Dr Anjana Khatwa will deliver the ESE Departmental Seminar on Thursday the 19th of October 2023: “Provenance: Exploring the origins of our relationship with rock”.
Join us in room G41 – RSM Building – on Thursday 19th of October 2023 at 12h15.
Abstract
Rock is one of the most ubiquitous aspects of nature, maintaining a presence and influence in every environment on Earth. Through an endless cycle of creation and destruction, rocks release their gifts to the world. Our ancestors knew and understood how these processes of creation and destruction were critical for maintaining balance in our world. They told stories of powerful deities who shaped the origins of our Earth and how their spiritual beings became embodied in rock and landscape.But over time, these ancient whispers of rock have been threatened by erasure through the colonisation and the destruction of nature, leaving us with little memory or connection with the importance of rock in our lives. We are left bereft and isolated from this geological world, unable to sense its importance in our lives and the urgent action needed to conserve it. We need to reconnect with rock now more than ever because despite their robust and resilient nature, rocks don’t last forever. Our rapid rate of consumption over the course of hundreds of years far exceeds the rate of geological formation which spans hundreds of millions of years. Rocks are finite resources like every other natural resource and phenomenon on this planet. No longer can we afford to be bystanders and watch as our world is pushed out of balance through an endless devastation of the rocks which are the root of our origins. Our ancestors knew of the importance of rock, and with reverence they layered their whispers upon the ancient ones locked inside the rock. We must listen to these whispers, for they will teach us how to connect with and value our world and guide us in restoring it back to balance.
About the speaker
Dr Anjana Khatwa is an Earth Scientist specialising in bringing stories about the origins and formation of natural landscapes to life for a wide range of audiences. She is an established expert in learning, engagement and inclusion within natural heritage, museums and the geosciences with multiple publications and articles in leading journals and popular magazines such as Nature Geoscience and BBC Wildlife. Her debut non-fiction book (published in September 2025), The Whispers of Rock, will be a global story of how rocks have not only shaped our world but also our lives. Anjana has won multiple awards over her stellar career in the geosciences including Royal Geographical Society Geographical Award, the RH Worth Medal by the Geological Society of London and the prestigious Halstead Medal from the Geologists’ Association. In 2020, she won a National Diversity Award as a Positive Role Model for Race, Faith and Religion. Anjana lives in Dorset with her husband and their three children in a house filled with rocks and fossils.
If you can’t attend in person, please contact us and we will send you a Teams link.