September 2011 saw the first joint field trip between the University of Southampton and Montpelier University, with students working on the Dorset coast and in the Languedoc region of southern France.
Southampton's AAPG Student Chapter President, third year geology student Ryan Barr, describes the experience:
"The trip started with the welcoming of the French students at the airport, which perhaps left some of us Southampton students with a cause for concern, as our grasp of the French language ranged from basic to none existent! Fortunately, the Montpelier students could all speak fantastic English, which allowed for an enjoyable evening in Weymouth where the two groups got to know each other. Over the two days we had in Dorset, we managed to fit in a lot of geological sightseeing! We used our time to explore the typical lithologies of the North Sea oil fields, with trips to Exmouth, Kimmeridge Bay, Lulworth Cove and Osmington Mills. During these two days we were fortunate to have the expertise of Dr. Deryck Laming, former Southampton Lecturer Dr. Jim Andrews and former Southampton students and Neftex graduates James Barnet and Oliver Ralph, to guide the groups around these areas.
The following morning after an early departure we headed to the airport for our flight to Beziers. Landing in the south of France in 29°C sunshine, we couldn't help feeling that the French students had received the raw end of the deal spending three days in chilly Dorset! These feelings were confirmed as we relaxed on a beautiful Mediterranean beach whilst we waited for our transport to the French gîte. Whilst in France the trip was led by the Montpelier students themselves, and they did a fantastic job of explaining the geology in English. During our time in France we visited many interesting sites, such as the Usclas-de-Bosc quarry, where we observed oil flows with oil seeping enough even to bottle some!
Overall, everyone deemed the trip to be resounding success, and many thanks are required for last year's AAPG Student Chapter for arranging it with the Montpelier Student Chapter. For most it was a rewarding and valuable experience, not only due to insight it gave in to the typical geologies of Hydrocarbon Oil systems, but also in working with students from a different country."
