Hannah is currently completing her second postdoc and is based in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds, UK. Hannah’s research focuses on the flow of liquid iron in at the top of Earth’s outer core and the magnetic field that it generates. Her current work is relating how we can bring the geodynamo community (forward modelling of the physics can control field generation) together with the community taking measurements from geomagnetic observatories, and lab measurements of rock and archaeological samples.
She started being involved with the IAGA ICEO in 2019 when, as a PhD student, she agreed to help manage the IAGA twitter account. In 2021, the ComNet working group was officially formed and Hannah took on a role as co-chair to try and make a difference in improving awareness and communication. She has been the chair of the ComNet WG since 2023 after the ComNet chair elected in 2021 left academia. She is particularly proud of the ComNet group’s efforts to run ECS social events at IAGA-IASPEI 2025 and IUGG 2023, the outreach materials they have produced, and encouraging ECS involvement within IAGA.
Hannah’s opinion about ECS challenges
Hannah thinks that there are multiple challenges that ECS’ face so found this challenging to summarise as it is ultimately highly individual depending on circumstances. She reflects that she has been able to attend conferences and take opportunities, but this is not always true depending on supervisor opinions, funding, and caring responsibilities. For her, she thinks that the main challenge is coping with job precarity from short-term contracts and applying for highly competitive fellowships and positions. She feels that you can be an excellent researcher and submit an excellent application, but you may still not be funded due to the smallest margins. This can be demotivating and has caused her to consider leaving academia as she struggles with reconciling uncertainty with other important factors of her life.