A grant from Institut Carnot!

Very happy that my project on rare earth geochemistry in West African regolith has been funded by Institut Carnot ISIFoR. This support will help me further develop my research and strengthen collaborations with my partners.

Très heureux que mon projet sur la géochimie des terres rares dans les régolithes d’Afrique de l’Ouest ait obtenu un financement de Institut Carnot ISIFoR. Cela me permettra de poursuivre le développement de mes recherches et de renforcer les collaborations avec mes partenaires.

new paper and fun time in Antarctica

I departed Toulouse late November towards Antarctica to participate in a fieldwork campaign financed by BELSPO and organised by S. Goderis and V. Debaille in the Belgica Mountains. Currently, I’m back to the PEA organising the samples and my return to France.

It was an amazing and exciting mission to one of the remotest regions of the planet. Our main objective was to collect meteorites and sediments for micrometeorites (that we did). In addition, we sampled ice as well as rock samples for my studies of weathering.

Super happy with the results!

In addition, I had a paper published in ACS Earth and Space Chemistry on Ce stable isotopes in Antarctic meteorites. Check it out: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.4c00206

And this is the free version: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/386107078_Cerium_Stable_Isotopic_Composition_of_Non-Carbonaceous_Chondrites

CeMET – Graphical abstract – 02Download

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Participation at the ICDP Training Course 2024

Following my participation in the REDRILL ICDP workshop in Zomba, Malawi, in May 2023, I attended the ICDP Training Course from May 12-17th this year.

During this week-long workshop on the technical aspects of deep drilling at the KTB Geozentrum in Bavaria, I had the opportunity to learn about the principles of preparing an ICDP project and network with colleagues from various parts of the world.

https://www.icdp-online.org/all-news/detail/news/icdp-training-course-2024-1/

Organization of a workshop entitled: energy “transition” and raw material extraction: a dialogue between social scientists and geologists

Together with Q. Deforge, we have organized an interdisciplinary workshop entitled: Energy “transition” and raw material extraction: a dialogue between social scientists and geologists, to be held at the ULB, Belgium.

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PUBLIÉ LE 22 FÉVRIER 2024 – MIS À JOUR LE 26 FÉVRIER 2024

Workshop organised by Quentin Deforge, Université libre de Bruxelles (REPI, SONYA, iiTSE) and Hamed Pourkhorsandi, Université libre de Bruxelles (G-Time) & Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (GET).

In Europe today, the energy transition occurs mainly through developing so-called “green” industries: electric vehicles, wind turbines, and photovoltaic panels. However, these new industries require large quantities of raw materials, such as cobalt, lithium, and rare earths.

While these extractive activities are nothing new for geology researchers or students, they raise new questions: what impact does extraction have on nearby populations? To what extent do these populations benefit from the long-term spin-offs of mining activities, for example, employment? Do these activities give rise, as companies and governments often promise, to local development? These questions have also attracted growing interest in social science departments. More and more researchers and doctoral students are seeking to understand the power relationships between mining companies and local populations or how a European policy for a “mining revival” is shaping up. However, these researchers often need more geological knowledge: how can we understand the differences between different extraction techniques? How are mining investments designed and prepared? What technical options can limit the pollution from a mining site?

The idea behind this workshop is the need for interdisciplinary dialogue between geology and social science researchers. Consequently, it will seek to initiate such a dialogue within the Université libre de Bruxelles and with guests from other Belgian and French universities. The aim will be to approach mining issues from a cross-disciplinary perspective, enabling dialogue to identify points of common interest with a view to future activities.
Organisation
Quentin Deforge, Université libre de Bruxelles (REPI, SONYA, iiTSE)
Hamed Pourkhorsandi, Université libre de Bruxelles (G-Time) & Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (GET)

Registration required by March 20: https://forms.office.com/e/7aXZj95HH7

Friday, March 22nd 2024 – 9:00 am -1:30 pm

Programme

Venue
REPI Université libre de Bruxelles
Institute for European Studies – Geremek room
39 avenue Franklin Roosevelt
1050 Bruxelles

https://repi.phisoc.ulb.be/fr/energy-%E2%80%9Ctransition%E2%80%9D-and-raw-material-extraction-a-dialogue-between-social-scientists-and-geologists

Date(s)

Le 22 mars 2024

Lieu(x)

Campus du Solbosch, Bruxelles

New position!

The results of the admission phase got released and I’m so excited to announce that very soon I will join the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD) as a research scientist! I will be based in Géosciences Environnement Toulouse.

I will continue (and further develop) my research on geochemistry of rare earth elements in laterites. My work will also involve developing close collaborations with local colleagues working in different countries in Africa.

Scientific exchange and capacity building will be the core of my project. Super excited about the future collaborations! Let’s be in touch!