out at the event. Firstly, the increase in students this year compared to 2023. Geoscience numbers are going down across the board in universities and, while the numbers were still significantly lower than when I was studying, there were over double those of last year, which was fantastic to see. Hopefully the message is getting through that we need geoscientists in a wide range of disciplines and that we cannot allow these courses to die out.
Secondly was the range of different energy systems covered by the students project work. Topics ranged from CCS, geothermal and hydrocarbons to lithium extraction and cable routing for offshore wind. Quite a challenge for the geoscientists coming through to cover such a wide range of potential career pathways in the energy sector!
As always, the students had obviously put a lot of work into their projects and presentations and should all be commended for their efforts.
Best of luck to all those graduating this year from Royal Holloway (and other institutions), who will be looking for roles to start their career. We very much need to see new graduates entering the energy industry to support the future, whichever pathway it takes.
