Charles from the Republic of Congo : From a kid playing with stones to geologist in Tasmania

The Republic of Congo is not to be confused with the Democratic Republic of Congo, it's much larger Francophone neighbour. But like it's neighbour, it is rich in valuable minerals, particularly oil and timber. So perhaps it makes sense that Charles, who, with his wife is the only Republic of Congo-born residents of Tasmania, should be a geologist. As you will hear in this episode, it has been an interesting life path to get here. We talk about several life changing moments - his father going blind, the culture shock of moving from an inland rural area to a large coastal city for education, and then an academic journey to Malaysia and finally to Tasmania, where he currently works at the University of Tasmania's School of Earth Sciences.  He also does voluntary work advocating for the local African and other diverse communities, and we also discuss his faith and how he reconciles that with being a scientist - an interesting conversation.