Supervisor Fieldwork France
July 3rd, 2015
As part of my appointment as a PhD researcher at Utrecht University, I am required to spend 10% of my time on student education. This year I spent this time supervising students in their first year fieldwork in Préalpes du Sud, France. My main tasks during these 4 weeks included supervising 4 duos in the field and grading their geology, geomorphology and hydrology/erosion reports. Every duo was appointed a small fieldwork area, of which they studied the history on different timescales, and the erosion risks. Furthermore, I was one of the leading supervisors for the river practical for all students in Le Petit Buëch near Pont de Chabestan. During this three-day practical, they studied river morphology, grain size distribution, vegetation age, velocity profiles and made an interpretation of the situation during bankfull conditions.
We had beautiful weather in France, except for some thunderstorms at the end of some days. Some of the rain from these storms was so severe that river discharge and water level of Le Petit Buëch increased significantly. This made crossing the river in our usual spot very challenging (see pictures below). We lost a measuring staff in the process, so we decided to enter the floodplain from the other side the next day.
I was surprised how well I could help the students in the field and comment on their reports. Apparently, I learned a lot over the past 5 years, even about the subjects I haven’t spent time on since I did the fieldwork myself. Besides some experience as a student assistant during my master, this was the first time that I was solely responsible for the education of students. This was, of course, exciting, and there was a lot of support among the staff. Everything went successfully. I am convinced that my students learned a lot. Me as well. I hope I will be scheduled again for fieldwork France next year.
