As part of my appointment as a PhD researcher at Utrecht University I am required to spent 10% of my time on student education. This year I spent this time supervising students on 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 erosion risk. 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 3 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 beside some thunderstorm at the end of some days. Some of the rain from these storms was so severe that discharge and waterlevel of Le Petit Buëch increased significantly. This made crossing the river in our usual spot very challenging (see pictures below). We lost a graduated staff in the process, so 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 during the past 5 years, even about the subjects I haven’t spent time on since I did the fieldwork myself. Beside 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, but there was a lot of support between the staff and everything went successfully. I am convinced that me and my students learned a lot. I hope I will be scheduled for fieldwork France next year as well.
