Doing a Lancaster degree offered a prizewinning student the opportunity to study earthquakes and to experience them first hand
Hannah Watts is fascinated by the physical processes that make up our planet. So when she got the opportunity to study in New Zealand during her Earth Science with Geography degree, she jumped at it.
“New Zealand is the perfect place to study earth sciences, because it has volcanoes and earthquakes” said Hannah, who won the prize for being the top undergraduate science student graduating from the Lancaster Environment Centre in 2015.
A month after Hannah arrived for her study abroad year at Victoria University in Wellington, there was an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the richter scale.
“Everyone else was running about scared and I was trying to get information about what was happening.”
The first time she experienced an earthquake, Hannah had no idea what was happening.
“I was in my bedroom, and thought my flatmate in the room above me was jumping about. Then I looked out of the window and saw chimneys moving and realised what it was.
“The scariest one was when I was in a maths lecture with about 300 students: there was a little shake and then a massive one. I looked around and saw that everyone had disappeared under their desks. It was quite surreal.
“I learnt that the safest place to be during an earthquake in New Zealand is inside a building, because they are so well earthquake proofed. I did quite enjoy experiencing earthquakes rather than just reading about them.”
Since she was a child, Hannah has been fascinated by the processes that have formed the earth.
“I visited the isle of Mull with my family and saw the volcanic rocks, and really wanted to know how they’d been formed. I chose to study at Lancaster because it is flexible and I could really focus on the physical processes, and because I didn’t want to be in a big city. The study abroad year was a bonus.”
Hannah found that the learning styles at Lancaster and Victoria universities were very different, and complementary.
“In Lancaster we were studying the big physical processes. In New Zealand it was a lot more hands on, focussing on scientific techniques. Even the exams were practical: we were given a box of rocks and had to identify them.”
She now wants to make a career in geophysics: “I am interested in geophysical surveying because it satisfies my curiosity, looking at a piece of ground and not knowing what is down there and then doing an investigation and finding out.”
She is applying for year-long internship before returning to study for a masters degree.
“Winning the award has definitely made a difference. The first CV I sent out after putting the award on it got a response within a few hours: the company came back asking what I wanted to do and how much I wanted to be paid. I couldn’t believe it.”
Learn more about studying at Lancaster Environment Centre and about opportunities to study abroad.