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Millie

Millie

I am a PhD student, researching Submarine Mega Landslides and their connection to climate change, with a specific focus on rapid climate change over the 8.2 event in the North Atlantic. I am currently working on a set of cores from the Eirik Drift, off the South Coast of Greenland, and taking part in the Arctic Landslide Tsunami Project cruise in July 2014 to the Greenland-Norway Basin for 4 weeks, to obtain further cores. I am a former teacher, a graduate of the Open University, and very excited to be facilitating this course!

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We want your links!

Dear MOOCers This weeks activity has been to share your info graphics with us relating the amount of salt in the sea, to another known volume, and we have had some amazing creations, I have particularly enjoyed the "7 Billion Elephants" analogy, and the excellent image relating how much sea water would be needed to obtain Juan Mata's weight in salt! One of the highlights of facilitating on this course has been the interaction between students, facilitators and educators, and a lot of... Continue reading →

Salt

This weeks topic has focussed on how salty the ocean is, and we have had some fantastic responses to the info graphic task. Your efforts to date have all been compiled into a Pinterest Board to make it easy for you to view.  If you would like to add a new info graphic, or even a photo/powerpoint slide you have made, please share the link to our twitter feed (#UoSFLOceans) or a link on the forums, and I will add it to the Pinterest site to make it easier for everyone to see. Continue reading →

The ocean and transport

Dear All We have considered the role of heat and salt in ocean transport, and we have discussed how much water there is, and why it is important for our global climate, in addition to this weeks topic addressing some of the diversity, and size of populations within the ocean. We will soon be taking another direction on the course, looking at how we interact with the deep ocean, and the potential economic benefits of exploiting the mineral wealth held there. Continue reading →

PhD Life: Millie

This week we are sharing a little about life as a PhD student at NOCS, so here is a run down of a typical day for me! Feel free to ask me questions! Most days start with a little reading over some coffee, a large part of the first year involves getting to grips with the science, and getting to know the material. I try to read for a good hour or so before I head into work, then make some notes and follow up on the references. Continue reading →

#UoSmorestars or #UoSmoremicrobes?

  As a starter for this week, we are asking you whether you think there are more stars in the sky, or more microbes under the sea (FutureLearn). According to calculations, the global ocean contains approximately 4.4 x 1028 living microbial cells. (For anyone not familiar with notation such as 1028, 4.4. x 1028 means 44000000000000000000000000000 living microbial cells, or forty-four octillion if you prefer!). Continue reading →

Severn Barrage Vote

Good Evening MOOCers! Our most popular discussion this week has focussed on the proposed tidal barrage for the River Severn. Topical and controversial, this plan has been debated for over 30 years, though its first proposal was in 1849, and at the moment, has stalled. The most recent plan was that proposed by Halfren in 2013, an improved version of their 2010 plans, however the project has never been given the green light, largely due to the environmental impact. Continue reading →

Oceans Movies!

As we approach the end of Week 2, and the weather has been so awful this week, I thought you might appreciate a list of ocean based movies from a selection of PhD students here at NOCS. These are in no particular order, and are a mix of documentaries and fiction. Some are all about the ocean, some focus on natural disasters, and some focus on the significant threats to the ecosystem from human activity. Continue reading →

Freshwater Injections

Hello MOOCers! It has been a very interesting week 2 on the MOOC, and we have seen a lot of debate about tidal power, and how structures like the Severn Barrage would affect the estuary and wildlife, versus the potential "green power" benefits. It has also been quite a different week with the content, a little bit of maths, congratulations to everyone who gave it a go, and don't forget you can download the PDF with the answers from FutureLearn. Continue reading →

Where are you studying?

Good Evening MOOCers! I hope you are looking forward to next week, it will be different to last week, but hopefully with the same great level of discussion as we had last week. Next week is all about circulation, tides and the effect of the earth spinning. As before, each of the facilitators will be online for around an hour a day to help guide you through the content, and answer any queries you might have. Continue reading →