What is going on in the Antarctic, and what is the UK doing about it?
Impacts of environmental and conservation policies on land use, livelihoods and wellbeing in Africa
Professor Katherine Homewood, University College London
Katherine’s research focuses on the impacts of environmental policy for rural development in the global south, including land use, livelihoods and wellbeing, and has been supported by RCUK, EU and DfID. Her work combines both social and natural sciences, and champions co-production of research findings with local communities and stakeholders.
Part of the Mark Blacksell Public Lecture series (with the Royal Geographical Society), this lecture took place on 20 February 2020.
Whither the wetlands? The world’s wet places and future climate change
Professor Dan Charman, University of Exeter
Academics, past and present, students, alumni and members of the public joined together to celebrate the achievements of 50 years of Geography at Plymouth. More than 5,000 students have graduated in the years since its launch in 1969, and it has developed a world-class research culture that spans smart transport to soil erosion, climate change to community resilience.
To celebrate the anniversary, Dan Charman, formerly Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Plymouth and now Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University of Exeter, provided a special Mark Blacksell Public lecture, showcasing the critical relevance of geographers’ work on the pressing global relationship between wetlands and climate change.
Guerilla Geography
In this thought-provoking and challenging public lecture, Daniel Raven-Ellison shared his guide to Guerrilla Geography. Giving examples of radical, alternative and creative public geographies, Daniel explained what guerrilla geography is, why it's important and how it's at the heart of the movement he started to make London the world's first National Park City. He also covered waterboarding championships, used mind-reading devices to explore cities and his recent 100 metre micro-expedition that will change the way you think about the UK forever.
Visit Daniel's website for more information
Part of the Mark Blacksell Public Lecture series (with the Royal Geographical Society), this stimulating lecture took place on 13 February 2019.
Is the UK heading for a Green Brexit?
Richard’s assessment of this question examines the politics of environment pre- and post- the EU referendum; the UK government’s efforts to replace the environmental governance functions of the EU, and the cross-cutting challenges of devolution. In practice, any new, post-Brexit environmental governance ‘fix’ for the UK looks likely to be profoundly shaped by the greater priorities of trade and the constitution.
The ice age in tropical Africa: new results from deep lake drilling
Professor Barker reports initial results from a recent deep lake coring programme on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro with the support of NERC and the ICDP. This links past climate change to human evolution in the East African Rift Valley.
Exploring Everyday Resilience: Resistance, Rootedness, and Resourcefulness
Katrina illustrates a human centred view of resilience, exploring dynamic people/environment adaptive systems
The Quaternary History of the River Nile
Jamie illustrates the distinctive geography of the desert Nile in Sudan, presenting some of the latest interdisciplinary work seeking to understand how societies fared alongside a volatile Nile over the last 6,000 years
Common Ground: Geography and everyday environments
Anna Davies discusses the values we give to everyday lived environments, the ways we can enhance these environments and how geography can bring diverse stakeholders together in relation to the challenges of increasingly urgent sustainability transition
The Big Thaw: a warming, changing Arctic
Mary Edwards considers the fragility of Artic systems, drawing upon examples from Alaska, where she lived for several years, and Siberia, the largest northern land area affected by arctic warming.
Researching homeless people as if they matter
Based on two decades of his own research, Professor Paul Cloke discusses homelessness, one of the most pernicious social issues of our time.
Desert Landscapes of the World
Using his own field-work in many of the world’s deserts, Andrew Goudie discusses such phenomena as wind erosion, dust storms, pan and yardang formation, salt weathering, and dunes.
Why do we need to look at military landscapes?
Drawing on fieldwork and observations from around the UK, starting from an initial observation about the ubiquity of military landscapes, the talk is aimed at a wide audience - academics, the public and anyone with an interest in the armed forces.