Dr. Emily Wilkinson works for the Overseas Development Institute as a Research Fellow and is presently leading the Adaptation and Resilience Team. She explained that this meant that she studied big environmental events around the world and how these impact on people. At the moment her team are thinking about volcanoes and their often devastating effects.
Dr. Wilkinson surprised us by telling us there are thousands of volcanoes around the world, some in unlikely places such as Spain and Italy. The map below shows countries with volcanoes within their borders in dark-red:
She showed us four incredible videos to describe what volcanoes do and explained why these features are so dangerous to humans and animals living near them.
Ash clouds:
Lava:
Pyroclastic flows:
Blasts:
Dr. Wilkinson went on to describe how she works with different members of the communities that live near volcanoes, gathering information, sharing information and supporting people to identify the best ways to keep themselves and their families safe.
When asked whether she recognised in herself any of our school’s five character virtues, Dr. Wilkinson considered all five before picking fairness. She said that having had the privilege of an excellent education, in a place where she felt safe and free to learn and develop, she felt it was fair that she should now use the skills and knowledge she’s gained to help others who have not been so fortunate.
The children went on to ask Dr. Wilkinson a barrage of questions: ‘Have you ever stood on top of a volcano?’ ‘How are volcanoes formed?’ ‘Have you ever visited a submarine volcano?’ ‘What’s your favourite volcano?’ ‘Have you made any friends in the towns and villages that you’ve visited?’ She was very impressed with the quality of these questions and gave thoughtful answers.
Thank you very much for visiting us Dr. Wilkinson and for giving us such an excellent example of fairness.
