BEng Industrial Geology, University of Exeter
Senior Engineer at Knight Piésold Consulting
What’s your name?
My name is Martin Griffin; over the years I’ve had various nicknames – Nitram, Geogreencoat and Macro.
Tell us some interesting facts about yourself?
I think I am an introvert but sometimes out of necessity, I am an extrovert. I want a long summer holiday every year to recharge my batteries and I need a cup of tea and a bowl of muesli to get me started in the morning. I enjoy watching science fiction and supporting Liverpool Football Club, and I dislike hard-boiled eggs, but I do like the outer shell of a Scotch Egg and adore chocolate Easter Eggs. Finally, I really don’t like waiting for late trains else I get grumpy quickly. I am proud to be autistic, dyslexic, dyspraxic; as part of these neurodivergent conditions, I have music–colour synaesthesia. That is to say, I see colours when I am exposed to musical sounds. I experience colours alongside the usual, everyday auditory sensations that those sounds would trigger in the “normal” person.
What degree did you do at university and where did you do it?
Back in the day (1995), I graduated with a BEng (Hons) 2-1 Industrial Geology degree from the Camborne School of Mines (part of Exeter University).
How did you decide to study that degree?
Well, I never intended to go to university, until one day, whilst working as a laboratory technician (because my A-Levels weren’t great and I never thought myself either clever or worthy to attend), I was told by my boss I thought too much and the university would suit me far better. Some years afterwards, I obtained a place to do a HND and then after passing with ease I secured a place to study for a degree. As a kid, I always enjoyed collecting rocks and minerals (but not fossils) and learning more about how the Earth works. Coupled with my love of geology, I enjoyed building mega-structures out of Lego and also learning from when they didn’t always stand up as I imagined! So choosing an applied geology degree made perfect sense to me as an early twenty-year-old.
What did you enjoy most about studying geosciences?
As a student, I enjoyed and still enjoy the huge variety of geoscience offers. Studying geoscience was great, with inspiring and approachable lecturers, it offered fieldwork, data collection and interpretation involving physics, chemistry, geography, maths, and very little biology (fossils, yuk). No day, no site, no problem, no specimen, and no project were the same. I loved solving problems and applying my geoscience and engineering knowledge in many ways.
What job do you have now and what does it involve?
I am working as a Senior Mining Geotechnical Engineer for a niche mining international consultancy based in London. Mostly I am involved in engineering geology, geotechnical engineering aspects for global mining projects from concept to closure. My work also involves assessing, geohazards, undertaking ground risk assessments, designing, reviewing and auditing mine waste facilities, open pits and associated facilities.
Tell us a little about how you ended up in this job?
Well after my degree, I did 3.5 years of postgraduate research into clays. Then to get valuable work experience, I worked for two years in the UK as a freelance geologist/engineer and was involved with logging of cores, desk studies etc. Then I joined as a geotechnical mining consultant and worked in this area for about 15 years. Then I was suddenly made redundant due to fluctuations in the metal prices and thus less mining work. Consequently, I worked as a geotechnical engineer within a civil engineering consultancy working on UK mega projects such as Hinkey Point C, Lower Thames Crossing and High Speed 2. After several rewarding years, I returned to my roots in mining geotechnical engineering, after being headhunted directly and meeting my current boss (without the need of Human Resources) and being asked would I like to join his team? I promptly accepted the kind offer. He was fully aware of my technical skills and my conditions. He assured me that I would be in a safe and understanding working environment. All that is vital to me with my conditions in place and with a team where I can be happy to thrive in geoscience and engineering.
What skills from your degree do you use in the role you have now?
At university, we worked hard and played hard. No one person has all the answers – there is beauty in the diversity of thought. By working collaboratively, together we achieve better solutions. Nowadays in paid employment, I still use my technical skills and modules developed at university. In particular, I make use of modules in structural geology, mathematics and statistics / exploratory data analysis, mineral resource geology, engineering geology and geotechnics (design, rock and soil mechanics), geophysics, hydrogeology, geohazards and ground risk management. At university, I was encouraged to use my strong computing skills to develop models and simulations, and this took me to where I am today. In addition, I gained confidence in technical report writing on diverse subjects such as the geology of Sellafield (summer placement project) or my final year project on global volcanic hazard evaluation, delivering PowerPoint presentations to my peers, and regularly using industry-standard software.
Are there any challenges you faced along the way?
My neurodivergent (autism in particular) conditions are real, messy, complex, lifelong and often misunderstood by others. Each condition inter-relates with my visual impairment (keratoconus) and how they affect me generally depends on my surroundings. My ongoing conditions have shaped me, but they do not define who I am. Instead, they make me think and ask, what is considered normal and the uniqueness of all of us. True, they do occasionally pose problems, such as being unable to drive, sequencing information, remembering short term information, being clumsy, or perhaps being seen as a loner. I have faced many hurdles and challenges of being misunderstood and sometimes frowned upon by thinking out of the box. But with good employers over the years, coupled with time and trust have led to a successful outcome for both of us.
What do you most enjoy about the job you do now?
Daily, I still love solving real problems using real data by applying my geological and engineering skills. I also love working with a great diversity of interdisciplinary colleagues across the globe in other offices to achieve reliable, safe and cost-effective solutions for our clients. Finally, I work on many projects per year, which means, I may work on and encounter many unknowns and each project is never the same as the last. This uncertainty keeps me fresh and eager to keep learning and applying my acquired geoscience knowledge.
Where would you like to see the geosciences going?
Now and in the future, I would love the geoscience community to adopt digital technology to bring new insights and relationships to the vast amount of data collected and to supplement existing understanding acquired in the last two centuries. In addition, geoscience will prove vital as we as a society, continue to move into a greener economy, we must be able to provide robust solutions for locating and extracting mineral resources, energy sources, waste disposal to enable global economic and sustainable development for one and all.
What do you hope/anticipate for the future of geosciences?
In future, I anticipate geoscience would be more accessible and opportunities would be offered to one and all. I would hope we as geoscience professionals, as ambassadors, would be able to effectively communicate and share our passion with the next generation including our children by showing the relevance of geoscience to society. We can do this by mentoring, STEM activities, delivering informative presentations and such like.
What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of studying geosciences or geography?
I would become a member of a local geological society and attend field trips and hear talks. I would consider becoming a student member of the Geological Society of London to network with peers and chat with them about their experiences at university. If geology continues to interest you, visit as many geological sites as possible to try to understand how the Earth works from first principles. The key to the past is the present. Continue to be invested and passionate about geoscience because those will go a long way when times are hard, such as working on remote sites, collecting incomplete data in the pouring rain.
Watch an interview with Martin about his journey below, or scroll down for links to more of Martin’s resources!