Blog: Geology projects trainee

by Jake Morton 

In the summer of 2018 I joined the North Pennines team as a Geology Projects Trainee. The aim of this traineeship was to experience working in geoheritage interpretation and education in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and UNESCO Global Geopark, and it has been quite a year. Mine was the first of three year-long graduate internships as part of the North Pennines ‘Earthworks’ project. I joined close to the beginning of the project and have worked with schoolchildren, volunteers, businesses, scientists, artists, writers, designers and families on a range of events and interpretation.

Together with training from the Geopark’s experienced staff, I had the opportunity to take a lead on several aspects of the project. These included developing activities for events, designing interpretation boards and managing communications with a group of new ‘geo-guide’ volunteers. Another of my tasks was to create a series of five new self-guided geological trail leaflets, encouraging visitors to explore some of our special geological features and mining relics. This was a great chance to engage with local experts, particularly those in our Geopark Advisory Group, and to learn a lot about the challenges of maintaining scientific integrity when producing materials for the public.

Contributing to our 2019 EGN Week events programme was a particular highlight. Over the week we delivered a number of events for families at our Bowlees Visitor Centre, including the creation of a geological map of the Geopark using pebbles. Members of the public were invited to come along and place rocks into a piece of artwork that will be visible for years to come. We also led a guided walk and produced a temporary trail for families to follow.

Another highlight has been engaging with staff from other Geoparks and aspiring Geoparks when I attended the UK UNESCO Global Geoparks Forum annual meeting in the North West Highlands in May 2019.

A geology degree is a ticket to many exciting careers, but when I graduated from university I didn’t really know where I wanted that ticket to take me. For a geoscience graduate with a love of Earth history, neither academia nor industry seemed to offer much of an opportunity to really share that passion with others. My time in the North Pennines has provided me with an excellent range of transferable skills, which I hope will lead to further employment in geoheritage in the future.

The traineeship, along with the Earthworks project, is funded by the UK’s National Lottery Heritage Fund and the INTERREG Atlantic Area programme of the European Regional Development Fund.