During summer ’22, when I was supposed to be doing my master’s fieldwork, I ended up in Nevada on an early-stage gold exploration project. Granted, the weather out there was a little different to Munster, but it sparked my interest in mineral exploration and reminded me of my love of working outside. My Geology MGeol at Leicester University was again interrupted by my interview with Aurum, on the morning before my final presentation!
Successful in joining the team, I spent my first 8 months with Aurum as a field geologist trying to find soil everywhere, from the bone-dry Burren to the Rock of Cashel. I took samples on both sides of the Shannon, in the sun, in the snow, and at the top of the Galtees.
Working on the Tellus project as a field geologist, your day revolves, simply put, around taking soil samples in grids of 4 km2, trying to avoid as many forms of contamination as possible and following the established sampling methodologies. The hiking days are the best, where the grids have no roads and it’s just the two of you in amongst the mountains. Even when the weather is bad, the views framed by short breaks in the clouds can be all it takes to make all with wind and rain worth enduring.
As the project restarted after the winter break, in 2024 I was promoted to the field team leader role, where within 6 weeks we delivered the urban leg of the sampling program ahead of schedule, despite illnesses and jury duty doing their best to stop us.
No two days are the same, and my responsibilities range from hand delivering samples to the client, to planning hiking routes over the toughest terrain in Ireland. Alongside all the miscellaneous responsibilities of being the most senior member on site, I also undertake digital and physical QAQC checks on the samples in storage units of all shapes and sizes, ranging from barns, to shipping containers, horse boxes to disused golf club changing rooms! Alongside all this, way too much of my time is consumed setting up field based offices in hotel rooms and AirBnBs. I still get to spend plenty of time in the field, covering absences (planned and unplanned!).
The best thing about a job like this goes beyond the work itself – the connections you make and people you meet top any view. The close bonds built between the sampling team, created by working in such constant varied locations, away from home and in remote and constantly changing circumstances. Staying in places you wouldn’t traditionally go as a tourist creates some great stories, and interesting conversations with the locals! Its been a great experience being apart of the milestone moment closing out the Tellus national soils geochemical programme in Ireland.
