Week 10,11,12

I have added these three weeks together because it was a mixed bag of 'time off' scattered with days in the office.

In week 10 I had a wonderful week at Ski camp with school. I enjoyed talking to the students about the rocks on Whakapapa ski field. We even had a lahar warning drill, which resulted in raised heartbeats and great conversations.

In week 11 and 12 I interspersed the other days off with the odd day in at the university. We had an astrobiology group meeting where they all discussed their current research and what point they are up too. I loved that they did a wee show and tell by bringing in rocks or maps with sticky notes on it to show the geothermal systems they are working on and the rock types that they have found interesting. I was also given an opportunity to speak about my experience on STLP so far and what I have coming up next. I felt like I was one of the team.

I had the opportunity to meet Frances Westall who is currently being hosted by the University of Auckland for her research sabbatical. She is here from France's Centre de Biophysique Moleculaire. She has been working in astrobiology for about 20 years now, I am lucky to be sharing an office with her for the next two months.

Lastly I took the opportunity to visit two other STLP participant teachers from my cohort who are being hosted by Massey University in Food and Nutrition. They showed me around campus and the lab rooms that they have been working in. They showed me how to take blood pressure and the machine that is being used currently in a pre-diabetic study. Accompanied of course, with a delicious lunch.