Geographical and Earth Sciences

Latest departmental news

GES 2010 PhD studentships
The Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences is please to announce its PhD studentships for 2010. Follow the link for details.
GES 2010 PhD research studentships >>

Masters of Research in Human Geography: Space, Policy and Power
The Department will be running an MRes in Human Geography: Space, Policy and Power from October 2009. This one year degree has been restructured to provide students with a choice of research modules on social change and social justice; development, postcolonialism and the environment; and cultural and historical geographies. The course is open to students who have achieved a First or Upper Second Class Honours degree. The Department offers some fees only scholarships (at UK rates) available on a competitive basis. For more information about this course, please contact Dr. Paul Routledge (Paul.Routledge@ges.gla.ac.uk).

RSGS Honorary Fellowships
Gordon Dickinson, Jim Hansom, Mike Shand and Jo Sharp are to receive Honorary Fellowships of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society for their distinguished contributions to Geography in Scotland. As one of Scotland's oldest and best regarded academic institutions, the RSGS has a proud and glittering history. Since its founding in 1884, the Society's award-winners include many of the most inspiring academics, explorers and adventurers of the last 125 years.

GES now has 5 RSGS Fellows, John Briggs being elected a Fellow in 2001. The Society's previous award-winners, which include many of the most inspiring academics, explorers and adventurers of the last century and a quarter, can be found here.

Réka-Hajnalka Fülöp wins prize at BGS Science Festival
PhD student Réka-Hajnalka Fülöp won the prize for best poster at the recent British Geological Survey Science Festival (as voted for by the BGS staff). Reka's poster was on 'Cosmic radiation induced changes in minerals used to assess the integrity of Scotland's soils'.

GES staff research highlighted at French synchrotron
Much of our knowledge of past climate change comes from proxies of climate rather than actual measurements. An example of such a proxy is the magnesium:calcium ratio (Mg/Ca) ratio of carbonate biominerals such as mollusc shells or corals. The recording of ambient seawater temperature by the Mg:Ca ratio depends on Ca being replaced by Mg in the calcite lattice. Recently Dr Nick Kamenos, Dr Alberto Pérez-Huerta and Professor Maggie Cusack worked in collaboration with Dr Adrian Finch of the University of St. Andrews and scientists of the Lucia beamline, Dr Markus Janousch, Dr Thomas Huthwelker and Dr Pierre Lagarde to confirm the validity of the Mg:Ca ratio as a proxy for seawater temperature in coralline algae (maerl) and brachiopods by using X-ray absorbance near edge spectroscopy (XANES). This work resulted in three publications (below) and was selected for highlight in Rayon de Soleil, the publication of the French synchrotron, Soleil.

Kamenos, N.A., Cusack, M., Huthwelker, T., Lagarde, P. and Scheibling, R.E. 2009. Mg-lattice associations in red coralline algae. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 73, 1901-1907.

Cusack, M., Pérez-Huerta, A., Janousch, M. & Finch, A. A. 2008. Magnesium in the lattice of calcite-shelled brachiopods. Chemical Geology. 257, 59-64. Pérez-Huerta, A., Cusack, M., Janousch, M. & Finch, A. 2008. Crystallographic effect on Mg2+ measurements by synchrotron analysis at the Mg K-edge. Journal of Synchrotron Radiation. 15, 272-275.

David Brown delivers "tour de force" award lecture to the Edinburgh Geological Society
On Tuesday 28th October Dr David Brown delivered his Clough Memorial Award lecture to the Edinburgh Geological Society entitled "Agglomerates, cauldrons and felsites: a historical record of caldera and sector collapse processes in the British Palaeogene Igneous Province". The lecture was very well received by the society, and was described by the President as a "tour de force" of Scottish geology.

Earth Science and Geography Enrolment
Earth Science Level 1: Thursday 17th September, Gregory Building Room 227, 10 am-12 pm and 2-4pm (enrolment fee of £20 for 1X and 1Y, £15 for 1X only, and £5 for 1Y only).

Earth Science Level 2: Monday 21st September, Maths Building Room 516, 9-10 am (enrolment fee of £20 for 3 or 4 modules, £10 for 1 or 2 modules).

Geography Level 1: Tuesday 22nd September, Boyd Orr Building, Lecture Theatre 1, 11am.

Geography Level 2: Wednesday 16th September, East Quadrangle Room 412 (Level 1 Laboratory), 12-1.30pm

Teaching begins on Monday 21st September.

Geography Level 3/3H: Monday 21st September, East Quadrangle Room 416, 10-11am

Geography Level 4H: Monday 21st September, East Quadrangle Room 416, 2-3pm

Dr Susan Waldron discusses the costs and benefits of wind farms on peatlands
In 'The Scotsman', Saturday 5th September, Dr Susan Waldron explained the issues surrounding wind power generation from upland peatlands. Dr Waldron is currently leading research into carbon cycling in the Department, and with colleagues from within SAGES. The article is particularly related to her current NERC-funded grant on 'Carbon Landscapes and Drainage (CLAD)', being conducted jointly with the University of Stirling. The Scotsman article can be found here.

A Century of Geography at Glasgow
In 2009, academic staff and students from past and present will be celebrating 100 years of geography at the University of Glasgow. The Geography Centenary Committee is currently planning a series of landmark events, talks and publications to mark this special occasion.

Our centenary celebrations will culminate with a Geographical Alumni 100 Day on Saturday 22nd August 2009, held in the East Quadrangle, Gilbert Scott Building, University of Glasgow.

Former Glasgow geographers (graduating students and staff, in both Geography and Topographic Science (Geomatics)) are cordially invited to join present staff and students for this event hosted at the Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow.

Attractions and activities for guests will include: tours of the Department; an exhibition of classic fieldwork and field-course photographs, staff portraits, geographical objects and archival records; presentations on ‘Geography Then and Now’; a drinks reception; and, the opportunity to revisit your undergraduate dissertation! The day will culminate with a public lecture delivered by Professor Iain Stewart, star presenter of BBC programmes on geology and natural history (Journeys from the Centre of the Earth, Journeys into the Ring of Fire, Horizon, Rough Science)

To register in advance for this Centenary event please contact:

Dr Hayden Lorimer, Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ. Tel: 0141 330 2509 E-mail: Hayden.Lorimer@ges.gla.ac.uk

David Forrest and Mike Shand conduct a Cartographic/GIS Workshop in Tehran, Iran.
David Forrest and Mike Shand conducted a successful Cartographic/GIS Workshop in Tehran, Iran from 29 May - 7 June. They were invited by the International Cartographic Association (ICA), Commission on Education and Training, to conduct the Workshop for the National Cartographic Center (NCC), Tehran. The workshop was hosted by the NCC, and in particular staff of their Cartography Department, ICA delegate Babak Shamei, and the deputy manager of the Cartography Department, Mehrdad Jafari. Participants were primarily NCC staff involved in map production and GIS associated with the publishing of country maps, city maps, street directories and atlases. The workshop comprised of a combination of lectures and practicals in digital cartography and GIS aimed at introducing staff to the latest developments in the mapping sciences and advising on the future strategy of the NCC.

Andy Henderson and Zhenhong Li both win NERC New Investigator awards; SAGES success too
Andrew Henderson and Zhenhong Li have been both awarded NERC New Investigator grants in the latest round of NERC funding announcements. Andy will use his to work on lacustrine palaeoclimate records in Asia (part of SAGES Theme 3), and Zhenhong to investigate atmospheric effects in InSAR data (affiliated to SAGES Theme 1). Only 15 in total of these NERC New Investigator grants were awarded in this latest round, and GES has therefore done very well to be awarded two of these. A third NERC New Investigator award went to Simon Mudd (Edinburgh), who is a SAGES Theme 1 member, and so SAGES has likewise done exceptionally well in holding 20% of these latest awards.

GES staff at the International Conference on Geomorphology
GES staff were prominent in the just-concluded International Conference on Geomorphology at the Melbourne Convention Centre, Melbourne Australia. GES presence included Cristina Persano (keynote talk on low-temperature thermochronology), Derek Fabel (convener of session on Advances in Geochronology plus a talk on cosmogenic nuclide analysis and burial dating), Jim Hansom (session Chair in the Geomorphology of Rock Coasts and co-author of poster with Paul Bishop), and Paul Bishop (poster plus two keynotes - one on recent advances in cosmogenic nuclide analysis, and one on tectonics and bedrock river channels).

Dr Gordon Curry presented with a Teaching Excellence Award

At the Faculty graduation on 2nd July 2009 a Teaching Excellence Award was presented to Dr Gordon Curry. Gordon has been recognised for his innovative and imaginative teaching, for providing generations of students with first-rate pastoral support and careers advice, and for his leading work on student recruitment. In all of these activities, Gordon has been an innovator and has pioneered the use of technology.

A photograph of Gordon with the Principal can be found here.

Honorary Degrees presented at Commemoration and Graduation
At the Commemoration ceremony on 17th June 2009, Honorary degrees were presented to Professor Ian McDougall (Australia National University) and Sir Kenneth Collins (former MEP; retired Chairman, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency). At the Faculty graduation ceremony on 2nd July 2009, Honorary degrees were presented to Professor Doreen Massey (Open University) and Professor Jane Soons (PhD Glasgow 1958; University of Canterbury, New Zealand). The orations delivered at Commemoration Day are available here for Professor McDougall, here for Sir Kenneth Collins, here for Professor Massey, and here for Professor Soons.

Further information is available here

Andrew Cumbers in the Sunday Herald
A new report by Andrew Cumbers has been cited by the Sunday Herald. The report entitled "Beyond Aspiration: Young People and decent work in the de-industrialised city" authored by Andrew Cumbers, Gesa Helms and Marilyn Keenan, provoke a debate about the work and training prospects for young people in Glasgow and highlights the increasing difficulties they experience in finding decent training and job opportunities in the city’s labour market.

Geology graduates from 1969 holding a 40 year reunion

The class of 1969 are holding a reunion on Saturday 20th June, organised by a member of that class, John Swan. The reunion involves Reception, Buffet Lunch (Melville Room 1230); Tour of East Quadrangle and Gregory Building, followed by coffee (1400); Dinner (1900).

The class of 1969 on Arran.

(Back: left to right)Con Gillen, Alastair Linn (above), David Raeside (below), Alaster Currie, Richard Aitken, Les Cunningham (above), Paul McGowan (below).

(Front: left to right) Peter McGaughrin, Robert Addison, John Swan, Richard Campbell (above), Mike Golden (below), John Addison, James Floyd.

Obituary of 1938 PhD graduate, Professor Ren Mei-e

One of our earliest known PhD graduates (Geology, 1939), Professor Ren Mei-e has recently passed away. The following extract is from his obituary, kindly provided by Professor John Shi.

Professor Ren Mei-e, who was a member of Editorial Board of Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (1986–1996) and Journal of Coastal Research (1985–1990), died at 12:05 pm on 4 November 2008 (age 95) in Nanjing. Ren was a famous Chinese geomorphologist, marine and coastal scientist, educator and professor. He was the main founder for the study of many related subjects in modern mainland China.

Ren was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province on 8 September 1913. In 1934, Ren graduated from the National Central University (currently the University of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province). Ren went to Britain in 1936 as a scholar supported by the Sino-British Boxer Indemnity Fund Foundation to study for a Ph.D. under the supervision of Professor E.B. Baily FRS. In 1939, Ren received his Ph.D. from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. During his study in Glasgow, as the secretary of the Glasgow Chinese Student Union, Ren, with the generous support of Mr. Arthur Brady, secretary of Glasgow Labour Party, organized a flag day in Glasgow in 1938 and raised about 500 for Chinese refugees of the Sino-Japanese War. In June 1939, Ren convened a summer conference of Chinese students in Welwyn Garden City near London. The full obituary can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2009.01.022

James Bendle awarded Carnegie Trust Larger Grant
James Bendle has been awarded £35K from the Carnegie Trust Large Grants scheme for a project entitled BIOSUN: Biomarker Reconstructions of Marine and Terrestrial Climate Signals in a High-Resolution Sediment Core from Loch Sunart, N.W. Scotland.

Scientists and policy makers need detailed records of natural climate change for the last several thousand years, to improve and test climate models and so that the correct proportion of current and future climate change can be confidently attributed to natural or human forces. This has been indentified as a priority by international scientific bodies (NAS, IPCC etc). Instrumental records only stretch back about 150 years, so longer records must be derived from natural archives (ocean and lake sediments, ice-cores, tree-rings etc).

What do we mean by detailed? Many investigations of past climate have concentrated on sediment cores which have been drilled from the deep ocean. In such environments the sedimentation rates are slow and the crucial Holocene period (the last ca.10,000 years of time) is only represented by the top 10 cm of sediment. This is analogous to trying to read a novel that’s been compressed onto a postage stamp. However, our colleagues at the Scottish Association of Marine Science (John Howe) and St Andrews (William Austin), have extracted a sediment core from Loch Sunart, in which the last 7000 years of time is represented by a huge 22.5m of sediment (like taking our novel and spreading it out over 300 pages!).

Using this remarkable Loch Sunart sediment core we will reconstruct the story of past climate change, recorded by the molecular fossils of microbes and plants or biomarkers, on a decadal basis, a timescale meaningful to human society.

*** This follows recent small grants to James from The Nuffield Foundation Bursary scheme (£1260), the EPSRC Geographical Research Grant scheme (£2,500), The Royal Society (£12,000), The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation (£2,000) and The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland (£2,200).

David Brown Awarded Clough Memorial Award of the Edinburgh Geological Society
David Brown has received the Clough Memorial Award from the Edinburgh Geological Society in recognition of his active role in fieldwork and in inspiring students, in organising the recent VMSG Ardnamurchan meeting, and his novel approach of applying sedimentological techniques to volcaniclastic rocks. The Society also recognised and applauded his enthusiasm for sharing Scottish areas with students rather than organising overseas trips!

Major GES presence at the just-concluded 2009 EGU in Vienna
Thirteen members of the Department attended the 2009 meeting of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna, which has just concluded. Members of GES were authors on a total of 16 oral presentations and posters, including one Keynote oral presentation. Click here for Abstracts of the GES presentations at EGU2009.

New book by Paul Routledge and Andrew Cumbers
A new book by Paul Routledge and Andrew Cumbers has just been published by Manchester University Press. Entitled Global Justice Networks: Geographies of Transnational Solidarity, the book is based upon ESRC-funded research and provides a critical investigation of what has been termed the global justice movement. Through a detailed study of a grassroots peasants' network in Asia (People's Global Action), an international trade union network (the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mining and General Workers) and the Social Forum process, it analyses some of the global justice movement's component parts, operational networks and their respective dynamics, strategies and practices. Rather than being indicative of a coherent 'movement', the authors argue that such forms of transnational political agency are best conceived of as 'global justice networks': overlapping, interacting, competing, and differentially-placed and resourced networks that articulate demands for social, economic and environmental justice.

New book by John Briggs, Jo Sharp and colleagues
For many years, various members of the department have been involved in research on environment and development issues in the Nubian Desert of south-east Egypt with colleagues from South Valley University in Aswan, collectively known as the Allaqi Project. After 20 years of research, this project has now come to an end, and, to mark this, John Briggs, Jo Sharp and colleagues have published a book that summarises in one place all the key results of this work. The book title is: "Bedouins by the lake: environment, change and sustainability in southern Egypt."

Research published by GES undergraduate
Kirsty Nicholson, an Earth Science honours student, has recently published a paper in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Her research was concerned with the formation of a meteorite called Orgueil, which is one of the oldest and most primitive rocks available for study. Kirsty undertook this work during an internship in the Department that was supported by the Royal Astronomical Society.

Nigel Thrift Lecture
On Thursday 5th March, Professor Nigel Thrift (Vice-Chancellor, University of Warwick) will receive the Royal Scottish Geographical Society medal in recognition of his distinguished contribution to research in human geography. The medal will be presented by Mike Robinson (Chief Executive of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society).

Professor Thrift will also deliver a lecture, entitled 'Pass It On', as part of our 'A Centenary of Teaching Geography' celebrations at the University.

Following the lecture there will be a short reception, with wine served. The event will take place in the East Quad Lecture Theatre, 6-8pm. All welcome to attend!

Paul Routledge's 'Third Space as Critical Engagement' cited as a key article.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Geography journal Antipode, the journal has made available free access online to a range of key articles published from 1969-2009. The journal's average citation impact over the last decade places it within the top 7 journals in Geography and the Environmental Sciences. Paul Routledge's article ‘The Third Space as Critical Engagement’ from 1996, has been included in the collection which also includes work by some of the most influential social scientists in the discipline such as David Harvey, Mike Davis, Doreen Massey, Neil Smith, Linda McDowell and Cindi Katz.

Drumlin Relaunch
If you are not already aware, the Geography Department journal, Drumlin, is being relaunched this year for the 100 year anniversary of the department - and we need you to help us fill it with articles. We set out a range of topics under the heading of Past, Present and Future that we're keen for you to write on but of course if you have something else you'd like to see printed we're very open to suggestions. And you can interpret these topics in any way that you like! And you can even send us your old coursework essays - we will edit them so no work required on your part and you get to see your work published!!

The length of your contribution can be anything from a paragraph to a maximum of 2000 words and you don't need to produce award winning writing - all we're looking for is an honest and/or interesting angle on any of the Geography Past, Present and Future topics.

We are also running a few features that we hope with become running themes from year to year for the journal and we need your input. We are looking for ideas for a comic strip, poems about geography (yes, poems) and your personal stories about writing your dissertation and field trips.

If you have anything to contribute please do – this is your chance to see your work in print and our chance to produce something memorable both as mementos for ourselves and for the department.

The deadline for contributions is Monday 16th February

Send any articles for submission, or any queries, to Lisa at 0301048G@student.gla.ac.uk

Susan Waldron wins NERC grant
Susan Waldron has recently led a successful NERC knowledge exchange grant entitled CLAD: Carbon Landscapes and Drainage. The grant totals £394K with £183K to Glasgow and the balance to her collaborators at Stirling University, Dr. Ian Grieve and Prof. David Gilvear. The initiative will commence summer 2009 and run for three years. The remit of this KE bid is to integrate academia with stakeholders and from this interaction produce a better practical understanding of carbon landscapes, drivers of aquatic C losses and how best to monitor these. One first activity will be to form a network of academics and carbon landscape stakeholders. If you wish further information about this network, please contact Susan (Susan.Waldron@ges.gla.ac.uk).

*** In further good news, Susan's NERC funded Amazonica grant has been re-announced, with an additional allocation of 113K for Susan, bringing the grant total to 430K.

Vernon Pheonix awarded EPSRC and NERC grants
Vern Phoenix has recently been awarded £350K from the EPSRC to investigate “bacteriogenic barriers to flow”. This work will examine how bacteria can be manipulated to seal leaky fractures around nuclear repositories and disposal sites. This is part of a £2.4M consortium involving researchers from the universities of Strathclyde, Birmingham, Manchester, Cambridge and the British Geological Survey.
Vern has also been awarded £29K from NERC to utilize magnetic resonance imaging to study the transport behaviour of nanoparticles in the natural environment. Collaborating with Dr. William Holmes of the Division of Clinical Neuroscience, this work will attempt to elucidate how these tiny, potentially toxic pollutants move through geologic systems such as aquifers.

James Bendle and Andrew Henderson awarded Royal Society International Joint Project grant
James Bendle and Andrew Henderson, with Japanese partners Prof. Kimitaka Kawamura and Dr Osamu Seki, have been awarded £12000 from the Royal Society’s International Joint Project scheme. The scheme is designed to enable international collaboration by providing a mobility grant for researchers to cover travel, subsistence and research expenses. The grant will be used to enable two further field campaigns to extract sediment cores from Lakes in Hokkaido, northern Japan and to fund short visits to Glasgow, from Hokkaido University by Prof. Kimitaka Kawamura and Dr Osamu Seki.

Jim Hansom awarded an Erskine Fellowship from the University of Canterbury, Christchurch,
Jim Hansom has been awarded a prestigious Erskine Fellowship from the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand to visit the Geography Department at Canterbury between February and June 2009. Since 1963, Erskine Fellowships have been awarded annually in order to allow distinguished international academics to be invited to the University of Canterbury for durations, normally, of up to three months. Jim will be giving lectures and conducting coastal research with colleagues in Canterbury.

5th EGU-Alexander von Humbolt International Conference-Distinguished Speaker
Professor Roderick Brown will be presenting a keynote address as an invited distinguished speaker at the forthcomming 5th EGU-Alexander von Humboldt International Conference-Iphakade: Climate Changes and African Earth Systems – past, present and future.

“Iphakade” is isiXhosa (a South African indigenous language) for "observe the present and consider the past to ponder the future". This is a particularly apt word to describe the intent of this international conference which is to consider climate change in an Earth Systems context with a particular focus on Africa.

The conference is being held in Cape Town, South Africa between the 12-17th January 2009.

http://www.humboldt5.uct.ac.za/programme.html

Nature paper on SE Asian seismicity
GES's Dr Zhenhong Li is a co-author on a recent Nature paper on SE Asian seismicity such as that which triggered the 2004 tsunami. The research shows that a megathrust like the one that ruptured in 2004 can rupture in different patterns depending on whether failure occurs as isolated seismic events or the failure occurs via events 'cooperating' to produce a larger rupture. The seismic energy released in later ruptures in 2007 is only a fraction of the energy released in the large 1833 event. It seems that there remains large potential for a major seismic event in the Indonesian area. See the full article here

Glasgow University awards DSc to Professor Zhilin Li
The Faculty of Physical Science has awarded the DSc degree to one of our graduates, Zhilin Li, for his memoir on the "Algorithmic Foundations of the Multi-Scale Representation of Spatial Data". Zhilin Li gained his Ph.D. on the subject of 'Digital Terrain Modelling' in 1990. After graduating, he held research scientist positions at Newcastle and Southampton Universities and at the Technical University of Berlin. Following which, he then spent two years (1994-96) as a lecturer at Curtin University in Australia, before joining joining Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPolyU) in 1996. Since then, besides numerous awards from various Chinese academic foundations and societies, he has been awarded the Schwidefsky Medal (in 2004) and the Gino Cassinis Award (in 2008) by the International Society of Photogrammetry & Remote Sensing (ISPRS). He was made a full professor at HKPolyU in 2003 and has been elected Vice-President of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) in 2007.

Ulrich Oslender interviewed by international environmental NGO Grain
GRAIN is an international non-governmental organisation which promotes the sustainable management and use of agricultural biodiversity based on peoples control over genetic resources and local knowledge.

In the October issue of their journal SEEDLING, Grain features a five-page interview with Dr Ulrich Oslender on his long-standing work with black communities in Colombia. It focuses in particular on the ways in which agro-business interests in the cultivation of oil palm in the Pacific coast region have contributed to violent conflict and the forceful uprooting and displacement of thousands in the region.

The interview can both be accessed in written form and listened to as an MP 3 audio file .

Hayden Lorimer on BBC Radio 3
The Naturalists is a five-part series of radio programmes, delivered by two geographers, Dr Hayden Lorimer and Professor David Matless, to be broadcast nightly, 6th-10th October on BBC Radio 3.

The programmes are part of the autumn schedule for The Essay, the BBC’s wide-ranging and critically acclaimed series of cultural talks. The Naturalists considers the figure of the naturalist in national life and in local landscapes through a series of biographical studies. Naturalists are encountered in the field, on the screen, on the radio, and on the page, as characters shaping our sense of what is happening in the nonhuman world. While tracing naturalists’ lives and ideas, the five narratives explore human and animal geographies as they emerge in the wetland, woodland and mountain range, underfoot and overhead, at home and abroad.

The Naturalists will be broadcast nightly at 11.00pm, Monday 6th - Friday 10th October. Each essay can be listened to again for seven days after broadcast using the BBC iPlayer.

Programme details are as follows:

Monday 6th October, David Matless The ‘Twinkling Facets of Life’: E.A. (Ted) Ellis

Tuesday 7th October, Hayden Lorimer Herding Memories: Ethel Lindgren and Mikel Utsi

Wednesday 8th October, David Matless ‘I May Be Prejudiced’: James Wentworth Day

Thursday 9th October, Hayden Lorimer Songs From Before: Ludwig Koch and Max Nicholson

Friday 10th October, David Matless Experiment in Landscape: Marietta Pallis

RSGS's Bartholomew Globe awarded to Em. Professor Gordon Petrie
The Royal Scottish Geographical Society's Bartholomew Globe was awarded to Emeritus Professor Gordon Petrie on 6 October 2008 by The Earl of Lindsay, President of the Society in recognition of an exceptional contribution to Cartography in Scotland over a long period of years. This is only the fourth time the Bartholomew Globe has been awarded since it was inaugurated in 2000. Professor Gordon Petrie has been a member of staff in the Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences for 50 years, the last thirteen of which as Emeritus Professor & Honorary Research Fellow. During that long period he has established himself firmly as a world figure in the technically sophisticated fields of photogrammetry and remote sensing and has been a visiting professor at Georgia University and Miami University of Ohio. He was also a Carnegie Research Fellow at the prestigious International Institute for GeoInformation Science and Earth Observation (ITC) in Delft.

James Bendle on BBC TV’s Newsnight.
James Bendle, Lecturer in High Resolution Palaeoclimatology, appeared on BBC TV’s Newsnight to explain part of his role in the 2008 ICE CHASER Arctic research expedition onboard the British Antarctic Survey’s RRS James Clark Ross. The progress of the ship was also followed by this expedition blog and by BBC Newsnight’s own blog.

David Brown runs Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group Workshop
The Volcanic and Magmatic Studies Group of the UK held its annual field workshop in Ardnamurchan, NW Scotland, from 5th-10th September. The workshop was organised and led by David Brown, with assistance from Brian Bell, Jeff Harris and Kate Dobson. The workshop focused on themes such as intrusion emplacement, cauldron and caldera subsidence, and syn-volcanic sedimentation, with lively debate amongst the 40 international participants. Generous financial support was received from the Mineralogical Society and the Geological Society of London.

Jim Hansom is principal geomorphology witness for SNH on the proposed Trump Golf Course
Jim Hansom gave evidence as Scottish Natural Heritage’s Principal Witness for Geomorphology in the Trump Golf Course and Housing Development Public Inquiry in Aberdeen. Reported by the media worldwide, he said that the dynamic and unvegetated dunes of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) were the “Jewel in the Crown” of British dunes and that the “Biblical” amounts of sand movement required to satisfy the Trump plans would remove the scientific justification for the designation of the dunes as a SSSI. The Inquiry ended on July 5th 2008 when the Reporters retired to consider the evidence presented during the month-long hearings and to present their report to Scottish Ministers.

Scotsman Article

BBC News Article

Congratulations to Jo Sharp & Tim Dempster who were awarded Teaching Excellence Awards
In 2005-06 the Senior Management Group of the University introduced Teaching Excellence Awards to recognise and celebrate members of staff whose teaching is of a particularly high standard.

Only four awards are made each academic year, so special congratulations are due to Drs Jo Sharp and Tim Dempster who each received one of these prestigious awards this year. The awards were presented by the Principal at the graduation ceremony on 30 June 2008.

View video clip of presentation

Paul Bishop awarded the British Society for Geomorphology's Wiley Award
Paul Bishop has been awarded the British Society for Geomorphology's Wiley Award for the best paper published in Earth Surface Processes and Landforms in 2007. Paul will deliver the Wiley Award lecture, based on the award-winning paper 'Long-term landscape evolution: Linking tectonics and surface processes', at the BSG's annual meeting in Exeter in July.

Professor Chris Philo is elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Chris Philo, the Professor of Geography, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. The RSE is Scotland's national academy and was founded in 1783 by Royal Charter for the “Advancement of Learning and Useful Knowledge”. Adam Smith was a founder member in 1783 and since that time the Fellowship has included Walter Scott, Joseph Black, James Hutton, Charles Darwin, Lord Kelvin, John Logie Baird, William Wordsworth, Niels Bohr, Francis Crick, and Charlotte Auerbach.

Saltire Scottish Science Award for 2008 awarded to Prof. Maggie Cusack
Maggie Cusack has been awarded the Saltire Scottish Science Award for 2008. The prestigious Scottish Science Award is presented annually by the Saltire Society to a distinguished scientist in mid-career, to recognise those who are making a major contribution to science. Maggie will deliver a lecture at the Royal Society of Edinburgh on 23 April 2008.

Clough Medal awarded to Dr Geoff Tanner by Edinburgh Geological Society
Dr Geoff Tanner was awarded the Clough Medal at the Edinburgh Geological Society on 27th February. The Clough Medal is the Edinburgh Geological Society's premier award. It has been awarded annually since 1935 to a geologist whose original work has materially increased the knowledge of the geology of Scotland and/or the north of England, or who is Scottish by birth or by adoption and residence and has significantly advanced the knowledge of any aspect of geology. See link to guest lecture by Dr Geoff Tanner on the "Building the grampian orogen: architecture and kinematics"

GES joins Midland Valley Exploration-sponsored Field Mapping Initiative
Geographical and Earth Sciences has been chosen to take part in a world-wide initiative to enhance the development of three dimensional visualisation skills in geoscience graduates. The initiative aims to develop a close integration between the traditional geoscience skills of field mapping and the use of sophisticated computer-based modelling techniques. Glagsow is one of 8 Universities in the UK, USA, Netherlands, Italy and Australia that succeeded with bids to take part in the initiative launched by Midland Valley Exploration, a major oil and minerals consultancy and software development company, based in Glasgow.

Midland Valley have donated licences to each University covering their complete suite of structural geology modelling and visualisation software with a commercial value of £510,000. The Universities involved will act as a consortium, developing teaching and support materials that will be available to the wider geoscience community.

The initiative stems from a recognition that the ability to visualise the geology of an area in three dimensions is a vital skill for all geoscientists. The best way to develop this skill is by training students in both the construction and interpretation of geological maps and cross-sections. Such training traditionally forms a part of all geoscience degrees and must begin through fieldwork, with students observing and recording all the necessary data for themselves. However, the value of such fieldwork can be greatly enhanced by appropriate use of modelling and visualisation software, both during and after the student’s time in the field.

Zoe Shipton, Lecturer in Structural Geology, attended the first consortium workshop, held at Midland Valley’s headquarters in Glasgow. The software and training materials will shortly be available for all teaching within the department. It will also be available on laptops for students to use during the field mapping training courses.

Leverhulme Trust Artist-in-Residence award made to Drew Mulholland
Drew Mulholland has secured funding from The Leverhulme Trust enabling him to become "Composer in Residence" within the Department. Combining composition with PsychoGeographical research, Drew will be writing a series of works that will explore how music and sense of place can effect the mood, memory, and behaviour of the individual. Performances will take place during the year, and will be advertised.

James Bendle awarded Sasakawa Foundation grant for studies of Japanese lakes
James Bendle has been awarded £4700 from the The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation for a project entitled "A Biomarker Survey of Hokkaido Lakes". In summer 2008, James and his Japanese colleagues will be using a small boat to recover lake sediment and catchment soil/vegetation samples from eight lakes in Hokkaido, northern Japan, to survey the biomarker distributions. There is the opportunity for one or two geography undergraduates to join the group for supplementary field projects.

New Lecturing and Research staff arrive in Glasgow
We are delighted to welcome several new staff to the Department. Dr James Bendle is our new lecturer in High-Resolution Palaeoclimatology, and has been appointed as part of the SAGES initiative. Also arriving as a SAGES Lecturer is Dr Cristina Persano - Cristina has two more years as an RSE-BP Fellow prior to coming onto the teaching staff. Dr Susan Waldron has now finished her NERC Advanced Fellowship and has taken up a Senior Lectureship. Dr Duncan Hay has joined us as a Lecturer in Earth Science for 2007-8. Recently arrived research staff are: Dr Kate Dobson (SAGES Research Assistant, Thermochronology); Dr John Jansen (NERC Research Fellow); Dr Kim McKee (Urban Studies Research Fellow); Dr Sophie Bond (Urban Studies Research Fellow); Jamie Kirkpatrick and Paul Dalbeck (NERC and Leverhulme, respectively, Research Assistants). All these staff have web pages containing further information.

Paul Bishop appointed to NERC Science and Innovation Strategy Board
Paul Bishop has been appointed for a three-year term to NERC's Science and Innovation Strategy Board. SISB is a key source of advice to the Natural Environment Research Council on science and innovation matters and for developing NERC's integrated science strategy. SISB will play an important role as NERC introduces its new strategy.

Martin Lee awarded NERC grant for thermochronology work.
In collaboration with Earth Science researchers at the Open University, Milton Keynes, Martin Lee has been awarded a grant of £383K by NERC to undertake research into the diffusion of argon within alkali feldspars and its implications for use of alkali feldspars as a thermochronological tool.

Maggie Cusack awarded BBSRC/EPSRC grant to study novel biomaterals
Maggie Cusack has been awarded a grant, with Dr Andy Freer of Chemistry, from BBSRC/EPSRC to study the control of the polymorph switch from calcite to aragonite in the shells of the common blue mussel, Mytilus edulis. The project will fund a post-doctoral research assistant for three years to determine the rôle of specific proteins in this biomineral control. The knowledge of the proteins will then be exploited in collaboration with Prof. Chris Wilkinson and Dr Nikolaj Gadegaard of Electronics & Electrical Engineering to explore the production of novel bio-inspired materials of predetermined dimensions and material properties.

Department launches MSc in Geospatial and Mapping Sciences
This new professionally accredited, modular programme offers full and part-time qualification to MSc, postgraduate diploma or postgraduate certificate level. Topics covered include: Land Survey; Hydrographic Survey; Engineering Survey; Geodesy; GPS; GIS; Photogrammetry and Satellite Remote Sensing; Land Registration and Cadastre, plus the supporting IT, Statistics and Mathematics. The MSc includes a four month investigative project, which can be carried out at the university or place of work. This new MSc has been generously supported by the Geomatics industry, following concern regarding severe shortages of personnel educated to enter the Geomatics sector as professionals or researchers. Scholarships are available. For further course information contact: geomatics@ges.gla.ac.uk Department postgraduate courses webpage. or for application information contact: pgadmissions@gla.ac.uk

Jo Norcup talks geography with Stephen Merchant on his BBC radio 6 Show
On Sunday 10th June 2007 Jo Norcup conversed with Stephen Merchant (Co-writer and co-director of the international award winning comedies The Office and Extras) about Geography, Cultural Geography and Icelandic music on his BBC Radio 6 music programme. Link to the downloaded version of the BBC programme so you can listen

John Jansen awarded three-year NERC Fellowship
John Jansen, until recently a PDRA on Paul Bishop's and Trevor Hoey's NERC-funded project examining bedrock river knickpoint retreat from the isostatically rebounding Scottish coastline, has been awarded a three-year NERC Fellowship to examine a wide range of aspects of knickpoint retreat in bedrock channels in Sweden. Sweden has experienced some of the highest rates of rock uplift and surface uplift on Earth and is an ideal natural laboratory for examining bedrock river response to very rapid tectonics under detachment-limited conditions.

Making Mountains a 'rocktastic' success - Royal Society Education Partnership Grant
A workshop, funded by the Royal Society, combining geology and art was given 'rocktastic' status by students at Kinlochbervie High School in Northwest Scotland. The 4 day workshop organised by geologist Clare Bond from GES and delivered by Clare and artists Kate Foster and Alex Wilde was a first for S2 pupils at the school. The mountains of the NW Highlands were the 19th century testing ground for understanding how mountains are made and Kinlochbervie High School, although remote, sits in the middle of this fantastic geology. Pupil Joanna Fraser who took part in the workshop said "The project is a good mixture, because you are drawing and creating whilst learning about geology." To find out more read the article on the project in the Northern Times.

http://www.kinlochberviehigh.highland.sch.uk/Art_Geology_Project/Art_Geology _Article.htm

Dr Clare Bond has received a £2,860 Royal Society Education Partnership Grant in collaboration with Murdo MacPherson at Kinlochbervie High School. The grant will enable students at the school to work with Clare and two artists, including Kate Foster (GES Resident Artist), to explore the science behind mountain building. The students will use analogue models and art to explore their local environment and landscape. 2007 is the 100th anniversary of the publication of the geological memoir of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, one of the first places where ideas behind mountain building were developed.

Alan Owen and Martin Lee awarded Leverhulme Research Grant.
Alan Owen and Martin Lee have been awarded a grant of £63K by the Leverhulme Trust to develop an integrated understanding of the construction and function of natural lenses containing calcite, particularly those of the trilobites. The project 'Mineral eyes - lessons from the natural world' will use the state-of-the-art imaging and analytical facilities in the Department and in the Physics Department at the University of Strathclyde where co-investigator Prof Robert Martin is based and where optical modelling will also be undertaken.

Cristina Persano and Tim Dempster awarded Royal Society of London Research Grant
Cristina Persano and Tim Dempster have been awarded a Royal Society of London Research Grant to study the effects of groundwater circulation on temperatures beneath Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Europe. The grant has secured funding to acquire a state-of-the-art LINUX workstation to run 3-D numerical models to assess variations in the thermal structure of the shallow crust beneath a changing topography.

Jo Norcup contributes to CBBC Geography education programme
GES Teaching Assistant and Doctoral Researcher Jo Norcup has collaborated in creating one of 6 new ten minute programmes to include cultural geography in initiatives being introduced to revamp the Key Stage 3 compulsory school geography curriculum in England and Wales. Jo's piece The everyday geographies of dogs considers how human and non-human animal interactions create places and landscapes. This short invites young people to ask geographical questions by reflecting on how people in different geographical spaces relate to their pet dogs; and to consider broader questions concerning concepts such as resource management, development, and sustainability. The everyday geographies of dogs will be screened as part of Geography Class Clips 2 - Key Stage 3 in the early hours of Friday 23rd February 2007 between 4 - 5am on BBC 2 (listed at the bottom of some listings as Thursday 22nd February's screening times). For further details see http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/websites/11_16/site/geography.shtml and follow links.

Don Bowes is honoured by a Special Issue of the Proceedings of the Geologists' Association
Emeritus Professor Don Bowes has been honoured on his 80th birthday by the publication of a Festschrift issue of the Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. This is a great honour that reflects Don's long and distinguished career. Former Glasgow staff member, Professor Bernard Leake, edited the volume and has written Don's academic biography in this Special Issue. GES joins with Bernard as he concludes: "So the Geologists' Association salutes one of its distinguished long-time members, not for 'just' reaching eighty years of age, but because of a lifetime flow of scientific papers which still continues fifteen years after formal retirement. We also recognize his immense contribution to fostering international co-operation and goodwill between geologists over much of the globe. Well-done! May your grandparenting, your opera-going, your Methodist hymn singing and your research output continue undiminished."

New ESRC Post Doctoral Fellow - Dr Lou Cadman
Dr Lou Cadman is a new ESRC PostDoctoral Fellow starting with us in April. Lou will be coming to work with Professor Chris Philo on dimensions of mental health, citizenship, biopolitics and biopower. We are greatly looking forward to her becoming part of the Department's research community.

Maggie Cusack awarded highly prestigeous MRC Discipline-Hopping Grant
Congratulations to Maggie Cusack on the award of an MRC Discipline-Hopping Grant. This will mean that Maggie is "bought out" from all teaching and admin for 12 months from October 2007. We will be appointing a temporary lecturer to cover this period.

Zoe Shipton and Becky Lunn (Strathclyde) awarded NERC grant
Zoe Shipton and Becky Lunn (University of Strathclyde) have been awarded a total of £486k from NERC to support collaborative research on the evolution of seismicity and permeability in earthquake faults. The study will involve structural mapping, numerical modelling and seismological analysis of a suite of earthquakes induced by filling of a water reservoir in Brazil.

1-year ESRC Post-doctoral Research Fellowship for Jen Lea.
Jen, who completed her PhD in Geography at the University of Bristol, has secured one of these prestigious, competitive awards to work with Chris Philo for a year from 1st October. She is researching alternative geographies of health and wellbeing, with particular reference to yoga and massage.

John Briggs and Jo Sharp win Scottish Executive funding
GES staff win Scottish Executive funding John Briggs and Jo Sharp have been awarded £104,540 from the Scottish Executive International Development Fund to support collaborative research training on environmental management, gender and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa. This involves developing joint research initiatives and postgraduate and postdoctoral research training programmes with colleagues at Bunda College of the University of Malawi, the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and North-West University in South Africa.

Maggie Cusack wins BBSRC funding
Maggie Cusack has been awarded £326k to study biominerals under the scanning electron microscope using EBSD "Crystallography for biology - as easy as EBSD". This funding allows Alberto Huerta to stay with us for 3 more years.