A series of ‘pop-up geology museum’ events hosted by the University of Reading has given people the opportunity to learn more about the minerals that are vital to modern life.
It follows the awarding of money as part of the university’s Community Engagement Fund, and saw Dr Hazel McGoff, from the Department of Geography and Environmental Science, lead the events.
They included a stand at the University’s Community Festival event in May and two separate events held in the Department building in June, displaying many examples of different critical mineral specimens, and giving visitors the unusual experience of being able to handle these items.
Among the minerals on display included: tungsten, tin and lithium minerals from Cornwall, platinum group metals from Bushveld, South Africa, and Rare Earth Elements from Australia.
Dr McGoff said: Hazel McGoff said: “Modern life is literally built on the minerals we can obtain from the Earth and use as components in things such as mobile phones and tablets, wind turbines, solar panels, cars and medical equipment.
“These events allowed us to showcase some of the University’s extensive geology collections that are not normally on display.
“They also allowed us to illustrate how these ‘critical minerals’ are vital to sustain our current lifestyles, and how some of these will become more important as we transition to a low carbon economy.”
She explained: “It was fantastic to see people of all ages enjoying these specimens and engaging with where they come from and how they are used today.
“We’ve also been in communication with some local interest groups, including Reading Geological Society, about how we can work more closely together in future to further educate people on the value of minerals.”
More information about the University of Reading’s Community Engagement Fund is available via: reading.ac.uk/about/local-community
