So it’s that time of year again, after a packed month of writing; the posters are in their tubes, the presentations are ready to go and we are in Vienna!!! Let EGU 2015 commence!

To be honest its been a long road to Vienna this year, lots of prep and my data hasn’t quite been panning out the way that I wanted, so having a tangible target has been really useful in getting me motivated.

I was also really pleased to be invited to participate in a panel session at EGU this year called ‘Open Science, Public Engagement and Outreach: why bother?‘, which will be a fantastic new experience for me and I’m really looking forward to it! It’s on tomorrow evening at 5.30pm in Room B1, so if you are around come and engage with the debate, it proves to be an interesting discussion.

Today I have been doing one of my favourite activities of the conference, scoping out all the sessions to see which ones I want to go to, as beyond my own field I see EGU as an opportunity to indulge my professional curiosity. Here are 5 of my more unusual highlights, I’ll let you know how they pan out over the week!

1. Forensic Disaster Analysis – Learning from Disasters
A really interesting premise, this session looks at a new approach to studying natural disasters with the aim of uncovering the root causes of the distsaers. It looks like a multi-disciplinary session with lots of interesting presentations.
When? MONDAY
Where? Orals are in Room G6 from 8.30am, posters in the Blue area.

2. Rosetta: First results from the prime mission
Do I really need to explain why this looks brilliant? It’s ROSETTA! This looks like quite a technical session, but a chance to see some of the first hand data from this groundbreaking mission cannot be missed.
When? MONDAY and TUESDAY
Where? Orals are in Y5 from 1.30pm (Mon) 10.30am (Tues), posters are in the red area.

3. Origin of life and habitability: From early Earth to the Solar System and beyond
OK a part of me loves this one because it sounds like a Star Trek movie, but really, the study of the conditions necessary for life in our solar system is trying to answer one of the biggest questions in science – could the forthcoming Independence Day movie one day be titled, ‘based on real events’?! Or are we alone in the universe?
When? TUESDAY and WEDNESDAY
Where? Orals are in Y11 from 8.30am both days, posters are in the red area.

4. Citizen-empowered science and crowdsourcing in the geosciences
I love the idea of citizen science, but it is one that geology has been slow to adopt (especially i comparison to some of the biological sciences) so I’m looking forward to seeing some new and innovative ways that we can harness the power of our publics!
When? WEDNESDAY
Where? Orals are in room G1 from 3.30pm and the posters are in the red area.

5. Mass extinctions, Volcanism, Impacts and Catastrophic Environmental Changes: where do we stand?
If Jerry Bruckheimer did a session at EGU, this is what he would call it. I secretly hope to see scientists descending from helicopters to present, or maybe an explosion or two, but the data on these events is actually so interesting we don’t need CGI. Volcanoes in the arctic? Yes please!
When? WEDNESDAY
Where? Orals are in B3 from 8.30am, posters are in the blue area.

So all in all it looks to be an exciting week! I hope to see many people there, what sessions are you looking forward to – send me your tips!!