Old Persean shares insight into exploring Mount Vesuvius
Lizzie Bourne (OP 2022) shares her experience of benefiting from a Perse Travel Award.
With the help of my travel award, I was able to travel to Mount Vesuvius in Naples. I chose this location to do a small study on the psychological impact of the volcano on the population in Naples using my geography A level knowledge of tectonics.
My findings were interesting with many of the tourists I met being unaware of the risk that the volcano imposes and what to do in the event of an eruption. The locals however, were much more aware of it, including a hostel receptionist who told me about the different presence that Mount Vesuvius has to Mount Etna.
Mount Etna is a more active volcano than Mount Vesuvius and is located in Sicily. The receptionist told me that the risk imposed by Mount Vesuvius was much smaller than Mount Etna and, as a result, she thought about the possibility and effects of an eruption much less than when she lived in Sicily. I also visited both Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius itself to see the devastation which the volcano has caused.
The money which I was granted went towards the travel and accommodation required for this trip and was extremely helpful. I am planning on using the findings of this study in my psychology degree at Durham University.
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