MSPs Discuss Future of Geology in Scottish Curriculum at Paliamentary Meeting

Geology outside, and inside, the Scottish Parliament Building.
Image © Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body – 2012. 
Licensed under the Open Scottish Parliament Licence v1.0.

We are delighted to report that the issue of retaining geology and earth sciences in the Scottish curriculum was discussed at a parliamentary meeting on Tuesday 21st.  

A number of the MSPs who attended a parliamentary lunch and presentation by sixth year pupils from Perth High on the 16th were impressed and added their voices to the call for geology to continue to be well represented in the curriculum.  

The decision has been made by the SQA to stop offering Higher geology as an examinable subject. The replacement qualification, environmental science, does not have much earth science content.  

Perth High pupils, supported by their teacher Rachel Hay, RSGS Education Officer Dr Joyce Gilbert, Professor Stuart Monro from Our Dynamic Earth, University of St Andrew's Dr Ruth Robinson, and RSGS President Professor Iain Stewart, presented their case for why they feel that geology should continue to feature strongly at senior level.

MSPs Liz Smith, Clare Adamson, Annabelle Ewing and Nanette Milne all referenced the presentation in a discussion about Public Science Engagement Initiatives.

After the page break please find extracts from the full meeting. The full text of the meeting can be found here. (45page pdf, discussion begins p7, geology p12)

Perth High Pupils argue the case for geology at Scottish Parliament

On Thursday 16 May Dr Joyce Gilbert, Education Officer at the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, arranged for the Higher Geology class at Perth High School to visit the Scottish Parliament to give a presentation to MSPs about what they had enjoyed about their year of studying Higher Geology. Their enthusiastic presentation provoked a fascinating discussion amongst the audience about the value of Geology (and Earth Sciences) in the Scottish curriculum, and raised concerns about the Scottish Qualification’s decision to remove the qualification from 2015. 

Perth High School pupils and their teacher Miss Hay outside the Scottish Parliament building.

The parliamentary visit was hosted by local MSP Liz Smith. The pupils were supported by  Dr Ruth Robinson, senior lecturer in Earth Sciences from St. Andrews University, Prof. Stuart Monro, Scientific Director at Our Dynamic Earth, their teacher Miss Hay, and, by video link, the RSGS’ President Prof. Iain Stewart, a geologist known for his presenting work on the BBC programmes Men Of Rock, How to Grow a Planet and Volcano Live.

Here is what some of the pupils said about their day: 

‘Having the opportunity to have our voices heard was great. The thought of not only speaking to MSPs, but trying to show them how great geology is was daunting. But with the support of two Doctors and two Professors, the day felt really professional!’

(Brooke Morran)

‘It was very beneficial to be able to interact with MSPs and to share our experiences of studying geology. I hope our presentation made as much impact on them today as studying geology has made on me this year.’ (Craig Davidson)

‘I greatly enjoyed visiting the Scottish parliament and experiencing First Ministers Question Time for myself. I was proud to be part of a group to speak in front of MSPs to fight for geology to be kept in the school curriculum.’ (Merlin Hillyer)

 ‘A very enjoyable day where the presentation was a great success. I enjoyed speaking and the ensuing discussion was very thought-provoking. A great end to a geological filled year!’ (Fraser Todd)

The students argued the case for ensuring that geology continues to be represented in the new Scottish curriculum to seven MSPs from across the parties. Attending were Liberal Democrat Wllie Rennie,  the SNP's Marco Biagi, Annabelle Ewing and Clare Adamson, Scottish Conservatives Nanette Milne and Liz Smith, and independent MSP Jean Urquart.

Geology has been dropped as an examinable subject within the shake up under Curriculum for Excellence, but this is not so much a lack of take up as arguably a lack of teacher training - there has been no geology in teacher training since 1985.  The replacement qualification Environmental Science does not have much Earth Science content. 

Brooke and Craig join the round table discussion with MSPs.

Scotland is one of the most geodiverse regions on the planet, and geologists are involved in work in petroleum, water resources, natural hazards, environmental problems and climate change.   Also, this decision comes at a time when other countries, including England, Japan, Norway and Australia are actually increasing the provision of Geology and Earth Science education.

The RSGS chief executive, Mike Robinson, has called on ministers to ensure that geology had a future in Scottish schools. “We are determined not to see this subject disappear from our schools, or be sliced and diced until there's nothing left,” he said. 

“There is a danger that this country, which has led the world in geology and geography, is turning its back on these practical and vital modern sciences through a simple lack of understanding.”

Liz Smith, Scottish Conservative MSP for Mid Scotland & Fife said:  “I was delighted to welcome pupils and teachers from Perth High School to the Scottish Parliament and to watch their first class presentation. It was clear from the pupils experiences that they had really enjoyed the their geology studies and had been able to visit a number of sites in Scotland as part of their project.   
 “Scotland is one of the most geodiverse countries in the world and is regarded by many as the cradle of modern geological thinking. “
Concerns have been expressed that the Scottish Qualifications Authority is to close Higher Geology as a subject for examination particularly given the importance of geology to earth sciences and the emerging industries in Scotland.”

Pupils show rock samples to Liz Smith, MSP.

Collections Corner: Concerning German Town Plans, Black Forest Gateau and Good Conservation Practices.

Dogged work by one of our Collections Team members, who’s just completed the identification and listing of over 400 German Town Plans (produced and printed by the then British War Office between 1943-45) led to the Team celebrating this doughty event by working our way through two packets of suitably Geographical-sounding ‘Black Forest Gateau Cookies’, hunted down in a well-kent British chain-store close by. 

Our Team Member’s work involved checking the geographical location of the 400 towns and villages (some very small) and recording the latitude and longitude of these as a first stage towards eventual production of an electronic graphic index to these plans.  To build on this endeavour, a post-graduate student - on the University of Edinburgh’s Institute of Geography MSc Course in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) - is presently doing his Project on electronic indexing in connection with our map collections.

A nice bottle of German-produced Gewürztraminer or Riesling might have been a finer geographical tribute but Curators of Collections know full well that maps and alcohol are not soul mates and – true to best Curatorial practice - must be kept far apart.  So a tea-break with our German-sounding cookies was taken in another room, leaving the Town Plans to rest in peace, free from the hazards of greasy fingers or biscuit crumbs.  As Curators the world over know, a cuppa and a ‘piece’ at one’s desk are ‘verboten’ if one has maps, books, manuscripts, artefacts or other collection items located in close range and curatorial fingers must be kept clean at all times.

Samples from the German Town Plans. Click to enlarge.

Our dogged Team Member was later released to cool off amongst our Polar Collections. (In 2008 we acquired two important collections, the Angus Erskine Polar Collection and the Scottish Arctic Club Collection and a full list of the books in these collections is available on our website).  A future blog will expand on another Polar theme to mark the bi-centenary of the Scottish (Orcadian-born) Arctic Explorer and surgeon, Dr John Rae (1813-1893), who spent a large part of his career working for the Hudson’s Bay Company in Canada and was also heavily involved in the search for the missing North-West Passage explorer, Sir John Franklin.  

The Society has extensive book, journal, map, and photographic collections which are available to members. These collections are continually updated, and RSGS welcomes donations of relevant material.  Please send any enquiries about the collection to collections@rsgs.org and we'll get back to you as soon as possible (please note that the Collections Team is voluntary and meets once a week).

For more information about the Collections, the Enquiry Service and Access see http://www.rsgs.org/collections/access.html

  
www.rsgs.org

Exploration: Perth Man Central to the History of the Falkland Islands

Bruce Gittings, Vice Chair of the Perth-based Royal Scottish Geographical Society remembers Matthew Brisbane, a little-known Perth-born explorer who was influential in the Falkland Islands in the early 1830s. This was a time when Britain was re-asserting its claim over Argentina - or the newly-independent United Provinces of Río de la Plata, which later became part of the Argentine Republic.   

Matthew Brisbane was born in Perth in 1797, the son of a blacksmith who lies buried in an unmarked grave in Greyfriars Kirkyard.  Little is known of his early life, but he went on to accompany explorer James Weddell to the Southern Ocean. Brisbane captained the cutter Beaufoy while Weddell sailed the Jane looking for seals while also engaged in exploration. 

Painting of James Weddell´s second expedition, depicting the brig "Jane" and the cutter "Beaufroy", published in James Weddell´s book, first edition, London, 1825 (public domain)

Brisbane reached Patagonia and the pair surveyed the then recently discovered South Orkney Islands in 1823. They sailed south once more and, on 20th February 1823, reached 74° 15' S - a record extremity for the time - within what is now the Weddell Sea, close to the coast of Antarctica. 

Brisbane returned to Britain in 1826, but soon set sail again, this time commanding the Prince of Saxe-Coburg and intent on capturing seals in the South Orkney Islands. However, he was shipwrecked off Tierra del Fuego and rescued after some months by HMS Beagle. He had an unlucky time on the seas and was shipwrecked twice more in 1829: in the Hope off South Georgia and in the Bellville again off Tierra del Fuego. 

Brisbane then settled in the Falkland Islands, becoming Superintendent of Fisheries for the German-Argentinian merchant Luis Vernet (1791 - 1871) who had been appointed Governor of the islands by Argentina. 

Brisbane was at the centre of conflicting interests as Britain re-asserted its authority over the islands following twelve years of rule by Argentina.  The British first landed on the Falklands in 1690, naming them after a Scottish nobleman, but left in 1776 due to pressures on military expenditure because of the American War of Independence.  They did however make clear that sovereignty was not being renounced.

The Falklands at this time was a lawless place, with sealers, fishermen, adventurers and the beginnings of a penal colony.  As an official of the islands Brisbane presented himself to Captain Fitzroy on HMS Beagle when it called at the Falklands in 1833, this time with Charles Darwin on board.  

However, Brisbane, alongside a number of island officials, was murdered by a group of Argentinian gauchos and convicts the later same year, following a disagreement over payments, and was hastily buried.  The exact circumstances were not clear at the time and his brother, John Brisbane, living at 17 John Street in Perth asked the Admiralty to investigate.  

Thomas Helsby, a British clerk, was a witness to the murders and his account of meeting the killers was recorded “I was ordered by them into Captain Brisbane's house, and there first saw his body lying dead upon the floor, he appeared to have been making towards his pistols before he fell, and there was smile of contempt or disdain very strongly marked in his countenance. They dragged his body with a horse to a considerable distance, and plundered the house.”

The Beagle’s Captain Fitzroy returned to the island and was disgusted to find Brisbane in a shallow grave, his feet protruding from the ground.  He wrote: “This was the fate of an honest, industrious, and most faithful man: of a man who feared no danger, and despised hardships. He was murdered by villains, because he defended the property of his friend; he was mangled by them to satisfy their hellish spite; dragged by a lasso, at a horse's heels, away from the houses, and left to be eaten by dogs.” 

In 1842, Brisbane’s remains were moved to a nearby graveyard on East Falkland and a marker erected by the noted Scottish explorer James Clark Ross (1800-62).

Brisbane’s name is commemorated in Brisbane Road in Stanley (Falkland Islands), Cape Brisbane on Henderson Island (Tierra del Fuego) and Brisbane Heights on Coronation Island (South Orkney Islands). 

Bruce Gittings’ interest in the subject stems from his work on the Gazetteer for Scotland, an authoritative web site which attempts to catalogue the bens and glens of Scotland, together with the people who inhabited them.  This work has been ongoing since 1995 and now represents a massive body of information.

The Royal Scottish Geographical Society celebrates exploration through its collections and education work, and the Society’s  visitor centre in The Fair Maid’s House, Perth.

www.rsgs.org

Guest Post: Testing the Water - Planning an expedition with the RSGS collection.

Callum (the little blue dot amongst the swells!) Chuya River, Altai Mountains, Siberia, Russia.

The Society has a wealth of items in its collection, including maps and guide books which can be made available to anyone who wants to plan an adventure. Callum Strong is an avid Kayaker, a passion that has taken him across the world in search of challenging white waters. He visited the RSGS headquarters to use maps to help in the planning of his next trip.

I visited the RSGS archives with an interest in finding maps of Northern Pakistan for an exploratory whitewater kayaking expedition, the British Universities Kayak Expedition 2013, which myself and a team the best student whitewater paddlers selected from across the UK are undertaking this summer. Accurate topographic maps are of great use in planning which rivers will be possible and have quality whitewater, important as we hope to complete a number of first descents on such rivers in the Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountain ranges.

Callum Strong

The archive team at the RSGS were incredibly welcoming and helpful, buoyed by their obviously great enthusiasm for their work. With their expert guidance and knowledge of their incredible collection I managed to identify a number of maps which will be really useful and importantly, accessible to our expedition. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and will have to get planning another adventure so I can visit them again soon!

www.rsgs.org

Callum decending the Falls of Falloch, River Falloch, Scotland.