Year 12 Students gain valuable insight into the world of Geoscience

Dr Pyrah, a friend of Richmond School & Sixth Form College and parent of two students who attend the school, is a Chartered Geologist who spoke to a group of Year 12 students about his career to date, the pathways he chose and the different job roles that led him to this point.

Dr Pyrah’s background is in subsea geology, geophysics and geotechnics, utilising these skills to build 2D ground models to support the installation of power cables along the seabed. He has worked on a number of UK offshore windfarm projects including, Hornsea 1 and 2 and more recently, the world’s largest windfarm at Dogger Bank. He also worked on an interconnector cable which connects Ramsgate to Zeebrugge and has a capacity of 1GW. He now works for multinational, Danish company Orsted, who have recently transitioned from Oil and Gas providers to the sole provision of renewables developer.

Dr Pyrah also shared details on the Dogger Bank project and other large-scale energy provision projects, as well as demonstrating the use of GIS for projects like Hornsea – ahead of a field trip the Year 12 students will later take to Hornsea. The renewable energy sector is one of the fastest-growing industries and with an ever-increasing population, we must keep up with the demands for energy, providing an exciting, innovative and international opportunity for those with an interest in Geography and Science. The sector will be a large employer of graduates into the field of geologists, geophysicists, geotechnical engineers and mechanical engineering going forward. Graduates with any kind of experience are in strong demand, consequently reflected in the range of schemes available, salaries and opportunity for international travel.

The students gained an invaluable insight into a sector they may have never previously considered and discovered new ways in which they can utilise their current skills sets to be applicable to job roles in the future. They were enthusiastic and engaged in the talk, asking questions throughout, especially in regards to some of the graduate schemes they were introduced to, providing some food for thought as they enter their final year here at Richmond Sixth Form College.