An introduction to Claudia Petrucci; GERC PhD student in geophysics
By Claudia Petrucci; GERC PhD student
I would like to
introduce myself, I am Claudia Petrucci and as of November 2015 I’m a PhD
student at the GeoEnergy Research Centre (GERC), a joint venture
between the University of Nottingham and British Geological Survey.
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| That's me! |
As my name could
suggest I’m Italian. I was born in Naples where I have lived and studied until
I moved to Nottingham a few months ago. My origins
from a city which has to deal with a famous active volcano (Vesuvius), a
less famous caldera (Campi Flegrei) and tectonic
earthquakes from near faults have always pushed my interests in the Geoscience
field.
However, after my
graduation in Physics with specialization in Geophysics and a thesis in
seismology, I wanted to expand my knowledge in the geophysics sector and eventually apply it in other scientific fields that
could be defined far ( at a first sight) from Earth Science. The GERC gave me
exactly this opportunity with this PhD: working on the design and development of
new quantum chips based on cold atoms which can be used in geophysics
explorations mainly as gravity sensors.
Therefore my PhD has
many and different objectives:
1.
make use of the
inverse methods (which have historically been broadly used in Geophysics) to
optimize the geometry of the chip and of its components
2.
study the impact that these new devices
will have for gravity exploration, both in terms of processing and analysis of
the data, and in terms of optimization of the surveys
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| Fieldwork at the British Geological Survey |
Given my current
interest in the “Sensor field” the GERC gave me the opportunity to take part in the
“KTN Environmental Sensing
for Sustainable Development workshop” held in London on the 18th February.
The aims
of the workshop were to bring together environmental industry communities,
environmental sensing technology providers and novel sensing researchers to share
knowledge and generate new ideas in the environmental field.
The
conference was mainly focused on the monitoring and control of environmental
pollution and the speakers
touched on several different interesting themes:
water and air quality
control, contaminated land, opportunities in the blue economy and oil and gas
decommissioning. The
central theme to all these talks was the
importance and necessity of the development of sensors which should have, at
the same time, reliability, sensitiveness and
portability.
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| Arriving in London for the KTN workshop |
Much
emphasis has also been given to the necessity of developing sensors both capable
of performing analysis
onsite, rather
than been just able to collecting data to be analysed in laboratories, and to be
connected in a network configuration for Real Time analysis.
I also
appreciate the genuine interest that the industrial partners showed in my
research during the networking time of the workshop and their words of support
in hearing that I was only in the first few months of my PhD. It is always a
pleasure to meet professionals that are sensitive and encouraging!
Therefore
the whole experience has been really positive for me. I had the opportunity to
travel South (which is always a pleasure given my origins!) have a glimpse
of London and listen
to the very latest innovations in the environmental sensor field.
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