Claire Mulder

Claire Mulder
BSc-student Applied Earth Sciences

Why did you select Applied Earth Sciences?
I mainly chose Applied Earth Sciences because I was looking to study something in English. But also because I wanted to get challenged with both math and physics, while being educated in a range of subjects giving me as many Master/career options as possible. I enjoy being introduced to new fields of study, and although many courses here are related to one another, I also often have a course which teaches me something completely new. I also love travelling and the excursions really attracted me to this study.

Passions?
I could have never imagined myself getting excited about seeing one certain type of rock layered on another, but after only my first year I have started to appreciate the history and story behind each rock structure. I’ve also become very interested in underground exploration, after studying this in courses such as “Geophysical Methods: subsurface characterization” at the start of the second year. I don’t really have specific passions yet but I’m slowly learning what sparks an interest in me.

Challenges?
The large variety in subjects can sometimes be an obstacle. Each quarter introduces three new subjects, which can either be linked to a previous course, or not at all. This requires a range of capabilities, and at times a great amount of studying. Courses also move quickly, and cover a lot of information, so keeping up is necessary but can be difficult.

What do I want to become?
I don’t yet know what I want to become, but I’m not worried about that now because I know I’m working hard towards a big range of options in the future.

Fun to know
I started off studying Applied Physics, after many years of being sure that that was what I wanted to do. I hated it and ended up working at a bakery for half a year. During this time I applied to the study Applied Earth Sciences in a train somewhere in Sweden.