While the rest of her cousins chose "sensible careers", Anjana Khatwa was the self-described "odd girl who studied rocks."
The award winning earth scientist recalls her mother wringing her hands in despair asking: When will you give up this fascination for rock?
Well - she never did. And her intrigue and interest only ever grew.
With a bachelor of Earth Science and a PhD in Geography, Anjana was awarded the Geologists' Association Halstead Medal in 2023, their Annual Award for Excellence in 2021, has worked at the iconic Jurassic Coast World heritage site and at Wessex Museum - and is also a regular contributor to natural history programmes including on the BBC, and the History Channel.
Anjana says rocks tell the stories of what happened on earth millions of years ago and that by studying them one becomes a time-traveller - exploring the stories of ancient life on earth.
Her book The Whispers of Rock takes the reader across the world from the bluestone megaliths of Stonehenge, Manhattan's bedrock of schist, and the pounamu of New Zealand.
