I'd always expected that starting a completely new project would be daunting at this stage of my career. My relative inexperience made it likely that I would initially find myself way beyond the limits of my present expertise. And so it has proved: when it comes to South African geology, I'm a blank slate. And although I'm well versed in the concepts, my studies of ancient rock magnetism have so far been focused on measuring rapid deformation at plate boundaries rather than the stately drift of whole continents.

Simultaneously, much more is (rightly) expected of me. I have, after all, been hired for my palaeomagnetic expertise. I no longer have the safety net of a supervisor who's more of an expert than I am. But although I can't help feeling a little bit inadequate when every paper I read highlights a dozen others that I really need to read as well, I also feel excitement and a sense of opportunity. We know so little about what the Earth was like 3 billion years ago — geologists still argue vigorously over whether plate tectonics as we understand them were in operation at all.

So I have a real chance to make a significant contribution with my research. And the enforced expansion of my realm of expertise will also make me a better and, I hope, more employable, scientist.