Josh Dunlop

Josh Dunlop completed both his undergraduate degree in Geology BSc and his Masters in Engineering Geology MSc in the School of Earth and Environment.

After graduating

Since graduating from Leeds in 2019 Josh has been working with Jacobs as a Graduate Engineering Geologist. His varied role with the company typically involves data and ground mode interpretation, derivation of engineering parameters, supervising ground investigations and producing client deliverables.

During both his undergraduate degree Josh was able to secure an industrial placement with Soil Engineering Geoservices, a company based in Leeds, which gave him a head start in professional work experience and understanding the industry.

“It really helped me understand the industry that many geologists are employed in after university. The professional work experience gave me a massive advantage over other graduates when it came for applying for a Masters and subsequently a job. It was also a great break from academia and a chance to earn a few quid”

Josh also went on to work with the same company as part of his thesis during his Engineering Geology Masters.

The Masters itself allowed Josh to not only build on his work experience but broadened his knowledge on the fundamentals of ground engineering to take forward into his professional career.

Studying at Leeds

During high school Josh found that he really enjoyed physical geography which prompted him to take geology at A-level, leading him to the easy decision to continue the subject at degree level. Choosing which university to study with came down to the University of Leeds being consistently ranked highly as one of the top universities for geology in the country, as well as being one of the red-brick universities in the north of England.

Josh was lucky enough to study a course which puts a lot of emphasis on fieldwork and the hands-on learning that you can gain in the field – learning which will have a lot of relevance within the industry. And unsurprisingly fieldwork turned out to be Josh’s favourite part of his degrees at Leeds.

“We travelled to so many beautiful places and made so many memories. You also get a chance to put many of the theoretical skills that you’ve learnt during the course into practice in the field”

As well as the planned fieldwork Josh was able to spend six weeks mapping faulted and folded limestones in the Sierra Subbeticas in southern Spain as part of his BSc dissertation.

His MSc dissertation was done in collaboration with his former industrial placement employers, Soil Engineering Geoservices, where he was investigating ‘the effect of mix-time on gel-time of a bentonite-cement grout to be used in remedial works at a reservoir in North Derbeyshire’.

Away from studying

During his time at Leeds Josh was involved in some of the clubs and societies available at the University. He played for, and captained, the School of Earth and Environment’s 11-a-side football team, even winning the league in one of his years. And was also part of RocSoc, an Earth Sciences society, taking part in their trip to Krakow in his second year.

As for Leeds itself, Josh says; “It’s very student orientated, especially places like Headingley and Hyde Park. It has a brilliant Students’ Union and the best cheesy club night in the country!”

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