I've been flat out since uni finished working five days a week at Golder. Vac work is going great and I'm learning a lot, especially about the Queensland Gas Company (QGC) ponds located in the area around Chinchilla. QGC mine the coal seam gas (CSG) from the Surat Basin in South Western Queensland. CSG is a natural gas mostly made up of methane and is extracted through wells. However when the gas comes out, lots of pressurised water flows out of the well. This is where the ponds come in, and Golder who design the ponds. At the moment the water is left to evaporate in these ponds because it is not suitable for any other use. However there are investigations underway into treating this water. Strangely, I've also learnt a great deal about meerkats. Meerkats practise interdependent safety, where everyone looks out for each other, which is what Golder encourages in the workplace. They're also very cute, but I think that's beside the point...
I finish my summer holiday work with Golder this week as I have been accepted to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA, to undertake a semester of study abroad. I only mention this now because up until recently I was still organising subjects, housing and my visa and wasn't certain if the trip would eventuate. But now it's all sorted and I'm definitely going - I fly out on the 13th of January and start uni on the 19th of January! I'll be studying 4 engineering subjects: soil mechanics, fluid mechanics, transport engineering and waste water systems, as well as 1 astronomy subject which should be interesting haha. I've organised it all through UQ Abroad and despite the amount of time and effort I've put into planning it, I'd strongly recommend it to anyone as it's a great opportunity to study and live in a different country. I get credit for all of the engineering subjects as though I was studying them at UQ, so it doesn't add any time to my degree. I'll be living on campus and I'll have a room mate. I'll keep you posted via this blog on whether those American teen movies are an accurate portrayal of uni life.
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