Just bumped into an English speaking woman in town so had a chat. She’s in town enjoying the fiesta while students from a UK Uni are in the hills as part of their geology trip.

She told me she’s the “Mental Health” advisor (or professional ) can’t remember exactly which. But she said it as if it was the most usual thing in the world. Is it??

Lol, where to begin: I went on a geology field trip to the Isle of Skye, earlier this year and one of the students, a middle-aged woman who suffered from MS, kicked off: so much so, that she has now been kicked out of the University. Personally, I don’t think she should have been allowed to go at all, due to the physical nature of the days and the fact that she sometimes turned up to class on a mobility scooter.

Before that, we have another student, around 19, who is autistic: he would get shouty and violent in class when a problem required some creative thinking. It was decided he wouldn’t be allowed on the field trip as it was too dangerous, for himself and others, as we would be working in remote places, in poor weather conditions.

There were also a few other students that could probably have done with some kind of guidance that normal teachers just don’t have the expertise to provide. They are scientists, not psychiatrists.

I doubt this is specific to Geology, and likely to be a standard procedure for any field trip for that institution.

Geologists, contrary to the received wisdom that geology/geologists are boring, are nuts*. Having spent the weekend at Tidy earlier this year with a few I’m not sure whether its the geologists or those they meet who need the mental health professional 😉

*and by nuts I mean absolutely brilliant people who have a seemingly infinite interest in the natural world, beer and hard house

Sounds like a Ball Mikey! 🙂

It was awesome spekkie: I made sure I worked with the sensible ones.

To be fair, the vast majority were fine, and a good laugh.

We have a couple of American Geology professors living in our village apparently. I’ve not met them. Apparently the valleys near Boltana are among the best in the world for geology. They certainly look spectacular.

middle of knowhere for 2 weeks.

hungover.

probably slept with most of the other geologists (they’re a bit like that)

yeah, I think councelling would be a great thing.

and yes, speaking from experience of 2 weeks geology/environmental earth science trip in Sorbas…..I’m scarred.

spekkie – Member

We have a couple of American Geology professors living in our village apparently. I’ve not met them. Apparently the valleys near Boltana are among the best in the world for geology. They certainly look spectacular.

I spent 3 weeks in Boltana back in 1977 as field mapping assistant to my father (Professor of Geology @ Bristol University) and I can confirm it has some of the most stunning outcrops of geological formations unhindered by “Confounded Vegetation” if I ever get the chance you might be getting a call from me when I visit the area after 40 years!!

He was also overseeing 5 students staying in various locations between Jaca & Boltana & I can confirm they were mostly batshit mental but great fun to a 12 year old lad.

That would be cool MrO!

They’ve got rocks in their heads.

Is it possible that she was just making up the staffing ratio

Like when we send a science technician away with a history trip

Personally, I don’t think she should have been allowed to go at all, due to the physical nature of the days and the fact that she sometimes turned up to class on a mobility scooter.

WTAF – MS doesn’t mean you can’t go on a field trip. Some people with MS, will (sometimes) be unable to do some physical activities. Proper planning would identify the challenges that need overcome and possible adjustments to achieve that. A half decent bunch of people with her would have worked together to solve the issue “as a team” – Fieldwork is not all about learning the rocks.

She told me she’s the “Mental Health” advisor (or professional ) can’t remember exactly which. But she said it as if it was the most usual thing in the world. Is it??

I’d think it is unusual for a university to send a MH professional on a geology field trip. Perhaps there is someone on the trip who requires particular support but I’d think its more likely that she is the partner of one of the staff piggy backing on his holiday. Or perhaps it was humour because she spends most of the time dealing with psychology of students on field trips rather than teaching rocks?

@lovewookie – geologist friend has a T-shirt with “geologists make the bed rock”

[…]received wisdom that geology/geologists are boring[…]

I thought this was going to be the old Yellow Pages gag about another profession – “Boring – see Civil Engineers“.

@ poly

I’ll explain it to you sometime, when I’m not relying on my phone typing skills.

Hmm – we only ever went to Scotland, and no mental health professional so we had to make do with booze. But it did teach us to do observational science while standing in a puddle.

@lovewookie – geologist friend has a T-shirt with “geologists make the bed rock”

I remember seeing a T with lots of rounded pebbles on it, saying ‘well sorted’.
liked that one, think it may have been one from Royal School of Mines..

geologist friend has a T-shirt with “geologists make the bed rock

😆

As a Geology student in a past life, our field trips were carefully arranged to disallow any kind of social activity at all.

February on the Isle of Skye, 10 to a six person static caravan, trench foot and mould in any skin folds…

Various other trips, all accommodation carefully booked to be just too far to walk to the local pub.

I took up running again when I was a Geology student so I could get to the local pub to watch the faces of the lecturers as I strolled in as they were all sitting down to a session thinking we were 3 miles away.

****s.

During the last geology trip I went on to the Isle of Arran (a-levels), I had an icepick buried an inch into a concrete wall about 6 inches from my head.

Geologists need mental health professionals…..

@poly

The issue was that we were spending 6-7 hours a day, walking around on rough, uneven ground, often in bogs that were above ankle-deep, clambering up and down steep gradients, walking many km per day, sometimes near cliff edges. I don’t care what anyone says: If you can’t turn up to a classroom without the physical assistance of either a cane or a mobility scooter, there is no way you would be able to, safely, negotiate the terrain we were traversing.

The whole point of the course was to train people to be able to carry out tasks that will be of use to future employers, whether they be commercial or academic in nature: If a person is not physically able to do those tasks, then it would be irresponsible to send them out into the market with a qualification that says they are able. It would delude the student and deceive potential employers.

Ultimately, we all have physical limitations and have to accept them and move on.

Moving on: Come to think of it, we also had a girl on the course who had learning difficulties and she had a teaching assistant, from a local university, who was trained in helping such people, assigned specifically to her, so perhaps that’s what the person you were talking to was doing there.

Isn’t in in case the poor darlings get homesick?

The whole point of the course was to train people to be able to carry out tasks that will be of use to future employers, whether they be commercial or academic in nature

Interesting point. Almost NO geologists work in the field these days, so being less mobile is not an issue, but my belief is that actually having done field observation and mapping makes you a better geologist so not being physically able to attend that course would be a disadvantage.

Discuss. If you want 🙂

Interesting point. Almost NO geologists work in the field these days, so being less mobile is not an issue, but my belief is that actually having done field observation and mapping makes you a better geologist so not being physically able to attend that course would be a disadvantage.

I take your point. However, if the outcome of the exercise is to teach you to work in the field, then you need to be able to carry out the exercises put in front of you; especially if the final project in the BSc Geology is a mapping one. If you can’t do the mapping project, then you can’t get a BSc Geology, you have to to BSc Earth Science instead.

I agree with you that it helps make you a better geologist.

Nice to see some people agreeing over field geology, many of you that studied geology will probably have used one of my fathers text books.
There is an annual prize given in my fathers name @ Bristol Uni for outstanding work in the field not the classroom.

Iain Stewart was on of his PHD students

Birkbeck, where I am, is very strong on field mapping and observation.

Which text books did your father write?

I saw Iain Stewart give a lecture at the last UCL Festival of Geology. it was excellent.

Tease 🙂

Iain was my BSc project advisor at Plymouth Uni. Top bloke 🙂

MrOvershoot, Current Topics in Structural Geology? Still got it 🙂

Plymouth is also strong on fieldwork and mapping techniques.

I’m doing Structural Geology this coming autumn term, so I’ll have a look for that.

On a side note: I picked up my assessed field note book yesterday: My lecturer wrote in the back “you really need to do the full BSc. Come and see me if you want to chat about this” (I’m doing the Certificate of Higher Ed at the moment) 😯

I am going to wade in with

Because going to Spain to look at rocks is **** mental

@mikey74 – well done. My field report was a pile of crap and the examiners didn’t hesitate to tell me 🙁

My Father was Dr P.L. Hancock
He started the Journal of Structural Geology
The Oxford companion to the Earth
some more here
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/geological-magazine/article/hancockp-l-ed-1994
Plenty more but those in the know will know

Thanks DrJ

@ Overshoot: I’ll keep an eye open, thanks.