Lucy Campbell, Plymouth University, Gordon Research Conference in Rock Deformation
Receiving a TSG Early Career travel bursary supported my attendance of the 2018 Gordon Research Conference in Rock Deformation held in New Hampshire, USA. This conference is small, friendly, and has a fairly unique format, where the main conference is preceded by a two-day ‘research seminar’ aimed specifically at early career researchers, providing a relaxed start where ECRs can present and discuss their work. There is a strong emphasis throughout the conference on presenting ongoing work and feeling comfortable to discuss results that you may not yet understand, so that the research presented here is often very new and exciting.
I presented a talk entitled ‘Seismic strain compatibility within a network of highly localised lower crustal shear zones’ during the ECR seminar and also had a poster up throughout the conference. This work is based on recent fieldwork in Lofoten, Norway, looking at how and where lower crustal earthquakes may nucleate, and how this seismicity relates to the activity of viscous shear zones. I received some valuable feedback on this work through subsequent discussion, which is particularly useful at this time as I begin to write it up for publication. In addition, I had many stimulating discussions throughout the conference ranging from highly specific research questions to much broader concepts in structural geology and rock deformation. A major aspect of this conference which contributes to the open and collaborative atmosphere is the location – held in a in a small village tucked way within the beautiful forests of New Hampshire, accommodation is on-site and you have ample opportunity to open up conversations – whether chatting at dinner, taking part in one of the hiking, kayaking and swimming trips, or enjoying the selection of locally sourced refreshments to end the day. This is certainly one of the best conferences I have attended that makes networking so easy and enjoyable, and as such was a prime location for forming collaborations and discussing potential future projects – so many thanks to TSG for making my attendance possible!
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