Since completing my education (First degree in Geology, University of Oxford, 1985; and PhD in Geology, University of Durham, 1989) I have spent my career trying to do as much geological mapping and other fieldwork as possible (so far, a total of about 5 years in the field). Fieldwork is, for me, the central part of geological research as that is where geologists identify the time and space relationships of the phenomena that we study, and thus the relationships of cause and effect that we attempt to understand with all our other research. For me, fieldwork is also far more intellectually stimulating and exciting than working in an office or laboratory. I have worked in places from the equator (Papua New Guinea) to near the poles (South Sandwich Islands, off Antarctica), and both onshore and on research ships. In between those extremes, I have done fieldwork in New Zealand, Hawaii, the Cape Verde Islands and of course in the Canary Islands.