The Borealis Society Upcoming Lectures
The Borealis Society have two upcoming lectures in the Autumn term that we are delighted to invite current pupils, parents, and alumnae to attend. These prestigious events will be held in the School Hall in September, and November and will recap the previous successful expedition to Iceland, as well as introducing the 2024 planned expedition and guest speakers.
The first event in the Borealis Inaugural Winter Lecture series will be held by Dr Anna Bidgood, a qualified mountain leader and a professional geologist. The lecture is entitled ‘A Geological Journey’ and will see Anna talk about the stimuli and opportunities that have fuelled her journey from being a schoolgirl, through studying at university to becoming a professional geologist. This journey will feature many expeditions and field trips to Iceland, Greenland, Norway, remote British Columbia, the Peruvian Andes and the Indian Himalaya. In September 2022, she will be recently returned from a geological expedition to North Greenland and, shortly after the lecture date, will be departing to Zambia for more geological fieldwork.
Her presentation is aimed specifically at College and Year 10 and 11 pupils, but younger pupils are very welcome to attend, as are teaching and support staff, parents and friends. Anna has been heavily involved in University Outreach programmes and is passionate about encouraging teenagers, especially girls, to widen their horizons and to take every opportunity that arises in seeking to foster their future lives and careers. She is also part of a national initiative to promote inclusion and diversity in general and with particular relevance to encouraging girls to seek careers in the Pure and Applied Sciences.
Mount School Borealis Expedition to East Greenland in 2024
The evening of the 16th of September will conclude with the official launch of the second Mount School Borealis Expedition (following on from the successful first expedition to North Iceland in 2022), to East Greenland in 2024.
Participants must be in College at the time of going on the expedition and so the present Year 11 and College I pupils (for the academic year 2022-23) are eligible to apply to join the expedition training group.
Information and application forms relating to this incredibly exciting opportunity will be available on the evening of the 16th following Dr Anna Bidgood’s lecture. There are 12-15 places only available on The Mount School Borealis East Greenland Expedition 2024 so early registration of interest is advised.
The next lecture in this programme will be on Friday 25th November and will be delivered by the College girls who took part in the Borealis Society expedition in July to North-west Iceland in which they will give an account of their experiences on the expedition. Further details will be sent out in due course.
All Borealis Society Winter Lectures are very much open to parental attendance and The Mount School would warmly like to encourage and welcome parents and friends/family who would like to attend.
Borealis Winter Lecture Series Event Timeline:
- Friday 16 September 2022 7pm – 8pm
Dr Anna Bidgood, post-doctoral researcher in UCD funded by iCRAG.
Anna has a 1st class degree (MEarthSci) and a DPhil in Earth Sciences both from The University of Oxford and currently works at the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geoscience (iCRAG) based at University College in Dublin. In December 2022, Anna will be moving to the Carnegie Institute for Science in Washington to continue her research as a recipient of a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship.
- Friday 25 November 2022 6pm – 7pm
The Borealis Society Expedition Report
Attendees of the Borealis Expedition to Iceland, including College pupils and Alumnae, will be discussing their experiences and the impact of this opportunity.