Early Career Geologist Award
Overview
The Early Career Geologist Award is an annual competition that is designed to showcase the talent and skills of individuals who are still in the early stages of their respective geoscientific careers. The event consists of preliminary heats, which are run by the Society's various Regional Groups, with the winners subsequently being invited to participate in the National Finals.
Participants are asked to prepare and deliver a concise technical presentation about a project that they have worked on to a panel of expert judges, with points being awarded not only for the quality of geological content but also the individual's communication skills in making accessible the science being presented to a wider audience.
The winner of the National Competition is then crowned as the Geological Society's Early Career Geologist of the Year and presented with a modest financial reward and geological trophy!
Early Career Geologist Award - 2024
The Early Career Award returned this year with the National Finals occurring on 23 May 2024. Regional Groups were invited to host their preliminary heats before the end of Q1, with the winners competing at Burlington House.
A huge congratulations to our finalists, who gave some incredible talks ranging from slope stability, deepwater channel migration, PFAS presence in UK waterbodies, legacy coal mining, building a 3D geological model via integration of new data sets, and salt dissolution hazards in Worcestershire.
The judges were truly impressed with both the range of topics covered and the standard of research and presentation, even noting that they couldn't believe the presenters were all early career! A congratulations to our winner Harry Wild from the Western Regional Group and his great presentation titled ‘A Brief History of Salt Dissolution Hazards in Worcestershire’. Harry takes home the unique EC Geo Award trophy and a £100 voucher. All finalists automatically win a 1-year free fellowship with the GSL.
Thanks again to all those that took part, attended (both in-person and virtually), our fantastic judges, our sponsors Arcadis, and The Geological Society team at Burlington House for helping to deliver such a fantastic event.
Looking forward to next year, if you have any questions about the event, we invite you to reach out to the committee via email. Otherwise, we encourage anyone interested in participating to do so and are very much looking forward to another exciting showcase of early career talent!
