Geology student named Best Earth Science student in Europe!
Alex Bromhead, a recent Ocean and Earth Science graduate from the University of Southampton, has been named Young Earth Science Student of the Year at the prestigious SET Awards, Europe’s most important awards for science, engineering and technology undergraduates.
The Earth Science award was sponsored by Rio Tinto and judged by The Geological Society. Alex received his award in front of an audience of leading academics and industrialists at a prestigious awards dinner at Kensington Town Hall in London on Thursday 26th September.
Alex was shortlisted for his project ‘Mushy Cumulates Reveal the Workings of Explosive Volcanoes’, which was based upon his study of cumulate material (frozen fragments of the magma chamber) derived from the Las Canadas volcano on Tenerife to explore the magmatic processes within the volcano prior to huge eruptions.
Alex says: "I feel extremely honoured that the project received this level of recognition, and I feel very proud to have contributed something significant to the field. I would like to thank my supervisor Dr Rex Taylor for setting me up with such an interesting project and allowing me to experiment with some innovative new techniques. I would also like to thank the many other people who have helped me along the way."
Dr Taylor adds: "Alex is an exceptional talent and produced some outstanding results - some will revolutionise our view of what happens beneath volcanoes. We are continuing our collaboration and will be publishing the findings in the near future."
Dr Ian Harding, Head of Undergraduate Admissions for Ocean and Earth Science at the University, says: "We were extremely pleased to have a student amongst the shortlist of three when we entered this competition for the first time last year, but for Alex to follow that up by being named Best Earth Science Student of the Year for 2013 says a great deal, not only about his talents as an individual, but also about the calibre of the students and the undergraduate-level research being produced at Southampton."
Alex was a MSci Geology student at the National Oceanography Centre Southampton, the waterfront campus for Ocean and Earth Science and graduated with a high 1st Class Honours.
The SET Awards are Europe's most important awards for science, engineering and technology undergraduates. Over 40 students were shortlisted, with five from Southampton, across 14 different categories, and judges paid tribute to the exceptional quality of this year's work. The University of Southampton had double success on the night with Christopher Frohmaier from Physics, also winning the BC Group Award for Best Physics Student of the Year with his project ‘Blue Straggler Stars in the Globular Cluster M30', which investigated the nature of the unique and enigmatic variety of stars that appear to defy the normal stellar ageing process.
The awards are supported by Industry and leading scientific and technical institutions and are multidisciplinary to reflect the wide range of degrees universities have to offer. The SET Awards provide a showcase for educational excellence by publicly recognising the exceptional achievements of both students and their universities.