School of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews

28/08/2026

💙🌍 A lovely feature on St Andrews alumni Patrick and Anne Foster, who have generously supported Earth Sciences for many years!

From supporting fieldwork 🥾⛰️ to enhancing our teaching 🔬, their generosity has made a real difference to generations of our students.

A huge thank you to Patrick and Anne! 👏💙

Read more about their St Andrews story and why they give 👇
https://alumni.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/2026/07/28/why-we-give-patrick-and-anne-foster/

24/08/2026

🌋🎙️ Missed it at the weekend? You can still catch up!

Our very own Dr Will Hutchison features on BBC Radio 4’s Rare Earth, talking all things volcanoes 🌋 — including some of the fantastic research happening here at St Andrews.

An eclectic mix of volcanoes from scientific, artistic and environmental perspectives 🧑‍🔬🎨🌍

🎧 Listen now on BBC Sounds: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0030cgv

Enjoy! 🌋🔥

Helen Czerski and Tom Heap investigate the environmental impact of volcanoes.

29/07/2026

Our 2026 Geology Field Camp in Scotland wrapped up a few weeks ago! Here are some of our favourite moments from across the field camp. A huge thank you to all of our staff and students for making it such a fun and memorable five weeks! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🌍

Keep an eye out for details of our 2027 Field Camp coming soon!

15/07/2026

🎉 Fantastic news from SEES! 🎉

A huge congratulations to our colleagues on their well-deserved promotions in the 2026 promotion round! 👏

🎓 Eva – Professor
🎓 Sami – Professor
📚 Nick – Reader
🔬 Tim – Senior Research Fellow

A fantastic achievement—well done to you all! 🌟🥳

13/07/2026

🚀✨ Tune in to BBC Four’s The Sky at Night tonight! 🌌

We're excited to see Dr Claire Cousins talking about how the rocks at North Berwick 🪨 are helping scientists search for signs of life on Mars! 🔴🧬

The programme also features SEES alumnus Dr Mark Fox-Powell, who'll be sharing his fascinating research on icy moons at The Open University.🧊🌕

Don't miss this brilliant showcase of planetary science! 📺🔭

13/07/2026

🌍✨ The School of Earth & Environmental Sciences was delighted to host the Land–Climate Workshop from 14–19 June, led by Dr Mike Byrne and colleagues.

Bringing together researchers for around 40 talks and posters, the workshop showcased exciting new research on 🌲 wildfires, 💧 drought and freshwater availability, 🌧️ monsoons, ⛈️ extreme weather, and much more.

It was an inspiring week of collaboration and new ideas on some of the world's most pressing climate challenges.👏 A huge congratulations and thank you to Dr Mike Byrne, Gabi Hegerl and Jack Scheff for organising such a fantastic event! 🎉

30/06/2026

🌍🪨 Dr Catherine Rose recently led the 2026 Geological Society of America's Thompson Field Forum in Namibia, alongside collaborators from Johns Hopkins University🤝, bringing together an international group of geoscientists to investigate one of Earth's most significant geological boundaries.

🎉 The field trip celebrated the completion of the GRIND drilling programme through the Ediacaran–Cambrian transition, a major milestone in understanding this pivotal chapter in Earth's history.

⛰️ The team explored the spectacular rocks of the Nama Basin, examining the newly defined Swartkloofberg Formation and world-renowned fossil localities preserving the final stages of Ediacaran life, while debating where the Ediacaran–Cambrian boundary lies and how to interpret the trace fossils found there.

📍The forum included a conference portion at the University of Namibia (UNAM), where researchers shared the latest discoveries from the Nama Basin and beyond.

25/06/2026

A bit belated but huge congratulations to Celeste on passing her viva! 🎉

She's now officially an expert in micro-scale analyses and a certified volcano detective-hunter 🌋🔬. A fantastic achievement and the result of years of hard work.

Well done, Dr Smith, and best wishes for the exciting adventures ahead!

24/06/2026

Huge congratulations to Dr Anna Szreter on successfully defending her PhD at the University of Oslo! 🎉

Anna’s research, “The Power of Imperfections: The Sources of Colour and Luminescence in Natural Cryolite from Ivittuut (SW Greenland),” culminated in an impressive defence. We look forward to celebrating again when she graduates with the University of St Andrews on 3 July.

Well done, Dr. Szreter! 👏🎓

10/06/2026

Huge congratulations to Dr Megan Pelly, who has just successfully defended her PhD thesis! Her PhD employed modelling and palaeo proxies to understand past carbon cycling.

Big thanks to Eva Stueeken and Malin Odalen for examining, and the team behind an excellent cake and celebratory spread! 🎉