Dr Julie Robson

Professional biography

My core research interests centre around carbonate and clastic sedimentology and biostratigraphy, but my working life has broadened these into other areas including:

• Hydrology of waste management sites and their  relationhsip to aquifers
• Geohazards and their mitigation, with reference to site investigations and landslides
• Resource  use and acquisition, their effects on the environment

I teach across the Earth and Environmental Science curriculum including; geohazards, field skills, general Environmental Science and Geology. Teaching contributions include project work, field skills, the nuclear legacy, multidisciplinary aspects of Rare Earth Element resources and their use, climate change and soil science.

Student support and the pedagogy of learning are two interests close to my heart and are reflected in numerous scholarship projects. I am the current co-lead on an eSTEeM project: “Online peer mentoring at scale: Benefits and impacts from a student buddy perspective” evaluating the experience of students who peer-mentor others in an asynchronous online environment. Other projects examined the impact of online tuition delivery on tutors and the use of mobile technologies in real-time, interactive field work teaching.

I regularly contribute to outreach and engagement events including;

Representing the Open University at the annual London Geological Society's Careers day and Science and the Parliament (organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry), both in Edinburgh. The latter aims to bring Scientific institutions together with policy makers to showcase their work on a targeted theme.

Glasgow Science Festival  provides opportunities to take interactive Science activities to the public on themes such as "Sticks and Stones; from rocks to plants and the importance of soil.

I also regularly visit schools with outreach activities on rocks and fossils.

I was the lead organiser of a two-day Science Showcase event at Dynamic Earth Edinburgh in October 2019, which included a series of talks,  activities and opportunities for the public to "Meet the scientists" involved with BBC co-productions.

Since 2015 I have been an active member of the programme committee for the UK Horizons in STEM conference promoting all aspects of Science teaching, learning and pedagogy, as well as a regular contributor of talks and posters.

I am the English Language Editor and a reviewer for the Journal "Geologia Croatica" a post I have held for over 20 years during which time the impact and readership of the Journal has grown and flourished.