I’ve just finished presenting a webinar for the UNRISK CDT about my work with games. It was months ago when James McKay and Erica Thompson from the CDT invited me to talk, before I had even applied for my current job. So, figuring out what I was going to say was tough. Back then, I was freelance, GeoSkinner, just messing around with games because it interested me and kept me creative. Now, as an academic again, I have an opportunity to be more serious and focussed about it and do some ‘proper’ research. My presentation sat at this transition point – a collection of ideas waiting to be forged into something meaningful.

Transition, then, has been the theme of my last month, my first as a Lecturer of Geography at York St John University. Obviously, there’s been the usual transition to a new workplace: the obligatory fire safety and slips, trips, and falls training; navigating a different travel booking system; and, learning the unwritten rules of how the new place works. For example, where my old team predominantly communicated using chat in MS Teams, my new team rarely uses it and favours emails. It sounds small, but it’s been an adjustment.

But it hasn’t just been a change of job and employer, it has been a shift in sector and career. What I did not expect was how strong a sense of freedom I would feel, it has taken me by surprise. There were understandable and reasonable limits to what I could do within my previous role, which was why I maintained my interests independently. I hadn’t appreciated how difficult it was to partition my professional life in this way, until I no longer had to. If I want to explore the pedagogical value of building with LEGO bricks it is now valuable professional practice and a potential research avenue that I am encouraged to pursue, rather than something I will try and fit around work and life. Honestly, it feels like I’ve been holding my breath and now I can breathe out finally.

Another big transition has been the change in pace of the work. My old role was strategic and deadlines were defined by quarters and financial years a distance away. As an ADHDer, my concept of time is now and not-now, so strategic planning has never been my strength. I often describe my brain as like an old petrol-powered lawnmower where you keep pulling the cord to get it going but it just keeps sputtering out. It was hard to get going and without the excellent project managers I worked alongside I would have struggled big time. But, in my new role, I’ve had no option but to hit the ground running – there’s marking and moderation to do, students applying for jobs to help, and the start of teaching is looming large. I’m actually finding this change of pace refreshing, more suited to my neurotype and, as well as enjoying this, I’m finding it easy to make use of those liminal times between tasks and meetings.

This then brings me back to that transition at the start of this newsletter. This transition, shaping my interests into a cohesive programme of research, is one I am yet to crack but is something I really want to get right. Whilst I am immensely proud of what I achieved as a Research Fellow at the Energy and Environment Institute, I have always felt regret at not achieving what I would have like to and what I know I am capable of. Looking back, I can see how I was constantly battling the ADHD in my mind, even though I didn’t realise it then. This time around, the expectations and the culture are different and, crucially, I know myself much, much better.

Game-Based Approaches in Geoscience (Game-BAG)

My first project I plan to develop is Game-BAG (I love a dodgy acronym). It will bring together several strands of my work into one place with common objectives. This includes Games for Geoscience, Adventures in Model Land, and my work with the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® methodology. Planning is still work in progress but I’d particularly like to look at:

• How game-based approaches are used to support education and training in geosciences (using EGU’s broad definition)
• How game-based approaches can support the understanding and development of numerical models with modellers and technical experts
• How game-based approaches can build model literacy in non-modellers, particularly decision-makers

Games for Geoscience

Games for Geoscience will be back for EGU 26. We got 15 brilliant abstracts and we’re still waiting to hear what format the session will be. More news about the session and the Geoscience Games Night will be available soon – make sure you check the website for updates. As with last year, I also hope to bring blogs and game profiles from those featured in the session.

GeoSkinner YouTube

Testament to how long it has been since I have provided a proper update, there is a ‘new’ video on the GeoSkinner YouTube channel that is already 5 months old… I played Terra Firma, an indie videogame that is essentially a playable landscape evolution model, the type of geomorphology model that much of my previous research made use of. Actually, it’s been so long the Dev has released Terra Firma 2 since…

I have no plans for any new videos to come soon but some ideas I’d like to explore. Going forward, my videos will probably be more closer related to my research especially Game-BAG – yet more transitions to come!

Project Prospero

I’ve been on a hobby spree the last couple of months and progressed my Warhammer project, themed on the Burning of Prospero. Too much to update here, but visit my hobby site to see the latest.

Views expressed in this newsletter are mine and do not represent those of my employer. Content and links are provided for informational purposes and do not constitute endorsements. I am not responsible for the content of external sites, which may have changed since this newsletter was produced.

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