Grants to Support Knowledge Exchange - Eleanor Bower

Eleanor Bower, 2024 Grant to Support Knowledge Exchange recipient shares her experience on the process.

With many thanks to IOM3 and the Grant to Support Knowledge Exchange, myself and two fellow students from the University of St Andrews were able to travel to Arzon in the Morbihan region of Southern Brittany, France, to study the migmatite core complex there.

This trip was meaningful to us as the fieldwork we conducted in the area will allow us to complete our BSc Geology dissertations. Receiving this grant allowed us to fund accommodation, which for three weeks of field work was a massive expense for us. It also covered the cost of public transport to areas of interest further from our campsite enabling us to view the geology of the area in a wider context. The rocks we studied in Arzon were complex yet fascinating, with a mixture of intricately folded migmatites and gneisses, intruded by granites and pegmatites. We also observed some interesting and variable mineralogy within the migmatites, and we are excited to begin thin sectioning our samples to examine this in more detail.

Without the support of IOM3 this trip would not have been possible, and we would encourage any other students looking to complete field work further afield to apply for this grant.