Editor / Communication Officer for the Geology of the Tour de France initiative (0.8 FTE)

The Geology of the Tour de France science communication initiative is looking to hire an Editor / Communication officer. Are you a dynamic and dedicated science communicator with a taste for natural sciences, and with an interest in pro-cycling? Are you (social) media savvy, and interested in developing light-hearted, documentary-style vlogs and blogs? Come and join the team at Utrecht University (UU) and Naturalis Biodiversity Center!

The Geology of the Tour de France (GeoTdF) project explains Earth's history and processes, and the role of understanding these for society, using geological phenomena that can be seen during the live TV coverage of Tour de France stages. In past years, the concept was developed as '5-minute read' blogs on the GeoTdF website, and through Twitter (@GeoTdF). These blogs are directed at, and reach, international television, radio, and written and online media journalists who have started to interweave the geological information into their reporting, like they routinely do with cultural or historical background. Building on the success of the previous seasons, the geoscience heart of the project at UU and the science communication stronghold of Naturalis have combined strengths and opened a position for a science communication enthusiast.

Through hiring a dedicated editor / communication officer for the Tour de France seasons of 2023 and 2024, the project aims to expand the content provided by GeoTdF with video knowledge clips for online and television media. As a new member of the team, you will help develop a wider social media presence to optimise the reach of the initiative, and translate the geological and physical geographical content provided by an international team of geoscientists to these channels. You will interact with the public via social media, and help answering their questions, or direct these to specialists. You will edit the content to ensure readability by a wide and broadly interested audience. You will co-develop video content that will be filmed on location in the field along the Tour de France parcourse, and develop clips for various social and television media, in the Netherlands and beyond. And you will help developing a strategy to help the project reach its ultimate aim: becoming a long-lasting flagship of geoscience outreach, a 'geo-cyclo-pedia' that will provide annual contributions to the organisation of the Tour de France, and the international media and audience that follow this, and other professional cycling events.