Hi - about me
I have initiated this newsletter to share aspects of the totality of what I do, which includes teacher trainer, geoscience communicator, outdoor guy and business owner. Interested? Welcome aboard!
I was born and educated in the UK. I gained a geology degree from Sheffield University, whilst also developing a passion for mountaineering and rock climbing. In 1994 I moved to New Zealand with my family and took up a teaching position in a Waldorf high school. I was involved in teaching earth and biological sciences, along with lots of outdoor education, curriculum development, assessment practices and teacher training.
In 2004, I was awarded a one-year Royal Society of New Zealand Teacher Sabbatical Fellowship to participate in glacier and climate research along with scientists at Victoria University of Wellington, GNS Science New Zealand, and the Paul Scherer Institute in Switzerland. This was an opening that changed my life direction.
From that point I started to work increasingly with geoscientists, assisting with glacier research, mountain safety, logistics and educational outreach.
In 2006 I spent 10 weeks in Antarctica as an outreach educator for the ANDRILL drilling programme. This impressive research project retrieved sediment cores down to about 1300m below the sea floor under the Ross Ice Shelf. The project revealed lots of information about how fluctuations in the climate have impacted ice advance and retreat of the Ross Ice Shelf and West Antartica over the last few million years.
In 2008 I fully transitioned out of school teaching and began working full time for GNS Science, (New Zealand’s government geoscience research institute) as an education and public outreach specialist, translating science research into publicly accessible content and educational activities. I got involved with lots of projects, started the GNS YouTube channel, built websites (like the award winning GeoTrips website) talked to thousands of schools students and teachers, ran field trips, workshops and a variety of Geocamps, wrote blogs, worked with museums, presented on several TV documentaries, and did quite a bit on social media too.
In a nutshell it was a super exciting dream job that took me all over New Zealand and also to parts of SE Asia.
In 2019 I was the recipient of the science communicator’s award from the Science Communicators Association of New Zealand for the creation of GeoTrips, a public guide to geological field localities in New Zealand.
In 2018 -19 the culture of GNS moved away from educational outreach and it was time to leave the institute that had been so good to me, and work for myself. This sounds simple, but going freelance after years of being in a secure paid job is quite a bit shift in mindset that I will talk about in future posts.
So early 2020 I set up my own science communication and education consultancy ‘Out There Learning Ltd’, working with a range of schools and research institutions.
In essence I work as a professional development (PLD) consultant for schools to help develop their outdoor learning programmes, and as an outreach communicator for scientists who want to share their research to the public. I also offer online courses in science communication and have my own Out There Learning YouTube Channel.
Having transitioned way from being an employee and setting up my own company, I have had to discover the massive significance of attitude and mindset when running your own business. So in this newsletter I will be sharing bits and pieces of me and my work. What I am doing, where I am, what I am thinking about, including some of my personal reflections on things that interest me.
If you enjoy the content I would really love to read your feedback and your own thoughts on the various topics in my posts.
See you soon
Julian