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Prof Claire Corkhill

@clairecorkhill.bsky.social
693 followers 453 following 122 posts

Professor of Mineralogy at University of Bristol, HMG Advisor. Aspirational TV presenter. Step-parent. Trail runner / squelcher. Specialises in geological disposal of radioactive waste.

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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
On top of the world! 🌎 11 miles of tor bagging in Dartmoor, including my favourite named tor, Yes! #trailrunning #adventure2026
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The best thing about moving to @bristoluni.bsky.social? The people. 3 years on, I feel incredibly lucky to work alongside a supportive Earth Science community, with the incredible @sw-nuclearhub.bsky.social team and an amazing group of talented young scientists. Exciting new research incoming! ☢️
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Excellent wisdom as ever from Brad and the Goat. Follow him on insta for other wise mental health mantras, typically accompanied by appropriately angry geese and cute goats. Boundaries. Set them, hold them, and breathe. Live. Love. Repeat.
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 17/05/2026
Huge love for the #HathersageHurtle ❤️ 32km of Peak District hills, millstone grit, sunshine, brilliant company, top-notch #trailrunning & elite-tier homemade cakes at the aid stations - all raising money for a local school. I hurt. My soul is happy. I’ll be back in 2027. www.hathersagehurtle.com
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
And I couldn't let my last trip to the Swiss Light Source for a while pass without taking the opportunity for #adventure! Chanelling my inner Julie Andrews, I enjoyed 30km of mountain hiking in the Alps. Together with the X-ray science, my soul, body and mind feel refreshed! 🇨🇭♥️🏔️
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
It's time for me to bid farewell to the @psi.ch Swiss Light Source proposal review committee 👋🏽 Eight years & countless hard XAS proposals reviewed have earned me an SLS clock! It was a treat to take a whirl INSIDE the SLS 2.0 ring: a seriously impressive machine, get your proposals in! Tschüss! 🇨🇭💯
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Another smashing visit to Grenoble and the @esrf.fr for a fun-filled X-ray absorption spectroscopy trip. And this time, j'ai enfin gravi la Bastille! My run was rewarded with some spectacular pre-sunrise views from the top. Nice one, France. À la prochaine! 🇫🇷💯🏰 #trailrunning #synchrotron #adventure
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
I need more core strength to make this trig-plank even half decent! 😅A fabulous few days of hiking, trail running and wild swimming in the Black Mountains. Adventure season has officially begun 🔆💯🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🥰 #adventure #trailrunning @olivertlord.bsky.social
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
One for the mineralogists/crystallographers amongst you... We're having a Riet-veld-y good time in the lab at the moment with the new XRD! 😍(this pun works better if you're in Yorkshire... if you're in Bristol, it's just gert lush). Anyway, time for an Easter break! Happy holidays one and all!
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
A fascinating visit to Dungeness A & B (photo) with colleagues from the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management & DESNZ this week. Thanks to Nuclear Restoration Services for hosting & describing the challenges of decommissioning a plant that may be inundated by sea level rise within 100y #nukesky
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Sending support to blended families navigating tricky, high‑conflict moments this week. Love, steady care & connection will always win out: kids know where they feel safe. To step‑parents holding steady through challenging dynamics and creating safe, loving homes: what you do matters, keep going 💪💗
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Thinking of all the different kinds of mums today — motherhood is rarely as simple as it looks. I really enjoyed a lovely chat with my Mum earlier 💗Wishing everyone a gentle Mother's Day 💐
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Huge thanks to the team at I18 @diamondlightsource.bsky.social for their support during THE most challenging experiment I have ever attempted at a synchrotron, to reveal secrets from inside the Earth. We are leaving happy, yet exhausted! Oh, and IMO, every beamline should have its own cat. #kapton
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
Reflecting on the past and present, what does the future hold for nuclear in the South West region? It was great to be joined by @claireyoungmp.bsky.social and @evelynwelch.bsky.social at the annual @sw-nuclearhub.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social showcase to share ideas and shape what's next ☢️
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Sunny London, fascinating uranium minerals from #Chernobyl & #Fukushima, and X-ray analysis of their composition and structures — a perfect fit for the Kathleen Lonsdale Building at @ucl.ac.uk 🔆 Thanks to @geofrances.bsky.social and Earth Sciences colleagues for the invitation to speak! ☢️💚🔆
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Ruth Watson @ruthwatson.eurosky.social · 20/02/2026
Let's not create any more problems for future generations to clean up. #NuclearPower #Hubris
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Where does radioactive waste come from and what are the plans to manage it over timescales longer than human civilizations? ☢️ I chat with @bbcvic.bsky.social on BBC's Inside Science. Listen here to learn more: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... @sw-nuclearhub.bsky.social @cabot-institute.bsky.social
bbc.co.uk
BBC Inside Science - How to bury radioactive waste - BBC Sounds
And how can future civilisations remember where we put it?
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Cabot Institute for the Environment @cabot-institute.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
How do you protect people and the environment from radioactive waste – not just for decades, but for millions of years? Professor @clairecorkhill.bsky.social's research looks to nature for the answer. Read more --> scienceandengineering.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/a-career-in-...
scienceandengineering.blogs.bristol.ac.uk
A Career in Science That Lasts a Million Years
    A Career in Science That Lasts a Million Years How do you protect people and the environment from radioactive waste – not just for decades, but for millions of years? Professor Cla...
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Perfection is absurd. The path’s been messy — but it’s still going somewhere good. Still building. Still moving forward. Feeling great. 💯 😎
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
Great effort @ultradamo.bsky.social! We were really rooting for you. But so too were all those tree roots, brambles, cold, fog, mud, etc. etc. Hope you get to enjoy some gallons of tea now. No finishers in this year's #BM100 ☕ ☠️
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
And jumping on the chatgpt trend of drawing a caricature of you in your job, here's a nod to the brilliant women scientists I worked with at the weekend at @esrf.fr @hzdr.bsky.social ROBL, and with whom we made a potentially very exciting discovery! #IWISD ♀️☢️💚
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Happy International Women in Science Day! #IWISD ♀️👩🏼‍🔬🥳 From deep time to earth-inspired solutions for radioactive waste and climate adaptation, I’m proud to work alongside so many brilliant women scientists at @bristoluni.bsky.social scienceandengineering.blogs.bristol.ac.uk?s=women+in+s...
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 07/02/2026
International women doing synchrotron science!♀️👩🏼‍🔬 Hunting for pentavalent uranium ☢️ in the most unlikely of mineralogical places, eating cheese and having an all-round jolly good time at @esrf.fr @hzdr.bsky.social 🇫🇷🇬🇧🇺🇸 #uranium #rocks
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 05/02/2026
A career in science that lasts a million years. Well, the problem I'm trying to solve will last that long anyway! Check out this @bristoluni.bsky.social blog released just ahead of Women in Science day next week to find out more 👩🏼‍🔬☢️♀️ #WiS scienceandengineering.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/a-career-in-...
scienceandengineering.blogs.bristol.ac.uk
A Career in Science That Lasts a Million Years
    A Career in Science That Lasts a Million Years How do you protect people and the environment from radioactive waste – not just for decades, but for millions of years? Professor Cla...
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Just look at this beauty! This is autunite, a hydrated calcium uranyl phosphate #mineral (Ca(UO2)2(PO4)2·10H2O for you purists) under UV light. This sample is from Cornwall (UK), a secondary mineral from pegmatite-associated uranium. I had fun teaching our 3rd year Bristol geologists today! ☢️😁
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
🌱 Winter outside, jungle vibes inside 🦍 New leafy friends courtesy of Sprouts of Bristol - highly recommend if you need a bit of life indoors right now sproutsofbristol.co.uk 🌱
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
💛💚The daffodils are up! 💛💚Spring is finally here to wash away the long winter. A season to GROW, for all of us. To move FORWARD. To BREATHE fresh air and let the old crap and baggage behind us wash away. Hooray! 🙌
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Taking around 9 months, an independent review of the UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority launched this week. The review will "challenge existing practices and propose bold recommendations to enhance the NDA’s performance and effectiveness." Read more here: www.gov.uk/government/p... #nukesky
gov.uk
Independent review of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA): terms of reference
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Ukraine is battling to keep the lights on. Khmelnytsky nuclear power plant is vital in their fight ☢️ BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Ukraine is battling to keep the lights on - this nuclear is vital in their fight
The BBC gains rare access to the Khmelnytsky plant as Russian pummels Ukraine's energy grid.
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
🚨☢️New paper alert! ☢️🚨Great work from Dr Ritesh Mohun (now at @bangoruniversity.bsky.social) in our USA-UK collaboration with @pullman.wsu.edu on the effect of radiation damage on Y-doped CeO2 (as an analogue for REE-doped UO2). Read it here: @pccp.rsc.org pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
In case anyone’s dealing with turmoil today, here’s a little respite. Don’t lose your belief in #kindness. I have a glue gun and googly eyes and I'm not afraid to use them — bring me your rocks if needed! 👀 🪨 ✨ #geology #earth #ActsOfCare #EEAAO
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Last week saw the last ever Nuclear Waste Services Research Support Office conference where academics, postdocs, PhDs and industrialists shared their research. Although the funding has been sadly withdrawn, many of us will continue our hard work to underpin safe radioactive waste disposal ☢️
photo credit: Chris Foster Photography
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
The 'Drying Zone' ☔💧🟤 Surely we all have one? (those Hokas used to be white 🤍 once upon a time!) #trailrunning #soggyfeet
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Military action in Ukraine continues to disrupt electricity supplies critical to the safe operation of Zaporizhzhya and Chornobyl, and military flying objects come close to the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant, the @iaeaorg.bsky.social reports. #nuclear #nukesky www.iaea.org/newscenter/p...
iaea.org
Update 337 – IAEA Director General Statement on Situation in Ukraine | IAEA
The IAEA today secured the agreement of both the Russian Federation and Ukraine to implement a localized ceasefire enabling repairs to begin on the last remaining backup power line to Ukraine’s ZNPP, ...
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Spotted on a muddy 10-mile Mendips run: quiet mist, a wild pony, and that gentle sense that spring is on its way — no rush though, there’s still joy in the boggy, feet-sodden miles 🥰 #trailrunning
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Rage Against the Miocene @organiccarbon.bsky.social · 04/01/2026
Sometimes you need to explore the overgrown and long forgotten trail; and sometimes you need to abandon the manmade trails entirely and follow those of the deer and foxes.
Trees, covered with moss, extending from a leaf-covered slope at a variety of angles.
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
Hi folks, for any other #stepmums out there, please consider sharing your experiences anonymously for a book about #stepmotherhood. Please RT. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
docs.google.com
The Stepmom Experience: An Anonymous Survey
This anonymous questionnaire is for stepmoms who are willing to share their honest experiences. Responses may be used anonymously in a book about stepmotherhood. No names or identifying information wi...
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
Jan highlight: Wild swimming in the Baltic Sea 🇪🇪🥶 (2C)
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
December highlights: Making the most of every single drop of day light, running trails across Pembrokeshire. Happy new year one and all, may 2026 bring you peace and adventures! 🎉
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
November highlights: Golden early morning trail running in the Mendip hills
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
October highlights: Autumnal stomps through woodland, solo and with the step-gang.
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
September highlights: More early morning trail running adventures in Snowdonia 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
August highlights: Adventures in Cornwall, including the Eden project parkrun, lots of trail running and coast exploring
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
2025 was my most adventurous year yet — despite its challenges 🚐🏃‍♀️🌊 A new campervan, brilliant running & wild-swimming friends, a guy who loves the outdoors & step-kids that Bear Grylls would approve of — we squeezed adventure everywhere we could find. Here’s to more of that in 2026 ✨ Happy New Year.
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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
55 years ago this morning, BANEBERRY—a 10-kiloton, weapons-related, underground nuclear test 912 feet beneath the Nevada Test Site—accidentally vented, releasing 6.7 million curies of radioactive debris, including 80,000 curies of iodine-131, the second largest venting in US history. (THREAD)
A color aerial photograph of the tall BANEBERRY white and brown radioactive venting cloud rising out of its vertical test shaft at the Nevada Test Site against a mostly blue sky.
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
So proud of our Radiomineralogy group specialist technician @sophielitherland.bsky.social, who just made her TV debut this week with Jimmy Carr! The subject of her comic stardom? URANIUM! ☢️ 💚 Please don't give up your day job Sophie - you are hilarious but we need you in the lab!
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
It was a jolly holly Christmas last night as I celebrated with the University of Bristol School of Earth Sciences petrologists! (We need to get better at posing for photos in 2026! 😂) My top petrology lesson this year? Grey rock. If you know, you know. Merry Christmas #petrologists of the world! 🎄🎉
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
If you want to learn more about #Chernobyl, what led to the accident and what the inside of the reactors look like today, head on over to @channel4tv.bsky.social and watch this rather excellent documentary (feat. yours truly - photographed below on top of unit 3) www.channel4.com/programmes/c...
channel4.com
Chernobyl: The New Evidence
Formerly secret KGB files reveal the astonishing truth about the 1986 Chernobyl explosion
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Prof Claire Corkhill @clairecorkhill.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
CRUMBS. The @iaeaorg.bsky.social have confirmed that the New Safe Confinement -- the huge dome constructed over the Chernobyl reactor to keep the decaying and highly radioactive Reactor Unit 4 contained -- has lost its primary safety functions and confinement can no longer be maintained. #nukesky
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Oliver T Lord @olivertlord.bsky.social · 05/12/2025
🌍🪐 STFC funded PhD opportunity in Planetary Science @bristoluni.bsky.social Choose from projects on: 1️⃣ Chondritic meteorites 2️⃣ Titan's atmosphere 3️⃣ The deep interior of Mars 4️⃣ Highly siderophile elements in the solar system 🕒 Apply by: 25 Feb 2026, 14:00 GMT ℹ️ www.bristol.ac.uk/earthscience...
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