From 11-17 October, the Geological Society celebrated Earth Science Week with an exhibition and pop-up events all about the minerals embedded in our everyday lives. We hosted a popular public lecture by Professor Chris Jackson and awarded a number of outreach grants to support grassroots public engagement with Earth science.
Earth Science Week is an annual celebration of public awareness, education, responsible stewardship of our planet and the science that supports our understanding of it. This year focused on the theme "Critical Minerals for a Thriving Society", highlighting the role these resources play in sustaining modern life – from the objects we interact with every day to the advanced technology powering the energy transition.
Demand for technology is expanding quickly, and so is the demand for the minerals essential to developing it. The theme explores how critical minerals help meet our needs and how geoscience knowledge is central to responsibly identifying, mining and sustainably using them.
A mineral is considered "critical" because of its economic importance, meaning it is in high demand globally. While definitions of critical vary from country to country, criticality tends to signify importance, value, rarity, or risk of disruption to supply. Which minerals are classified as critical changes as new technologies emerge and different mineral properties are needed to enable different features.
What’s hiding inside your phone?
To explore this year’s theme, we opened an exhibition in the Upper Library of Burlington House all about the treasure trove of metals and minerals inside our mobile phones. Showcasing the special and often surprising physical properties of these materials allowed us to take visitors on a journey through the how, what and why of modern phone technology and the minerals and metals that make it possible.
The exhibition was arranged around a disassembled iPhone, with parts tethered to different minerals from our public collection. The physical connections between components of a phone and Earth's materials illustrated the variety and natural complexity that make a mobile phone's many functions possible. It showcased minerals used in batteries, to conduct electricity, operate microphones, protect the device from overheating, and make it vibrate.
"What's hiding inside your phone?" was open to visitors at Burlington House from 17 September to 3 November 2026.
Pop-up Earth science
Throughout the week, we ran pop-up events in the Burlington House courtyard, introducing passers-by to the world of minerals. Visitors were able to pick up, handle and explore a range of specimens up close, quizzing our experts about where they come from, the ways in which they are collected, and consider how using them impacts our planet. These events were designed to provoke curiosity and encourage debate by offering a space to form connections between people's everyday lives and Earth’s materials.
Can geology save the world?
On 13 October, we also held a public lecture, "Can geology save the world?", with Prof Chris Jackson. Framed in the context of changing climate, Chris showcased society-wide problems to which geoscience poses solutions, including the need to find and sustainably extract resources, develop safe renewable energies, and improve hazard and disaster preparedness. Studying Earth’s history teaches us how conditions could change in the future and equips us to sustainably interact with natural materials, landscapes and the environment. The audience was left with the resounding message that by applying their skills collaboratively, geoscientists can address these problems, while also acknowledging the role of geoscience in contributing to them.
