Welcome to the Autumn 2015 edition of the Geography Newsletter from Plymouth University. Our cover photo shows two of our students enjoying the Stage Two field trip to Ireland (more inside). This edition also showcases our students’ internship and volunteering activities, graduate profiles, and provides a round-up of recent staff achievements.

Dr Nicky Harmer

GEOGRAPHYWITHPLYMOUTHUNIVERSITY

NEWSLETTERAUTUMN 2015

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The Fallen Emperor

Two hundred years ago this month, Napoleon Bonaparte arrived at the isolated island of St Helena in the South Atlantic, where he would spend the rest of his life as an exile. Before being transferred to HMS Northumberland for the long journey south, Napoleon had spent ten days (24 July – August 4 1815) in Plymouth Sound. Having surrendered to the captain of HMS Bellerophon off Rochefort in France after defeat at Waterloo, he was held captive aboard this ship at Plymouth while the British government decided his fate.

The 200th anniversary of this extraordinary episode has been marked by the recent ‘Fallen Emperor’ exhibition in Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. It was researched and co-curated by Clive Charlton, in conjunction with Nigel Overton, the Museum’s city and maritime heritage curator. Clive is now a visiting research fellow in Geography, following retirement in 2014 after 40 years as a lecturer. He said: “Napoleon’s arrival at Plymouth was sensational. Many thousands of spectators went out into the Sound in small boats in the hope of catching a glimpse of ‘Boney’ – by far the greatest celebrity of his day.”

The Jules Girardet painting ‘Napoleon on Board the Bellerophon at Plymouth’, in which Napoleon is visible standing on the deck of HMS Bellerophon while thousands in rowing boats flock to catch a glimpse of him.

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But there is geography in the ‘Fallen Emperor’ story as well as history. For example, because the new Breakwater had appeared above the high tide line by 1815, the Sound would have been safer for all the sightseers’ small boats – a modest but significant change in the local marine environment. Mobility had improved in other ways. Better turnpike roads and a pioneer ‘shutter telegraph’ system had speeded up communication with the capital, while more efficient road links allowed many people to visit Plymouth from ‘up country’ in the hope of spotting Napoleon.

The exhibition also highlighted the illustrious career of HMS Bellerophon, which was one of the most widely travelled (and battered!) warships in the Royal Navy by the time Napoleon came aboard. She had been dismasted in three major battles, while her journeys had taken her to the Caribbean, Newfoundland, the Baltic and Egypt. Fittingly for a ship with such an illustrious history, her involvement in Napoleon’s story was her final official duty. Amazingly, some of the ship’s timbers still survive – they now rest in a cottage in Plymstock.

Part of the map charting the days which followed Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, leading eventually to his exile on the South Atlantic island of St Helena.

Talking bogs, bog bodies and Seamus Heaney with the Empress of Japan

Plymouth University physical geographers were well represented at the IXth INQUA Congress in Nagoya, Japan in July 2015. The Congress is held every four years and was attended by 1,790 Quaternary scientists from 68 countries and regions. From Plymouth Nicki Whitehouse, Stephanie Mills, Ralph Fyfe, Anne Mather, Francis Rowney, Emma Rice and Tom Newton presented oral and poster presentations and several organised conference sessions.

The Congress’ Opening Ceremony was honoured by the presence of Their Majesties, the Emperor and the Empress of Japan. Nicki Whitehouse, in her capacity as INQUA’s President of the Humans and Biosphere Commission, was fortunate to be able to meet them at a private reception hosted by Their Majesties, and Nicki spoke personally with Her Majesty the Empress of Japan. They discussed her research in Ireland, especially concerning bogs, trackways and bog bodies. Her Majesty responded by highlighting the famous poem by the Irish poet Seamus Heany, ‘Bogland’, which concerns Tollund Man, found in Denmark, and reflects Heaney’s fascination with Irish bogs where bog bodies and cultural artefacts have been found over the years. Nicki reports that ‘it was a great honour to meet the Empress and to have such a fascinating conversation with her.’

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Geography students make a difference - from the South Downs to the South Pacific

From Fiji and the Seychelles to the South Downs and McDonald’s HQ, Plymouth University Geography students have been making a contribution to society and conservation initiatives and gaining wider skills through volunteering and internships this summer.

Iona Neilson is spending a year as an intern with the Environment Team at McDonald’s headquarters in London. Her job involves managing and assisting with projects in the key areas of waste, energy and litter. She is working on projects to increase recycling, helping design training materials for stores, writing newsletters on sustainability, creating energy consumption reports, preparing data for carbon foot-printing, and other initiatives. Iona explained that she hopes to develop a working knowledge of environmental policy

and practice and sustainability communications in a business. She also aims to work on her telephone manner and confidence in giving presentations.

Releasing water voles, coppicing, and helping improve rights of way were just some of the activities undertaken by final year Geography students Tavis Yung andChris Stone this summer as part of their volunteer work at the Queen Elizabeth Country Park on the South Downs. They hope to be selected for a three month volunteering project next year with Iceland’s environment agency. Tavis explained: “The Queen Elizabeth Country Park is the closest SSSI to our area of Hampshire and we had used their car park as a starting point for our charity bike ride along the South Downs last summer. We felt the volunteering would be ideal work experience for the Iceland placement as it is practical and hands-on conservation work and is a really good way to build up skills for your CV.”

Geography student Bradley Peachey’s placement year took him from assisting at a school in Kent, to helping measure giant tortoises and coco de mer trees in a national park in the Seychelles. Bradley spent the first six months of his placement year as a member of the geography departmental team at Thomas Aveling School, in Medway, Kent. As geography classroom associate, he assisted students who needed extra support and also helped organise and run a school trip to Italy and Belgium. “My six months at the school were both rewarding and challenging, but allowed me to gain invaluable experiences,” said Bradley.

He then spent two months volunteering on Curieuse, a national park island in the Seychelles with environmental research/experience company, GVI. The island is open to tourists during the day but at night only GVI members and the National Park Authority’s staff are allowed to stay.

Bradley explained: “My project involved finding and measuring giant tortoises across the national park and measuring the height and leaf length of coco de mer trees, which have the largest seed/nut in the world and are an endemic species to the Seychelles.” The volunteers also carried out bird surveys and worked in the mangroves identifying species and taking temperature and salinity readings of the soil and water. “I was also lucky enough to help set up and take part in the new beach profiling project on the island, looking at the changing gradient of the beach over time,” explained Bradley. “The entire trip was a life changing experience and I would recommend the Seychelles and GVI for any geographer wanting to spread their wings!”

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Jess is super-fundraiser Jess is Uni RAG President

Jess Vagg (final year Geography) started off her volunteering in her first year at Plymouth University by raising £3000 for Practical Action (an international development charity) through the RAG Kilimanjaro challenge, successfully climbing the 5,895 metre East African peak.

The next year she joined the committee as RAG Adventures Coordinator, organising challenges such as the Great Wall of China trek for Dementia, Flying Monkey Skydive for Wild Futures, and the Athens Marathon for Hope For Children, to name but a few. On top of this she also took on the challenge of cycling from London to Paris, raising £1000 for Breast Cancer Now and grabbed the Leadership Award at the UPSU Volunteer Awards in the summer.

Now in the final year of her degree, Jess is leading RAG in her role as President. The year kicked off with Plymouth RAG winning the ‘Best Event’ category at the National RAG Awards and hopefully will go from strength to strength with a wide range of events and international challenges on offer this term. See RAG’s upcoming events at:http://www.upsu.com/volunteering/fundraising/events/

Geography degree helps student’s political ambitions

Would-be politician Josh Leal combined his Geography undergraduate degree at Plymouth last year with running for a seat in the May 2015 elections.

At just 20 years old, Josh was one of the younger candidates fielded by the Green Party to stand for election to Plymouth City Council. Despite not winning - the Sutton and Mount Gould seat went to the Labour Party candidate - Josh took 11.9% of the vote, coming fourth behind the Conservatives and UKIP and in front of the Liberal Democrat candidate.

The experience was so exciting and satisfying that Josh aims to stand for election to Plymouth City Council again next year: “It was really rewarding because the amount of effort you put in did really show - I did lots of campaigning and it was reflected in the number of votes.”

Josh feels that the experience he gained doing research on the Geography fieldtrip to Ireland this year really helped him during the election campaign: “In Ireland we were having to approach people in the street doing surveys and I think that helped to give me the people skills needed for campaigning.” And the campaign has also given him the confidence to run for one of the UPSU (student union) sabbatical positions next year.

Josh, who comes from the Isle of Wight and in now in his final year, joined the Young Greens society at Plymouth University in 2014. As a member of the society Josh spent a week in Brussels learning about the European Parliament and taking part in a series of workshops. He also attended a Young Greens convention in Brighton, joined an anti-austerity march, and even had lunch with Green Party leader Nathalie Bennett.

Research sheds new light on the formation of exceptional river gorges

A recent paper published in the journal Nature Communications by Dr Anne Mather and colleagues provides new insights into the formation of exceptional gorges in hard rocks. The article is based on Anne’s research both with colleagues in Geology at Plymouth University and in Spain and documents how, in just six years during the 1930s, unexceptional floods created exceptional erosion in granite at a dam construction site in northwest mainland Spain.

The paper is available at: http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150805/ncomms8963/full/ncomms8963.html

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Students make a splash in Brittany

The residential field courses are always a highlight of the academic year for geography staff and students. This year, our Stage two field trip to north-west Brittany made quite an impact in the town of Morlaix.

Renowned as a tourist destination in the summer, the town has in recent years suffered some severe flood events in the winter. Students conducted research projects on the impacts of these floods on local residents and businesses, the strategies employed by local authorities to prevent and respond to these floods, and the ways in which climate change might affect the vulnerability of the town to such events.

Having interviewed a range of local people – from the businesses whose stores were flooded to the policemen who sandbagged the streets – the students (accompanied by Dr Tim Daley and Professor Geoff Wilson) were then invited to discuss the floods with the mayor, Agnès le Brun. This meeting was featured in the local newspaper, Le Telegramme, highlighting the expertise of Plymouth University staff and students in research in environment and society.

http://www.letelegramme.fr/finistere/morlaix/inondations-des-etudiants-anglais-a-morlaix-28-03-2015-10574505.php

Burren geopark is stunning setting for Ireland field trip

The annual pilgrimage of second year students to Lisdoonvarna, in western Ireland, had a very different feel in 2015. For the first time, the interminable coach journey from Plymouth (via Fishguard Dock) was replaced with the relative ‘luxury’ of air travel from Exeter to Dublin. As a consequence our seventy-two students and eight staff arrived relaxed and refreshed for the week’s activities in and around the stunning landscape of the Burren. As normal the White Group of hotels provided great facilities, and the transformation of the Hydro Hotel discotheque into a fully functioning laboratory and computing space by Rich Hartley and Jamie Quinn was a marvel!

Students enjoyed the fieldwork opportunities offered by the general location, including using clear-felling areas in forestry to understand tree growth rates and past climate change, wading through streams to understand karst hydrology, researching the various causes of emigration from western Ireland over the last few hundred years, and considering representations and perceptions of climate change from locals, regional angles and global perspectives. Additional highlights included meeting the Irish Transport Minister outside the hotel, fine weather for fieldwork, and a great set of keen, interested and hardworking students.

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In his citation Dr Richard Yarwood explained how the trio’s songs are deeply rooted in the locality and have been used to enhance the teaching and research of geography at Plymouth University: “Their songs - including Cousin Jack, about Cornish mining emigrants; the Dive, fishing on the Devon coast; and ‘Union Street’, about military life and the city’s

night club strip - evoke a strong sense of place that has endeared them to geographers and have

themselves contributed to the West Country’s local identity.”

Following acceptance of their degrees, band members Steve Knightley, Phil Beer and Miranda Sykes entertained ceremony-goers with two verses of one of their award-winning songs to great applause.

Several of our Geography graduates are staying on at Plymouth to study for masters degrees and all graduates can remain part of the university through the Plymouth alumni network.

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Hats off to our fantastic Geography graduates

This year’s Geography graduates celebrated their degree achievements this September at an uplifting ceremony against the stunning backdrop of Plymouth Sound.

Families and friends packed the graduation marquees on Plymouth Hoe to see the graduates of Geography and associated masters programmes receive their well-earned degrees and to help them celebrate the culmination of all their hard work.

Four PhD researchers – Chidiebere Daniel Chima, Martin Geach, Rebecca Wheeler and Jiska de Groot were also awarded their doctorates at the ceremony for successfully completing their research theses in Geography.

The members of Devon-based acoustic roots and folk group, Show of Hands, received honorary degrees in Geography at the ceremony.

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Graduate profile

Jayde Barrett

Where were you born and brought up?I was born in Ipswich, and brought up in a small town called Needham Market in Suffolk. Having spent all my life living in Suffolk prior to university, moving from the countryside to a city was a big change for me.

What exactly did you study for your degree and what grade did you get?I studied BSc (Hons) Physical Geography and Geology and graduated with a first class honours degree. I decided to follow a Physical Geography pathway in my final year through Climate and Sea Level Change modules which broadly linked to my dissertation project on peatlands.

Why did you choose to study geography? As well as being one of the few subjects I did well in at school, I always wanted to travel and understand more about the world in which we live.

What were the highlights of your degree?The highlights of my degree have to be the fieldtrips to both Spain and Iceland, seeing amazing landforms and getting to put theory into practice. I also loved the fact that despite what we know, there is still so much we don’t know and research played in big role in teaching.

What have you done since you graduated? Approximately a month after finishing my exams I started a 12 month internship with the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, which I am currently part way through.

What job are you in now?The Hydrographic Office produces a range of Nautical products and charts used by the Navy and Shipping all over the world. I am part of a team which creates cartographic products which are sold and used for navigation. It is varied as no two jobs are the same; it broadens my global knowledge and utilises my GIS skills developed throughout my degree.

How has your geography degree helped you to get (and do) the job you do now?My geography degree has helped me get and do my job through my GIS knowledge and skills developed throughout my three years at Plymouth. I now have the skills to learn and use a range of software. Also, as a shy country girl, doing group work and presentations has given me interpersonal skills which are so important in the workplace.

Did you expect or plan to be doing what you are doing now? Any plans for the future?I didn’t expect to go into cartography or end up starting a job a month after finishing my exams but having applied for many jobs I did plan to be in a geography based role upon graduating. I am still undecided about my plans for the future, however I am looking at permanent roles within the UKHO and career development through cartography. I am also writing a research paper based on my dissertation research and looking at post-graduate qualifications - a geography degree gives you so many options to choose from!

Jayde helps map travertine formations in the Tabernas Basin, south east Spain, during her second year field trip in 2014.

Moor to Sea without the Car: Walks from Plymouth using Public TransportCaitie Hall, Richard Yarwood and Ken Ringwood

Geography staff members have helped create a new resource to encourage students, walkers and tourists to explore in and around Plymouth using public transport. The book was created by Plymouth University students, in collaboration with Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Plymouth (DSRTP). It is co-edited by geography lecturer Dr Richard Yarwood and the maps have been designed and drawn by School cartographer Tim Absalom. The beautifully illustrated A5 book is on sale now in Plymouth University on-campus cafés and details eleven walks in and around the city, alongside maps, illustrations and travel instructions on how to enjoy the Devon and Cornwall landscapes without having to drive.In the book’s foreword Professor Iain Stewart, Director of Plymouth University’s Sustainable Earth Institute and patron of DSRTP, wrote: “Its engaging text and beautiful images will no doubt lure many more to appreciate just what makes our South West backyard so special, but beyond being a celebration of our remarkable countryside, this is a tour guide that helps us enjoy our natural environment without damaging its magnificence.”

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including; geography, surf science, civil engineering and business. The interactive

approach of the course opened my mind to other disciplines

and also helped me to expand my thought process by understanding sustainability issues from different perspectives.

The field visit was particularly enjoyable as it happened early in the

course. Through this field visit I was able to socialise

with my course colleagues in a light hearted way and I believe

that this helped as the SEM class, although small, was well integrated and

many of us are still friends today.

What have you done since you graduated? While doing my dissertation I decided to be proactive, I updated my LinkedIn profile, updated my CV and began applying for jobs. Within a few weeks I had several recruiters calling me and eventually landed an interview with AECOM’s Plymouth Office. In October 2013 I was hired and I since then I have been working as an environmental consultant at AECOM’s Plymouth Office.

In my spare time I am an avid marine aquarist and try to create a little piece of the Caribbean in my living room, although integrating my core values and only using propagated coral and fish as opposed to wild caught stock. I also play volleyball for a local club in Plymouth.

What job are you in now?I am currently an environmental consultant at a global consultancy firm, AECOM. AECOM employs about 95,000 employees across a network of offices in nearly 50 countries. In the UK AECOM combines strengths in environmental consultancy and engineering design to support projects of all sizes and complexity through all stages of their lifecycle.

My job involves many different tasks. Since starting in October 2013 I have been involved in Project Management and EIA coordination; Environmental Compliance through Noise and Water Monitoring; Scientific Support to Environmental Legal Cases; Pollution Response Sampling and submitting Planning Applications on behalf of several clients.

Being involved in so many varied tasks and projects (Energy from Waste Plants, Railroads, Residential Developments, Solar Farms and Wind Farms) makes my job extremely interesting as projects are varied and keep my mind busy. I also enjoy interacting with people from different disciplines on a daily basis. One thing I have learned is that no project is the same and each project has its own intricacies.

Graduate profile

Steffan Shageer

Where were you born and brought up?I was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago which is the southernmost island of the Caribbean. A fun fact about Trinidad is that it does not quite fit into the ‘sun, sea and sand’ stereotype that most Caribbean islands fit into; in fact it is quite the opposite with oil and gas accounting for 40% of the GDP.

Before coming to my Master’s programme I studied at the University of the West Indies and completed my Bachelor’s in Environmental and Natural Resource Management. After completing my degree I went on to work in a small environmental consultancy for six years on predominantly Environmental Impact Assessments for oil and gas projects in Trinidad, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.

What exactly did you study for your degree at Plymouth University?At Plymouth University I obtained a merit in MSc Sustainable Environmental Management in 2013. I decided to focus on things such as restored peat lands and its sequestration potential which I was not familiar with, to challenge myself and dive ‘head first’ into the temperate environment after working and being taught about the tropical environment all my life. I also wanted to better understand how the core principles of sustainability could be better adopted and applied to my small island developing country.

Why did you choose to study for this particular Master’s degree? I chose this degree path because of its multidisciplinary approach to the topic of sustainability and environmental management. For me it had the right mix of economics, physical sciences and social sciences to keep challenging me to ‘think outside the box’ and open my mind from my comfort zone of the physical sciences.

Another reason for choosing this programme was that it not only gave me a Master’s accreditation, but also gave me the opportunity to obtain an Associate membership to a professional membership body in the form of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). This was important to me as it helped to increase my marketability for job hunting and would also be a stepping stone to chartership.

What were the highlights of your degree?The highlight of the programme for me was the interactive approach to the entire programme. My course mates were all from varied backgrounds

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Figures point to bright future for geography graduates

Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) on the employment status of students graduating in 2012/2013, provide good news for geographers.

HESA’s Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey showed that only 6.6% of graduates in physical geography were seeking work six months after graduation, compared to 7.3% of all science subjects and better than biology and chemistry. In the social sciences geography graduates had the lowest rate of unemployment among the disciplines surveyed at just 5.8%, their careers were varied, and of most of those taking Master’s degrees chose subjects closely linked to Geography.

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I enjoy my job because it gives a perfect balance between time in the office and time in the field. When I chose my career path I did not want to be in an office every day but having worked predominantly in the field for six years this job gives me the opportunity to balance office and field work and gives me the opportunity to also work on large scale developments.

How has your Plymouth University degree helped you to get (and do) the job you do now and how useful has it been in your career so far? An important part of my job is EIA coordination. In order to coordinate an EIA you have to be organised, people- friendly and have the ability to understand the cross discipline interactions and challenges. One of my modules was “Environmental Impact Assessment and Sustainable Development” which helped me better understand the role of an EIA Project Manager and taught me the UK legislation that I would need to do my job. This complemented and improved my skills from my previous work in consultancy and directly influences how I manage and execute my projects every day.

Debating is a skill which I have also found useful in my job. The SEM course is structured in a way where debates were encouraged by our lecturers. My course mates from their varied backgrounds all brought something different to the debate and this has improved my debating skills. As an environmental consultant you may have to work on controversial projects which have no public support, and this debating skill has come in handy at public consultations for these controversial projects, where you have to debate with people from different walks of life.

Did you expect or plan to be doing what you are doing now?When I started my first degree, I saw an avenue to help change the world in a positive way. After working in consultancy for six years I kept hearing that consultancy is “the dark side” of the environmental career path and that to truly make a change one needs to go into conservation or sustainability. After obtaining my Master’s degree it helped me realise that development is necessary and that I do make a positive change by making sure all potential environmental effects caused by the development have been considered and have been addressed.

My degree helped to rejuvenate my zeal for consultancy and I plan to continue in this field as I believe that I can truly make a difference by promoting good principles through good practice. I enjoy my job and in the future I want to keep expanding the range of projects that I work on. I also hope to reach my aspiration of helping to change the world in a positive way but with an added realistic caveat of doing it one project at a time. I also plan on becoming chartered this year to further my personal career aspirations.

Would you recommend others to study on your programme for a degree?I honestly think that SEM is one of the best Master’s programmes as it gives you the flexibility to go into a

range of career paths. It allows people from varying backgrounds to come together and emulate real world work interactions, which is important for preparing you for the multi-disciplinary approach that most forward thinking companies are adopting.

I believe that the course not only gives you skills that can be used in a myriad of different jobs but it also expands your thinking. The Associate membership to IEMA, the opportunity to enter from a non-science background and the course delivery makes it easy for me to recommend this Master’s programme to anyone wishing to be more marketable for the increasingly competitive job market.

Pre-election analysis assesses parties’ environmental promises

Environmental Politics Professor Ian Bailey contributed to the pre-election discussions ahead of last May’s general election through his analysis of the political parties’ stance on the environment. Ian, and Cardiff University colleague Professor Hugh Compston, provided detailed analysis of the manifestos of all the major UK political parties to assess their pledges on the environment, climate change and energy issues for the academic news website The Conversation.

Ian commented: “Most of the manifestos give the impression that the main parties want to be seen to be taking energy and environment seriously, but also they see them as linked strongly to economic prosperity through the idea of the green economy. As such, most stress the need for more renewable energy and less coal-based energy generation, and differences are more likely to be found in their stances on nuclear and shale gas extraction”

Read the reports at: https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-bailey-162795/articles

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Sand dune research is out of this world

Plymouth Geography lecturer Dr Matt Telfer is taking his research on dry and desert environments to the final frontier with a focus on planetary dunes. Matt recently attended The Fourth Planetary Dunes workshop in Boise, USA - a gathering of around sixty scientists united in a fascination with sand dunes, on earth and beyond. Matt explained: “Although I’ve studied earth’s dunes for more than a decade, planetary research is a new direction for me”.

Plymouth population conference well populated

Plymouth Geography PhD students Hoayda Darkal and Gina Kallis organised a successful three-day conference at the university this summer attended by delegates from Africa, Europe and the UK.

The 23rd Annual Population Studies Conference, PopFest2015, provided an opportunity for postgraduate researchers to share their work, gain academic skills

Dunes have been found on every planetary body in the solar system with a solid surface and thick atmosphere; and the meeting heard the revelation from the Rosetta mission that the now-famous comet 67P appeared also to have windblown sand ‘ripples’ on its surface (prompting much discussion about how this might be possible without an atmosphere on the comet).

“Mars also featured prominently,” said Matt, “with satellite imagery of Mars now almost rivalling Google Earth for clarity and resolution, and the Curiosity rover shortly to visit its first extra-terrestrial dunefield”. Delegates swapped ideas about the mysterious equatorial dunes of Titan’s icy moon, where, Matt explains, “despite temperatures of -180°C, dunes are formed as seasonal winds blow ‘sand’ made of … well, no-one actually knows, but it seems to be something akin to grains of wax. The dunes lie amongst a desert landscape with rock-hard water ice acting as a bedrock, and liquid methane rain falling to form rivers, valleys and lakes”.

The meeting has paved the way for new potential research collaborations between Matt and colleagues with similar interests in terrestrial and planetary dunes.Kite camera photo of conference participants on the field excursion to the Bruneau Dunes, Idaho. Photo credit: Ralph Lorenz.

and to make contacts with others in their field from 24 universities worldwide. Conference presentations covered the subjects of fertility, contraception, sexual and reproductive behaviour and rights; health, data use and methodological approaches, social participation and active citizenship; migration/mobility and integration; and lifecourse and gender.

Conference delegates also had a chance to explore the history and geography of Plymouth with trips around the city and up the river Tamar.

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Grant Successes

Will Blake has been awarded €183,455 from the European Commission, in the form of a Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellowship with Dr Andra Iurian from Romania. The project concerns ‘Sediment linkage between land, river and sea: evaluating impacts of historic mining on sediment quality in the coastal zone’.

Ralph Fyfe, Jessie Woodbridge and Neil Roberts have been successful with a new research grant application to the Leverhulme Trust. The award of £300,000, with £160,000 to Plymouth will build on their current Leverhulme grant (“Deforesting Europe”) but will focus on long-term landscape change around the Mediterranean. In addition to transforming pollen data into past land cover, they will be working with Co-Is at UCL comparing our results with those on palaeo-demographic change.

Rebecca Johnson has been awarded £23,000 from the Department for Transport to conduct a “Rapid Evidence Review of the impact of a person’s impairment when accessing transport and the social and economic losses as a result.” Rebecca will be working with ITP consultants but half of the awarded monies will come to Plymouth.

Andrew Seedhouse has been successful with a joint submission with West Berkshire Council in being awarded £187,000 from the Department for Transport’s ‘Total Transport’ Fund (around £130,000 is coming to Plymouth). The project will be led by Rebecca Johnson, and is based on enhanced governance and partnership working with the third sector, health partners and voluntary bodies to develop opportunities for rural transport service extensions and/or greater asset utilisation to improve customer services within rural communities.

Naomi Tyrrell has been awarded an ESRC grant for a project entitled ‘Here to Stay? Identity, belonging and citizenship among Eastern European settled migrant children in the UK (a decade after EU Enlargement)’. Naomi will be the co-investigator, working with Dr Daniela Sime from the University of Strathclyde and Dr Marta Moskal from the University of Glasgow. The award is for £334,000 in total with £140,000 coming to Plymouth.

Chris Balch has been successful in leading a research bid to the Royal Town Planning Institute. Together with partners Hardisty Jones Economic Consultancy and Mary Elkington, an ex-Teignbridge planner, the award is for £20,000, and around half will come to the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences. The research topic is the role of Local Enterprise Partnerships in Strategic Planning in the South West.

Ralph Fyfe has been awarded funds from the Southwest Water Upstream Thinking programme, in collaboration with Exmoor National Park Authority, for a match-funded PhD studentship in Geography for a project on long-term climate-land use relationships on Exmoor.

Richard Yarwood has received £8,732 from the Seale Hayne Educational Trust to examine dementia in the farming community. Richard will work in partnership with the Farming Community Network and the Alzheimer’s Society.

Stephanie Lavau received an Institute for Sustainability Solutions Research collaborative award of £4848 for a research project titled “Signs of life: Lay and expert apprehensions of environmental change and uncertain ecological futures”, with Dr Deborah Robinson (School of Art and Media) and Dr Simon Rundle (School of Marine Science and Engineering).

Dave Gilvear and Ralph Fyfe secured £60,000 from Scottish Natural Heritage to fund a PhD studentship starting this September on river ecosystem service delivery and supply.

Naomi Tyrrell and Richard Yarwood, along with Julia Morgan in Education, have secured a small grant of £1100 from the Institute of Health and Community to continue their research with mobile military families. This augments funding from HMS Heroes.

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New members of staff

Dr Nadia von Benzon joins the department this year, covering for Naomi Tyrrell whilst she is on leave. Since finishing her PhD in social geography at the University of Manchester in 2013 she has been teaching human geography at Lancaster University. Her doctoral research addressed experiences and perceptions of outdoor green spaces amongst urban, learning disabled, young people.

Dr Nichola Harmer was awarded her PhD in Human Geography at Plymouth University in 2013. Her research into the UK Overseas Territories explored questions of sovereignty and political community and built on an MA in Politics and International Relations at the University of Exeter. Over the past two years she has been working as an interdisciplinary postdoctoral researcher and associate lecturer in Geography at Plymouth, teaching across the core geography modules.

New books from members of Geography staff

Almeria (Classic Geology in Europe 12)Dunedin Press Adrian Harvey and Anne Mather

Anne Mather’s newly published book with Prof Adrian Harvey (Liverpool University) examines the geology and geomorphology of Almeria in South East Spain. Almeria is an arid region with a tectonically active landscape and is popular as a research, university teaching and professional training area. Plymouth University’s second year Physical Geography and Geology Students currently visit and work in this region. The book draws on over twenty years of research by Plymouth University staff (including three Geography PhD students) and other institutions. Almeria is the twelfth book in a series published by Dunedin Press on Classic Geology in Europe.

Tourism and Sustainability: Development, globalisation and new tourism in the Third World, 4th editionRoutledgeMartin Mowforth and Ian Munt

In Tourism and Sustainability (forthcoming 2016) Martin Mowforth and Ian Munt draw on a range of examples from across the third world to illustrate the social, economic and environmental conditions that continue to affect the tourism industry. They question how tourism contributes to narrowing the gap between rich and poor and whether alternative tourism really can be a credible lever for lifting countries out of the mire of global inequality, setting them on the right track to ‘development’, and eliminating poverty.

Ambiances, Atmospheres and Sensory Experiences of SpacesDr Paul Simpson

Invited to co-edit a book series for Ashgate publishers titled: ‘Ambiances, Atmospheres and Sensory Experiences of Spaces’, Paul will edit the series with Rainer Kazig from (CRESSON, Grenoble) and Damien Masson (Cergy-Pointoise).