"Ten Hundred Words of Science": my research in simple English

Hi Readers!

Jumping on a very long caravan of bandwagons, I thought I would introduce the subject of my PhD project using only words from the 1000 most commonly-used words in the English language (try it for yourself using the Up-Goer 5 text box!) Many members of the geoblogosphere, myself inspired by Professor Anne Jefferson's post, have contributed their job descriptions and study subjects using only the 1000 most common used words in English. A Tumblr page entitled “Ten Hundred Words of Science” created by Anne Jefferson and Chris Rowan aggregates meme submissions quite nicely and was an eye opener for me.

Because I study Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) in general and the High Arctic LIP in specific, doing so was quite the challenge. Words like “mantle “ and “plume” as well as “igneous” and “province” along with “analyze” and “geochemistry’ are not allowed for this meme exercise. I had quite the challenge in front of me as a result, but participating in this meme has actually forced me to think about how to explain my subject matter without using highly technical jargon we in the geosciences utter within the discipline. A necessity when trying to explain what I do to interested laypersons. So without further adieu, here is my job description and PhD topic using only the 1000 most common words:

Using the means of people who study people who have done very bad things, I study a big hot thing of rock that came deep under foot a long time ago and went off big, a lot of times during a short time. Other large hot thing of rock that came deep under foot and went off killed animals, changed things and may have helped us live. 

My area of study is in a very cold place at the top of the big round rock we live on. Its one of the least understood area of rocks formed by a large hot thing of rock that came deep under foot. Using the things I learn, I then tell people about it during talks and writing papers.

As Paul Harvey would say: "and now you know . . . the rest of the story"!

Have a good weekend!

~Cole K.

cc #upgoer5