science - Through the sandglass

art climate_change environment geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel

“at the avant-garde of solar”

On my 2013 Moroccan trip, we drove through the town of Ouazazate, “the door of the desert” and an old trading outpost that grew under French colonial rule as a...

October 1, 2015 4 min read

art climate_change environment geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel

October 2015

Musings and news on the extraordinary stories sand has to tell of our planet and daily lives

October 1, 2015 4 min read

art geology photography sand science travel

Unearthly dunes

Once in a while I enjoy losing myself in the wonders of Martian landscapes. Words just don’t seem necessary for this selection from the latest HiRISE images. [A...

September 1, 2015 1 min read

art books climate_change coastal education environment history photography sand science wildlife

Behold, Cataglyphis bombycina is an hairy ant

In writing The Desert book, I became acutely aware that, as a humble geologist, my knowledge has profound limitations. I am not a biologist, botanist, ecologist...

August 1, 2015 8 min read

art books climate_change coastal geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel

The Missing Sink: Carbon storage in the world’s deserts

Deep-rooted and completely erroneous preconceptions of our planet’s arid lands as sterile bit-players in the great game of the earth’s dynamic systems have long...

August 1, 2015 4 min read

art books climate_change coastal education environment history photography sand science wildlife

August 2015

Musings and news on the extraordinary stories sand has to tell of our planet and daily lives

August 1, 2015 8 min read

art books coastal education environment history photography sand science travel

A terrible beauty

Images of art and science can be visually stunning at first glance, and then emotionally stunning when the viewer becomes aware of what is depicted. Think micro...

July 1, 2015 4 min read

art books coastal education environment history photography sand science travel

July 2015

Musings and news on the extraordinary stories sand has to tell of our planet and daily lives

July 1, 2015 3 min read

art books climate_change education environment history photography rivers_water sand science

Our arid planet

Yet again, thank you NASA. As announced last month, their latest extraordinary earth-monitoring system is in orbit, commissioned and providing data: SMAP, the S...

June 1, 2015 4 min read

art books climate_change coastal education environment geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel wildlife

Excrementary, my dear Watson

Where does sand come from? A simple question, not always easily answered, and certainly not in some isolated tropical island environments. The Maldives Archipel...

May 1, 2015 4 min read

art books climate_change coastal education environment geology geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel wildlife

May 2015

Musings and news on the extraordinary stories sand has to tell of our planet and daily lives

May 1, 2015 4 min read

art books climate_change coastal education geomorphology history photography rivers_water sand science travel

New book review by Andrew Goudie

Well, sometimes you just have to throw modesty to the dusty winds and shamelessly take on a little self-promotion. The desert book was just reviewed for The Geo...

April 1, 2015 4 min read