Geography News 2012

2 New members of staff in Geography – Dr Paul Barratt & Dr Ruth Swetnam
We have recently been joined by two new lecturers in Geography. Dr Paul Barratt is a cultural geographer with research interests focusing on environmental engagements, low carbon living and working, and qualitative research methods. Paul joins us after undertaking a PhD and post doctoral research project at the University of Hull. Paul’s PhD research examined how people’s engagements with the outdoors are mediated and enacted by technology with numerous experiential consequences. A flavour of the research can be gained from articles published in the Journals ‘Social and Cultural Geography’ and ‘Area’. Paul’s latest research project is a multidisciplinary project examining the transition towards low carbon supply chains for the Centre for Low Carbon Futures. The breadth of Paul’s teaching within the department reflects his varied research interests from human geography, research methods and environmental concerns.
Dr Ruth Swetnam is a GIS specialist with interests in landscape change, landscape ecology and ecosystem services. She joins us from Cambridge University where she has spent 4 years working on a Leverhulme Trust funded project called Valuing the Arc which has been mapping, modelling and valuing services provided by the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania. Prior to her foray into sub-Saharan Africa, Ruth spent 15 years working for the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology conducting research and applying GIS tools and techniques to a wide range of projects in the environmental sciences. She is passionate about maps and the use of GIS as a tool to answer interesting spatial questions.

One of Dr. Liz Young's MA Sustainable Development Students, Tom Broadhurst,  has just had his dissertation research published by PISCES (Policy Innovation Systems for Clean Energy Security (Edinburgh Univ) The paper is available on line at:

http://www.pisces.or.ke/sites/default/files/Pisces%20Working%20Brief%20No.%203.pdf

Interesting and pertinent discussion about Biofuel production in the developing world and its implications for food security and sustainable development.  The case study is based in Tanzania. Tanzania is one of many African countries seeking to benefit from global interest in first-generation liquid biofuels for transportation. Several domestic and international organisations have identified jatropha (Jatropha Curcas L.) as a potential bioenergy crop, and are initiating biofuels programmes throughout the country using varied production methods and business models, each with different social, economic, and environmental implications.

Geography student Abigail Dunning was recently highly commended for her entry into the annual photo competition of the Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences Subject Group of the Higher Education Academy. The topic of this year's competition was ‘Our Inspiring Planet: Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at University’.

Abby entered a photo from her recent field trip to Barcelona, which showed the Barcelona skyline and the Collserola Mountains. In the caption which accompanied the photo, Abby described how these mountains have historically limited the growth of the city, but posed the question as to how long nature could resist the endless onslaught of urbanisation.

You can view Abby's photo and caption, along with those of the competition winners and other highly commended entries at http://gees.ac.uk/projtheme/sawards/2011/photocomp11.htm

Our Geography department has been ranked 8th out of 62 departments across the country in the Guardian Rankings for their University Guide 2011.
Clearly beating many other prestigious universities.

Cycling in Stoke

Cycling Stoke have £9.6 million to spend over three years to improve cycling in Stoke on Trent.
Since October 2009 Cycling Stoke and the Geography Department have been collaborating by using students to investigate cycling in the general public, and staff and students at Staffordshire University.

Please click here for the current newsletter (PDF, file size: 180.13KB) for the Institute for Environment, Sustainability and Regeneration.

Professor Fiona Tweed has been invited to be one of a small advisory team of outstanding academics, stakeholders and policy makers from across Europe.

The group will offer expert guidance to the European Commission funded 7th Framework project CAPHAZ-NET (Social Capacity Building for Natural Hazards: Towards More Resilient Societies).

This project aims to identify and assess existing practices and policies for social capacity building in the field of natural hazards across Europe. The project will make recommendations to enhance the resilience of European societies to the impacts of natural hazards.

The ERASMUS programme allows both staff and students to study at partner Universities, one of the links we have is with Oldenburg University in Germany.
Students from geography, biology, ecology and forensic science would all fit into the programme of study well.

Please see associated word document (DOC, file size: 41KB) with full details.

Other resources

There is a box file in the Learning Resource Centre 4th Floor Mellor Building, marked Oldenburg – ERASMUS with more information.

Key contacts

Jon Fairburn from the Geography has been to Oldenburg and you can have an informal chat with him or email him at Jon.Fairburn@staffs.ac.uk.

Ingo Mose head of the Regional Science group ingo.mose@uni-oldenburg.de

Katja Kaboth responsible for incoming international students at Oldenburg University katja.kaboth@uni-oldenburg.de

Susan Lloyd International Office, Staffordshire University 01782 294838 s.r.lloyd@staffs.ac.uk