Oscar Lozada
Rockwatch was such a big part of my young life that I quite honestly can’t imagine my childhood without it. I’d always had an obsession with dinosaurs from the age of 2 after a visit to the Natural History Museum. On my first day of school in reception class I was able to rattle off the names of a few dozen to my rather confused teacher, and by age 5 I was Mary Anning in the making, hunting ammonites on the Jurassic Coast. Joining...
Thomas Fogerty
I got interested in rocks and fossils at a young age and as a result, joined Rockwatch after reading about it on the website of the Natural History Museum. Like most children I loved dinosaurs and fossils, but Rockwatch opened up a new world beyond that – an introduction to the scientific procedure and understanding. I always looked forward to receiving my issues of the Rockwatch Magazine and adding more fact cards to my ‘Rox File’....
Emily Frankish
Hello, my name is Emily and I have been a proud member of Rockwatch for over 10 years. I am now in my first year at Leeds University studying Geological Sciences. I have always wanted to be a Geologist and Rockwatch has been with me every step of the way. I discovered Rockwatch through my local museum in Cardiff, a club with a great magazine that I wanted to be a part of. Rockwatch has always been brilliant; from being a small child...
Alex Ayling
I have been fascinated by rocks, fossils and natural history for as long as I can remember, so discovering Rockwatch was very exciting for me. I was keen to enter the Rockhound competition and I was lucky enough to win three times, which gave me a fantastic confidence boost, as well as learning a lot about writing geological reports. (One of Alex’s articles on ‘Brilliant Bryozoans’ was printed in our Rockwatch magazine, issue 31,...
Dr Adam Smith
Rockwatch helped to foster my passion for fossils from an early age. When I was sixteen, I entered the annual Rockwatch competition. I wrote a report on my own fossil collection, organised all the specimens in a cabinet, gave them all numbers and labels, illustrated and photographed each one, and was delighted to find out a few months later that I was one of the winners! Looking back, this was an obvious step towards becoming a...
Kirsty Pepper
When I was 8, my grandma gave me a box of minerals which she had been given years earlier. From then on, I started collecting other rocks and minerals. So, when a stall holder at a craft fayre gave me a leaflet about Rockwatch, I was keen to become a member. Throughout the next 8 years I enjoyed reading Rockwatch magazines and going on field trips as my knowledge of and passion for geology grew. I even won the ‘Rock...
Jane Robb
Currently, I am a PhD student at the Natural Resources Institute and the University of Greenwich, researching the drivers of deforestation in Guatemala as part of a UN REDD+ project there. Some of my proudest achievements so far…I published my first peer reviewed paper from my masters research at 21, after working with the Natural History Museum in London while a student at University College London. I then went on to found my own...
James Barnet
I first heard about Rockwatch when I saw a leaflet about the club at a meeting of the Southampton Mineral and Fossil Society at the age of 11. I was a member of that society and was already really interested in minerals and fossils. Joining Rockwatch looked like fun and I realised it would give me a chance to develop my knowledge of minerals and fossils and maybe become a geologist one day. So, I joined, and then a few years later...
Edwin Rose
I have had interests in both geology and history since I was very small. Rockwatch has developed my interests in geology through me reading and contributing to the magazine and going on fieldtrips such as trilobite hunting near Llandrindod Wells, one of many Rockwatch field trips I went on. The first field trip I ever went on was a fossil weekend in Lyme Regis which was advertised by Rockwatch. I found lots of fossils, which really...