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Our past events

Virtual Girls into Geoscience: June 2020

Dublin: UCD Nov 2019

Galway: NUIG Nov 2018

Cork: UCC March 2018

Virtual Girls into Geoscience June 2020

The unprecedented situation this year called for an unprecedented event! The teams behind Girls into Geoscience England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales all got together to create a virtual event that was open to anyone from around the world! This time, the virtual resources were made available to watch and review during the weekend before the event day, with the event day of talks, workshops and panel discussions running the following Monday. It was great to be able to engage with over 260 people in a completely safe, but still just as exciting and engaging way! It just goes to show what can be achieved when we work together! A blog post covering questions asked in the panel discussions is available on the Girls into Geoscience UK website. If you're interested, you can find it here.

Dublin - November 2019

Girls into Geoscience Ireland - headed to the capital for 2019 for it's third event, this time including the chance to go on a university style field trip! The whole event took place over two weekends, the first was the field trip. Attendees were taken to Loughshinney, a site of geological excellence in North Dublin. Here, they were treated to a field trip led by experts in the local geology along with a fantastic (free) lunch on the beach. The field trip went down so well that field trips will become a feature of future events!

The event day was just as exciting, if a little more sheltered from the Irish weather! It was centred around the theme of 'Climate Change' and the talks and workshops reflected this, particularly highlighting the role that geoscience plays in securing a sustainable future for our planet. One participants said "I wasn't aware of how many careers in mining/mineral exploration are focused on renewables/green energy as opposed to oil and gas". The event day was rounded up with a hugely enjoyable workshop which tasked participants to think like forensic geologists (an actual career!) to catch the killer(s) of UCD's Earth Sciences head of school! We were all a little surprised with who the culprits turned out to be... We're looking forward to seeing some of you in the future, perhaps studying geoscience at university and wish all our participants the best in their future careers!

A quick note from summer 2020: We will be unable to hold this year's Girls into Geoscience event in November, but will be looking to run an event in the future. As yet, we're unsure what form any future events will take. No matter what, please be assured that this will be conducted safely and responsibly whether online or in person and will follow the current guidelines as dictated by the government.

Galway - November 2018

Girls into Geoscience - Ireland returned to NUI Galway on November 10th for the second running of the event which aims to introduce female secondary school and early stage university students to geoscience.

With a jam packed line-up of inspiring speakers including Jeromine Schmidt of NUIG, Rebecca Bradford of the GSI and Dr Maeve Boland of UCD, interactive workshops on marine geoscience and understanding the underground, and one-to-one chats the day was a great mixture of science and speeddating.

Co-organiser Dr Aoife Blowick of iCRAG, NUIG and the IAWG said, “It was wonderful to meet so many young people who were interested in exploring geoscience, it’s importance in society and what careers it has to offer. This free event is so important because it’s gives the next generation of potential geoscientists the chance to discover what they can do and how they can shape the world. Such a great turn out shows how as an annual event in the national calendar for schools, this event can really help to expose young minds to the endless possibilities geoscience offers.”

Dr Fergus McAuliffe, co-organiser and Public Engagement Manager at iCRAG, said: “Girls into Geoscience - Ireland is about showcasing the vast array of careers in geosciences that are waiting to be discovered. Attendees got the chance to meet professional female geoscientists, hear their amazing career journeys that have taken them around the world (inculding to the US Senate), and also to try their hand at finding aquifers, creating convection currents and creating their own microclimate high in carbon dioxide. On behalf of Girls into Geoscience – Ireland we are delighted that the event has been so well attended and we hope to see some of today’s attendees in our first year university lectures in the next few years!”

Girls into Geoscience - Ireland was a collaboration between Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOS), NUI Galway, Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences (iCRAG), Irish Association for Women in Geosciences (IAWG) and the Geological Survey Ireland (GSI).

Cork- March 2018

Co-organised by iCRAG, UCC School of BEES, the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Irish Association for Women in Geosciences.

The inaugural Girls into Geoscience – Ireland event took place last Saturday March 10th at the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science in University College Cork. The exciting one day event was specifically designed to introduce female school (Senior Cycle) and university students to Earth Sciences and demonstrate the world of careers open to geoscience graduates today.

At the event, attendees heard from a variety of speakers including Marie Fleming, associate engineer at Arup, Dr Siobhan Power of the Geological Survey Ireland, Dr Anthea Lacchia of iCRAG at University College Dublin and Dr Una Farrell of the School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin. The speakers covered their career paths to date and gave excellent insights into the day to day activities of professional geoscientists. A highly successful “speeddating” session was held in association with the Irish Association for Women in Geosciences. Two hands-on, interactive workshops also took place: the first on fossil and mineral identification led by Dr Maria McNamara of the UCC School of BEES and Girls into Geoscience – Ireland co-organiser, and the second on the use of Geographical Information Systems for examining geoscience data led by Dr Fiona Cawkwell of the UCC School of Geography.

Speaking at the event Dr Fergus McAuliffe, co-organiser and Public Engagement Manager at iCRAG, said: “Today’s event was about showcasing the vast array of careers in geosciences that are waiting to be discovered. Attendees got the chance to meet professional female geoscientists, hear their amazing career journeys that have taken them around the world, and also to try their hand at mineral identification, fossil examination and Geographical Information Systems. On behalf of Girls into Geoscience – Ireland we are delighted that the event has been so well attended and we hope to see some of today’s attendees in our first year university lectures in the next few years!”

Co-organiser Dr Maria McNamara added “It was very exciting and inspiring to see so many young women who are passionate about geosciences and it was great fun to share experiences with them. It is so important to have informal opportunities like this to pass on our knowledge and experience to the younger generation, and this is really setting a precedent for making this a regular event in the national calendar for geoscience and school.”