Science Impact & Knowledge Exchange
What is Knowledge Exchange?
One of our key missions in the department of Earth Sciences at HKU is to carry out high impact research that positively affects society and provides clear benefits to government, industry, and other stakeholders. We carry out fundamental research at HKU and we want to build bridges with users of our research capabilities to maximize mutual benefits. Taken together, we call this “knowledge exchange.“
We all value that the university environment provides a setting for fundamental research not always available in the private sector. However, we are also interested in applied research, which includes technology development and implementation in space exploration, multi-scale spectroscopy for mineral exploration and environmental applications, and remote sensing of complex geological, planetary, environmental and urban settings.
One main focus of our work in the PSML is in the area of clay mineralogy. Clays are fine grained minerals found in soils, lake and seafloor sediments, hydrothermal settings, ore deposits and many other geologic contexts. They are important materials used in industry, agriculture, manufacturing, construction and countless other areas. Our lab provides expertise and applications for characterization of clay minerals using laboratory, field and remote sensing tools.
Our work on Mars mineralogy and geoscience helps inform critical decisions about landing site selection for robotic spacecraft on Mars.
Another example of how we implement knowledge exchange at HKU is through our lidar dataset, which was donated by an industry partner (Dimap) and is hosted by the PSML. Please follow this link to learn more or to request data.
Knowledge exchange includes science communication!
Here are some examples of how I communicate my science.
Television: The Huw Edwards Show; BBC Morning News (8 occasions); BBC World News; BBC Evening News; Sky News
Radio: Hong Kong RTHK; BBC Radio 5; BBC Radio 4;BBC Radio 2; BBC World Service – “The Science Hour” and "Science in Action" 2012-2013 [link]; Australian Broadcasting Corporation – 2015 [link]; Australian Broadcasting Corporation – 2012 [link]
Exhibitions: Otherworlds – Visions of our Solar System [link]: Lead Scientist [link]; Developed/edited content (captions, panels, etc); Created the audio commentary; Co-creator of video content; Led field campaign to Iceland to emphasize importance of planetary landscapes; Wrote forward for “Otherworlds” the book; Participated in all aspects of design and content creation, implementation and review
Magazine: Op-ed article on Mars exploration in NewsWeek [link];Featured personality in British Airways Highlife Magazine; “Curiosity Knows No Boundaries” in Evolve Magazine; “CSI Mars” in Evolve Magazine; “Otherworlds” in Evolve Magazine; New Scientist Magazine – “Ask a Geologist”
Events and talks: Recent talk at HKU on Mars science; 33 Invited talks in the last 10 years including 9 in last 3 years; Created live event at the NHM for Curiosity landing on Mars with a media footprint of several million viewers