Environmental issues are finally at the top of the political agenda – and about time! At the Henley College we have always been proud of our Earth Sciences, which have received support from Steve Backshall and Sir Michael Palin. We are delighted to announce that Professor Richard Fortey has cheerfully agreed to support our A level geology course.
Professor Richard Fortey, who lives in Henley, is arguably the country’s best-known palaeontologist. President of the Geological Society of London for two years (including its bicentenary year), a highly regarded writer of popular science with many books to his name and a presenter of science programmes for the BBC, Professor Fortey immediately agreed to help promote the course and to lecture to students.
Professor Fortey said: “Geology is not just about exploiting the earth’s resources. An understanding of Earth’s evolution underpins our respect for all natural systems. Geology provides the ‘unconscious mind’ of our planet, responsible for the way animals and plants adapted to their environments, the shape of the continents, the long term oscillations in climate, and the driving force behind the inexorable movements of the tectonic plates. The geological timescale is the one the really matters, putting the human usage of our Earth’s resources into a proper perspective. At a practical level an understanding of geology helps our appreciation of landscape and the countryside. Compared with almost all other sciences it is transformative: it provides a different way of looking at the world.”
Henley’s A level geology course has consistently been amongst the best performing in England and Wales and is the only state-funded course in the county. Geology is not, however, a subject widely understood – it’s definitely not the study of dusty rock samples, nor is it a science whose aim is to strip the world of its natural resources. Geologists are at the forefront of environmental science, finding groundwater in the developing world and promoting sustainable, zero-impact methods of mineral extraction. Space exploration programmes have large teams of geologists; it will not be long before ‘earth science departments’ are renamed ‘planetary science departments’. The work of geophysicists and seismologists help predict earthquakes and eruptions. Whilst geology graduates are in great demand, and amongst the highest paid, the joy of geology, for many, is discovering the story behind a rock formation or a fossil; one just has to watch Prof. Sanjeev Gupta of Imperial College talking about Martian mudstones to know that.
Tom Hubbard is a former Henley geology student and is now in his second year at Imperial College, whose geology degree is ranked best in the UK by the Times Good University Guide 2019. He said “being a geologist is a little like being a detective. Geology is not always an exact science – one has masses of data, some of it collected in the field and some in the lab. A good proportion of this data is open to different interpretations. Mapping is my favourite area of study – you get to see the world! I now realise just how much of the detail on geological maps is rational guesswork. It is enormous fun. Geology is the dodgy pub where geography, physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, maths and Sherlock Holmes meet”.
Geology is a natural partner for all the sciences, but it also sits well with a wide range of other subjects, including geography, environmental science and even economics. It is the subject for a science nerd or the scientifically inclined generalist.
For more information on our geology A level please contact Marco Azevedo on maze@henleycol.ac.uk or click here to download course information.
