Caroline Binns

When I was young, I was very lucky that we got to travel quite a bit as a family. I spent lots of time walking and exploring and just fell in love with the natural world.

The Earth is pretty much the oldest thing you can study. Studying Geography and Geology is like piecing history together to understand where it all began. It’s not just looking at rocks, although I do quite like looking at rocks.

I love studying earthquakes and volcanoes. My favourite part of the course is Earth History, because it covers such a huge period of time, right from the beginning of the solar system. Looking at natural hazards like asteroid impacts, mass extinctions and volcanic eruptions is fascinating.

I’ve been on some great field trips: Tenerife, Scotland, Wales and the Lake District. Fieldwork was interactive and fun. I especially loved the trip to Ullapool: it felt like the defining moment of my degree. We mapped a huge area of difficult terrain in 10 days. Hard work and really intense, but I felt like a different person afterwards.

Last year I spent all summer in the lab, as a Research Assistant to one of the academics, funded by Edge Hill’s Student Opportunity Fund. We looked at lake sediment cores to find evidence of past volcanic eruptions. I couldn’t have been happier – it was so exciting to be part of some genuine research.

Discovering things about yourself is a huge part of being at university. I’ve discovered a level of resilience I didn’t know I had, especially in fieldwork. Even if it’s snowing, you just don’t stop.