Our President and Vice-Chancellor (Interim) Professor Mark Spearing recently visited a number of areas across the National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS) campus, meeting with colleagues in the School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES) and finding out more about the key work they do for our University community.
Mark met with colleagues from a number of teams and services, including: the on-site aquarium; colleagues from the GAU-Radioanalytical Laboratories; the Library; technicians; members of Student and Academic Administration.
“On my visit to SOES I met with very diverse groups of colleagues; ranging from technicians at the start of their careers, having just completed apprenticeships, to others with nearly forty years’ distinguished service,” Mark commented.
“As a school, Ocean and Earth Science covers so many fascinating and important areas, from geology to marine ecology, radiochemistry and many, many more. The passion and pride of our colleagues simply shines through. With so much in the news about the health of the world’s oceans, for example, hearing about the practical solutions, rooted in world-class science, that our researchers are working toward is inspiring.
“The technicians I met with truly exemplify the highest levels of skill and professionalism. It was also brilliant to hear more about their varied journeys toward becoming employees at the University of Southampton, including those who completed apprenticeship schemes with us.
“As well as an excellent opportunity to get to know colleagues a little better, I also came away from my visit to NOCS with an increased knowledge of the challenges of breeding moon jellyfish and molecular identification using mass-spectrometers!”
Did you know:
- Colleagues at our NOCS Radio-Analytical laboratory completed all testing for the recently announced Atomik vodka, the first consumer product to be made in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
- The NOCS Research Aquarium has specialist equipment to help replicate specimens’ natural habitat, including equipment which mimics the lunar cycle and another which creates tidal currents.
- We have three research vessels based at NOCS that are available to staff and students within Ocean and Earth Science. One of these is R.V. Callista, which featured in the August 2019 edition of Staff Matters.
- One of the features the University Library service at NOCS prides itself on is catering for different types of learners through the provision of diverse study spaces, including quiet areas, meeting rooms, a mezzanine level, and more.
