I’m originally from Cornwall and, after having lived away for 10 years, jumped at the opportunity to move back for a Post Doc. During those 10 years away I’ve lived in Cardiff, Wyoming, Brighton and Leicester. The best thing about Cornwall is the variety of landscapes and places across the county, which means you’re never short of new things to see and do.
For my Post Doc I’m working in the Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Technology Metals (Met4Tech), in which I’m investigating how circular economy principals (e.g., designing out waste and pollution, regeneration of natural systems) can be integrated in exploration geomodels and deposit evaluation for metals used in green and renewable technologies.
Picking a favourite mineral is a challenge but the clay mineral kaolinite has to be one of them. Although not the most spectacular in appearance, it is the number of uses for kaolinite that sets it apart. Also, wastes from kaolinite extraction in Cornwall made the iconic ‘Cornish Alps’ and one of the old kaolin pits was repurposed as the site for the Eden Project.
