Gareth Carter

Gareth completed the MSc Geological and Environmental Hazards and is now a Coastal Scientist/Modeller at a marine consultancy, Intertek Metoc.

I have always had a keen interest in geological hazards, in particular issues relating to slope stability (both onshore and offshore). The course and module descriptions on the University website were very detailed, and appealed to my academic interests. The fact that the course is accredited by the Geological Society was important, as it speaks volumes about the quality and reputation of the course as a whole, and how it is viewed in the professional world. As the long-term goal is to achieve a degree that will open doors into related industrial positions, the online course/module descriptions sounded really relevant to what is required in today’s professional geotechnical world, especially with a view to an involvement with natural hazards mitigation.

The modules covered a wide variety of geological hazards, and support from external sources (e.g. the Environment Agency) was an appealing factor as I viewed this as a chance to discuss the course and its merits with people from relevant industries. Obviously, the fieldwork was a great highlight, with the Cotswolds and Naples being both academically challenging, whilst also a lot of fun! The evening lectures from industrial personnel (e.g. Atkins) were of a great help, as this opens one’s eyes to the opportunities available through this particular MSc course. Personally, my favourite unit was the landslides and slope instability unit, as the coursework was challenging but very interesting, and very relevant for geotechnical careers on a global scale. The coursework was well weighted for this module in particular, with a good portion attributed to fieldwork and the rest made up of a case study of the student's choice and a slope stability modelling paper which was very interesting. Other modules of particular note were Geohazard Management and Remediation where we spoke with Environment Agency personnel about flood management, Numerical Hazard Modelling and Simulation, and Seismology/Volcanology.

The University Library was a useful resource, with a wide range of texts to aid in study. As geological hazards can be a very particular and specific topic, I was pleasantly surprised at the number of books available in the library. In addition, through the library website I was able to access a good range of academic journal articles which were very useful for completing the coursework assignments. The MSc study suite was excellent and really useful. This allowed us to study out-of-hours in a good environment with all the resources we needed to tackle the work. The computers in the suite are well equipped with the required software (e.g. ArcGIS) to produce high standards of reports.

I started work for a marine consultancy (Intertek Metoc) a week after completing the MSc course. I am currently employed as a Coastal Scientist/Modeller, as they were particularly attracted to my CV with regards to the modelling work I had undertaken at Portsmouth. In addition, they were interested in my thesis, which focused on coastal slope stability (both onshore and offshore). I aim to become more involved with the offshore geotechnical department over the coming months, as I am mainly involved in hydrological/hydrodynamic modelling to date. In the long term, I would like to undertake a PhD after gaining a few more years of industrial experience in the marine sector.

Frederick Fishleigh

Frederick completed the MSc Geological and Environmental Hazards and has joined Risk Management Solutions (RMS) as part of their risk response team.

Having gained a Geography BSc at University College London (UCL) I decided to take the MSc Geological and Environmental Hazards at the University of Portsmouth to further pursue my interest in natural hazards and help begin a career in catastrophe modelling. During the course I applied to several jobs with catastrophe modelling companies and have since accepted the role of Catastrophe Response Analyst at RMS (Risk Management Solutions) in London.

The main responsibility of the role is to support RMS’ real-time catastrophe response operations, aimed at providing their clients with up-to-date damage and impact assessments whenever a major hurricane, earthquake, flood or other catastrophic event occurs. A major aspect of the role will be being able to produce written event summaries to tight daily deadlines that appeal to a wide-based readership. The position will also involve providing detailed impact analyses of affected regions, comprising of querying statistical databases of the building stock, producing maps and generating loss estimates using RMS catastrophe models. I believe that experience in quantitative, statistical analysis, GIS, and hazard modelling gained at Portsmouth helped me meet the required skills and ultimately assisted me in getting the job.

More specifically, I found that individual modules prepared me for my chosen career. The unit in Geohazard Data Modelling exposed me to hazard modelling with VBA, helping me to develop knowledge of programming, which is frequently used in industry. Geoscience Risk Analysis provided useful teaching on calculating hazard risk and on the fundamentals of statistics and probability, particularly relevant to catastrophe modelling. The Seismology unit teaches the subject of earthquake events, from their mechanics to potential methods of prediction. As earthquakes are one of the major hazards modelled in the catastrophe modelling industry, this unit was particularly useful. Geohazard Management and Remediation involved designing a development in a flood risk zone and then presenting it to a panel from the Environment Agency. This exposed me to the business and consultation side of risk management which will prove useful in my career. More generally, the course helped with specific software skills. Becoming more proficient with GIS (ESRI ArcGIS) was particularly helpful career-wise, while the frequent use of Excel was also beneficial. Group work is also a feature of the course and the teamwork skills gained are greatly valued by employers. Several modules require you to present your findings to a group and these occasions serve as invaluable practice for job applications and your future career. The course also involves several really enjoyable fieldtrips, the highlight for me being a two-week excursion to Crete and Santorini.

One major advantage of studying at a teaching university like Portsmouth is the continued interest and care that is shown by the staff. I found that the lecturers always made time for me and were always willing to provide advice. This became particularly useful for me when making job applications and proceeding through the various stages of the interview process.

Overall, I can highly recommend the MSc programme at the University of Portsmouth. For someone interested in natural hazards the modules are really stimulating and provide you with valued skills. The lecturers are very approachable which significantly adds to the experience and their help and advice is always forthcoming. For someone looking to enter the catastrophe modelling industry I can only further endorse this course.