MSc Geoscience for Sustainable Energy

Communication Skills:

This component prepares students for the academic rigours of completing the MSc Petroleum Geoscience program. The course also aims to build technical and transferable skills that can be applied to the job application process. We will look at the methods of communicating scientific and technical material via written material, posters and aural presentation. We will critique existing presentations to assess good and bad practice. Set assessments aim to reinforce good writing and oral presentation skills.   

The business workplace consists of people of varied backgrounds, experience and technical abilities. Business Skills provides practical instruction on innovation, creativity, project management and negotiation in order to get the best out of team working experiences at Manchester and subsequent careers. Assessment aims to improve presentation skills while enhancing group working abilities.

Fieldwork:

Three field trips build on the concepts taught throughout MSc Petroleum Geoscience. Assessment of each trip focusses on field skills, using a series of exercises to develop these core skills.

1 Day: Castleton, Peak District, England. Introductory field trip to a classic north of England locality. We cover the basics of siliciclastic and carbonate rock description, determination of characteristics such as porosity and permeability and the interpretation of depositional processes and environments.

5 days: North Yorkshire coast, England. We investigate the fill of the Cleveland Basin, studying the processes controlling the development of sedimentary successions and applying findings to the analysis of this major onshore petroleum system. The trip provides an appreciation of the controls basin development and history, local tectonics, eustasy, and burial history have on the distribution, quality and maturation of source and reservoir rocks.

The final 5 day field trip will go to either Morocco, Mallorca or Ireland.

Morocco:  The trip examines a continuous succession of Mesozoic fill of the Central Atlantic margin. Starting in Precambrian basement and sediment source areas we investigate Triassic continental syn-rift deposits, overlain by extensive post-rift Jurassic carbonates and Cretaceous shallow marine deposits.

Mallorca:  The focus is on carbonate platforms and reefal systems, exquisitely exposed in the Cap Blanc section. Lagoonal facies and reservoir characteristics are studied at the Cala Pi section. The broader facies architecture and high resolution sequence stratigraphy of Llucmajor Platform Miocene Oolitic Belt facies is examined from a distance by boat, and the relevance to exploration discussed in evening lectures. The field course also examines examples of karstic collapse; pleistocene eolianites and PermoTriassic red bed fluvio-aeolian sediments.

Western Ireland:  World class sites in County Clare superbly expose a continuous record of the filling of the Clare basin from deep-water basin floor fans, slope deposits and deltaic/ shallow marine siliciclastics. The trip develops an understanding of depositional environments, petroleum systems, reservoir characterisation and source rocks. Undertake a series of exercises in the field to develop core skills.

This course unit detail provides the framework for delivery in 20/21 and may be subject to change due to any additional Covid-19 impact.  Please see Blackboard / course unit related emails for any further updates.

Communication Skills

The course aims to equip students with the skills to communicate scientific information, knowledge and ideas to expert and non-expert audiences.  We will critically evaluate the content, format and structure of written documents and oral presentations; understand the referencing of texts while being aware of plagiarism. We also look at the subtleties of business communication and how to professionally contribute in the work environment. We look at team work, covering leadership skills, negotiation and project management; the management of time and effective working to enable students to contribute and perform in  group and individual assignments.

Fieldwork

Communication Skills uses energy industry datasets and principals to teach the technical and soft skills necessary to communicate concepts and in the academic or business environment.

Syllabus:

[1] CV and careers:  A careers workshop examines the language and methods used to market yourself in a CV / cover letter to increase chances of success. Session continues with a look at the energy job application process. 

[2] Essay and report writing: Examination of what is expected in the formatting and formulation of MSc level written work, including the treatment of data, it’s analysis and interpretation. The evaluation and critique of literature is discussed, along with correct methods of referencing. Academic malpractice is described and good practice for avoidance is explained. Component is assessed with a short essay. 

[3] Oral presenting: Best practice in assembling and presenting an oral presentation. Assessment is by a group exercise investigating the merger or acquisition of an energy company. This exercise focusses on the valuation of companies in terms of assets, resources and revenue providing insight into the economics of the energy industry.

[4] Data manipulation and presentation:  The best practises of processing and presenting data and the construction and critique of poster presentations. Experience of industry dataset manipulation and plotting is provided using Microsoft Excel.

[5] Business Skills: Communication in the workplace, including innovation, creativity, project management and negotiation.

[6] Fieldwork: over 3 separate trips we build on the field description and interpretation of sedimentary successions. We discuss how knowledge gained at outcrop may be used for better understanding of risk and uncertainty in the subsurface.