WORK
DR SARAH SHERLOCK, a Research Fellow in the OU’s Department of Earth Sciences, leads the field in developing techniques to extract information from rocks and minerals.
She is based in the Ar-Ar and Noble Gas Research Laboratory where she develops laser-based methods for extracting new information about the rates, timescales and temperatures of geological processes. “I work on dating methods for working out how old rocks and minerals are,” says Sarah. “Such methods have been around since the late 1960s but my work centres on improving the methods and finding new ways to refine it.”
A major advancement was the team’s ground-breaking use of laser technology. “That’s made an enormous difference,” says Sarah. “One of my senior colleagues was the first to use a laser for analysis. It’s like the difference between a doctor in the dark ages thinking the best cure for a bad knee was to saw someone’s leg off, and today’s doctors performing keyhole surgery. That’s the kind of leap forward lasers have meant.”
Sarah, whose CV included a year as a research fellow at the Geological Survey of Norway before joining the Open University in 2000, says OU-developed technology is making a substantial difference to analysis of rocks and minerals. “We used to analyse a single grain of sand and get one piece of information – a single age,” she says. “Now I can discover 40, 50, 60 different ages of material and use that data to find out how long that mineral grew and at one temperature – all from that same one grain of sand. It’s hugely exciting.”
It’s certainly a long way from Sarah’s first memory of an interest in rocks. “In fact it is one of my earliest memories,” she says. “I was about three and playing in the garden of a friend’s house. There were no other children there so there were no toys and I amused myself, picking up rocks and stones because they were pretty and interesting. Apparently I threw quite a tantrum when I was told to empty my pockets because I couldn’t take them all home with me. Now I make a living out of doing pretty much just that.”
Sarah’s research has been supported by grants from the NERC, Royal Society and the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP).
PLAY
SARAH’s personal ambitions include managing Sutton Utd into the Premiership. No, really. “I’m an obsessive player of computer games and I’m really into Championship Manager,” she says. “I’ve got Sutton into League Two and we’ve won the FA Vase two years running, so I’m not doing badly.”
In the real thing she and her partner Kevin support Hereford United and Manchester United, but she also enjoys keeping fit herself. In fact, to say she’s a keen cyclist is a bit of an understatement. “Most of our holidays are cycling tours,” says Sarah. “We usually go to France but this year we’re doing a North Sea route, down through Norway, Denmark and Germany.”
“And I play a bit of hockey – usually either as a centre-forward or goalkeeper. I prefer being in goal – you don’t have to do so much running….”
KEY DATES
Late November 1972 – First view of daylight
Mid 1970s – Demonstrated aptitude for geology by collecting stones in someone’s garden
Late 1970s – Demonstrated aptitude for building things: Maiden voyage in Oxford of the chest of drawers on wheels (no drawers in it but it had nailed-on roller skates, seatbelts and everything).
Mid 1980s – Met Freddie Mercury and Brian May. And Timmy Mallett.
Early 1990s – Graduated BSc
Mid 1990s – Graduated MSc
Late 1990s – Graduated PhD, first three papers published
1999-2000 – Post-doc in Norway. Couldn’t quite master Norwegian language – spent memorable birthday in Svolvaer (Lofoten Islands) and not Svalbad, because of mispronounciation when buying plane ticket. Didn’t realise until plane landed.
2003 - Awarded NERC Fellowship
2004 - Tent wrecked in gales during Outer Hebrides fieldwork. Was in it and in sleeping bag at the time. Also wrote off a laptop and put petrol instead of diesel in the car, all within the same 24 hours. Definition of a bad day.
May 2006 - Hereford United regain league status
August 2006 - Permanent Research Fellow position at the OU
December 2006 – 20th paper published
May 2007 - Awarded first NERC Standard Grant
