2nd Feb 12 - Mark Beecroft awarded EPSRC grant to study personal security and travel by public transport. |
| Dr Mark Beecroft will conduct a 14 month study: 'Enhancing transport technologies to support personal security in travel by public transport'. Amongst the advantages that private transport is perceived to hold over public transport is that it is inherently safer in terms of supporting personal security in travel. Negative perceptions (and experiences) of personal security in travelling by public transport can impact upon travel behaviour with consequences for both individuals and society. Transport and transport-related technologies have an important role to play in supporting personal security in travel by public transport. This support ranges from underpinning the operation of transport systems and services to facilitating individual travel choices.The role of technology and its interaction with user needs and perceptions in supporting personal security in travel by public transport is the fundamental theme of this research. The key aim of the research is to develop fundamental understandings relating to this interaction and as a consequence to enable transport technologies to better support personal security in travel by public transport. The project is funded by the EPSRC under their First Grant scheme for new lecturers. The project will start on 1st May 2012. |
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1st Feb 12 - Sustainable Rural Development MSc programme highlighted in The Times |
| The Sustainable Rural Development MSc programme has been recently highlighted in an article published in The Times on the 25th of January 2012. The article entitled "The sharp end of sustainability" highlighted the importance, quality and contemporary perspective of the course despite it's long history of over 40 years. Please follow the link for the full article. |
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21st Nov 11 - Upland science makes an “X factor” impact |
| Scientists from Aberdeen, Leeds, Durham, Sheffield and Sussex universities showed that they have got what it takes to make an impact when they were presented with the Rural Economy and Land Use Award at The Sage, Gateshead on 16 November.
The team of natural and social scientists designed a research project to help upland communities understand the social and environmental changes that are happening in our hills and what the options are for the future. The results have had impacts in economic and business contexts and been used by companies such as Yorkshire Water, Premier Waste Plc and United Utilities. The project has also helped our understanding of the importance of peatlands for storing carbon. At the “Who should run the countryside?” conference organised by the UK Research Councils Relu Programme, business people, policymakers and scientists voted to decide the winner “X factor” style. The conference was celebrating the achievements of a £25 million interdisciplinary programme investigating the challenges facing rural areas. Projects have been researching topics as diverse as the potential for farm-scale energy production, why endemic diseases persist in livestock, the implications of European legislation on water quality, how visitors to the countryside can be informed effectively about disease risks and much more. Stakeholders have been involved throughout all the Relu projects. These are the people in the worlds of business and government policy who will be making use of the results. Carrying on this theme of involvement, a panel of stakeholders has shortlisted the finalists in the contest, and at the conference everyone had the opportunity to watch films about the projects then vote to decide on the winners. Vice chancellor of Liverpool University Sir Howard Newby who presented the award said: “The uplands provide many vital resources, including grazing for food animals, storage for carbon, clean water supplies, and facilities for leisure, as well as a very rich ecology. “Environmental and social change in the uplands has implications for all of us and this project has helped our understanding of these changes, and enabled people who live in and make use of the uplands to make more informed choices.” For further information follow the link to the project website. |
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15th Nov 11 - Titanic Heritage Research to be presented in Germany |
| Based on his ongoing work on the uses and abuses of Titanic heritage in a development context, Professor William J V Neill from the Human Geography Research Group, has been invited to give a guest lecture at the University of Kassel, Dept of Architecture and City Planning , on 22nd November. The lecture will compare approaches to collective memory construction in secular sacral contexts in German, British and Irish contexts. |
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9th Nov 11 - New funding for a Valuing Nature Network to look at peatlands |
| Mark Reed has secured funding for a one-year research project funded through the Valuing Nature Network, sponsored by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Mark will be Principal Investigator in a project assessing and valuing peatland ecosystem services for sustainable management. The project will develop a future research agenda for nature valuation through stakeholder involvement. The project will organise several expert workshops involving a large number of researchers and decision-makers from across the UK, which will further establish the Valuing Nature Network. The project will zoom in on one the UK’s most important terrestrial habitats in terms of the ecosystem services they provide, in particular clean water, carbon sequestration, biodiversity and recreation. It will use this case study to develop new methodological insights, for example on dealing with complexity, uncertainty and non-linearity in valuing nature.
Project summary: This project seeks to establish a transdisciplinary network to explore how different groups of beneficiaries value stocks and flows of multiple (but sometimes mutually exclusive) ecosystem services in complex socio-ecological systems, and how this information might affect the design of financial mechanisms to lever investment in the provision of climate mitigation and adaptation. We will use UK peatlands as a case study to assess the stocks, flows, sustainability and uncertainty of different ecosystem services at multiple scales. Ecosystem services provided by peatlands are vital to UK society but under threat from various forms of degradation. Peatlands are an ideal case study in which to ask questions about links between science, values and decision-making, given growing evidence linking ecosystem functions, services and markets in peatlands, and their potential for Payments for Ecosystem Services schemes (which are attracting increasing attention in policy circles). The proposed network will use expert workshops and literature review to derive new theoretical and methodological insights, and will work actively with the policy and business community to identify and develop the regulatory mechanisms necessary to develop new markets for peatland restoration and conservation. |
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27th Oct 11 - Hydrology PhD success |
| Congratulations to Rene Capell, who just successfully negotiated his viva with Professor Jim Buttle (Trent University, Canada) - just 3 years and 1 month after he started his PhD. Rene’s PhD topic was titled "Modelling dominant runoff processes using tracers and landscape organization in larger catchments” and was based on a cross-school supervision between physical geography and geology. To his great credit, Rene has also contributed 3 senior authored papers and 1 co-authored paper to internationally leading ISI-listed journals during his PhD. He will stay on in the School as a Research Fellow in the Northern Rivers Institute. |
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13th Oct 11 - NERC New Investigator Award for Matteo Spagnolo |
| Dr Matteo Spagnolo has been awarded a NERC New Investigator research grant to study Mega Scale Glacial Lineations (MSGL). The 3 year grant (£95k) aims to further our understanding of the formation mechanism of these landforms and to determine the implications for the dynamics of ice streams. It will employ techniques in morphometry and sedimentology to various study sites worldwide. For the project Matteo has secured the support of various key partners in Europe (UK, Denmark, Norway) and America. |
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15th Sep 11 - A Conference and Workshop on Coastal Communities, Climate Change and Aquaculture |
| A Conference and Workshop on "Coastal Communities, Climate Change and Aquaculture" is being held at the Shetland Hotel, Lerwick on Thursday 15th September 2011. The meeting has been organized under the auspices of ‘CoastAdapt’ (www.coastadapt.org), an international project within the Northern Periphery Programme of the European Union. The meeting is being hosted by the Aberdeen Institute for Coastal Science and Management (Alastair Dawson), University of Aberdeen with support from Shetland Aquaculture and the Scottish Aquaculture Research Forum. The focus of the meeting will be on the adaptation of coastal communities to climate change and learning from the experience of Shetland aquaculture. The meeting will be opened by Tavish Scott MSP. |
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14th Sep 11 - Bandit Trophy victory for trio of retirees |
| Retirement improves your golf - definitive proof from the Bandit Trophy September outing! The dream team of retirees, Keith Chapman, Clive Rice and Nigel Trewin romped to a 4 stroke victory in challenging conditions at Ellon golf club on the 13th. A hardy group of 16 'golfers' braved the conditions for the usual 18 hole Texas Scramble with numerous prize holes. A fun day was had by all. Still time to get a bit of practice in before the end of the year in preparation for May 2012! |
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1st Sep 11 - Professor John Farrington receives the Alan Hay Award |
| Professor John Farrington has been awarded the 2011 Alan Hay Award by the Transport Geography Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society. This award is made in recognition of significant contributions to Transport Geography, and was presented on 31st August at the RGS Institute of British Geographers' Annual Conference in London. |
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23rd Aug 11 - Working Group organised at European Society for Rural Sociology Congress, Crete 22-25th Aug |
| Lorna Philip and colleagues David Brown (Cornell) and Dudley Poston (Texas A&M) have organised Working Group 18 'Diversity In Demographic Processes Across Rural Space' at the 24th Congress of the European Society for Rural Sociology. The Working Group brings together scholars from across Western and Eastern Europe, Scandanavia, Australia and North America who will present papers in 4 conference sessions. Lorna's paper, 'Tales from a small island: pre- and post-retirement migration to the Isle of Bute' reports findings from a recently concluded project funded by the ESRC. |
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1st Jul 11 - Transport geography/studies – conference and student prize competition |
| Hosted by the Department’s Centre for Transport Research, the 44th Annual Conference of the Universities’ Transport Study Group (UTSG) will be held from the 4th to 6th January in 2012. Deadline for abstracts is the 31st of August. Especially students are encouraged to submit abstracts for consideration for the Smeed Prize, with the 1st Prize worth £500 and Runner-up £250. Details of the call, including prize rules and booking form can be found at http://www.utsg.net and http://www.abdn.ac.uk/ctr/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/utsg_papercall_20121.pdf. |
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1st Jul 11 - Congratulations to Sharon Flanigan who successfully defended her PhD thesis at oral examination |
| Sharon’s thesis, which investigated agri-tourism in Scotland, was supervised by Colin Hunter and Kirsty Blackstock (Hutton Institute – formerly the Macaulay). |
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13th Jun 11 - Congratulations to Heather Smith who successfully defended her PhD thesis at oral examination |
| Heather's PhD topic was 'At a Watershed: The Emerging Relationship between River Basin Management Planning and Development Planning in Scotland'. Congratulations Heather! |
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21st Apr 11 - German Research Collaborations Consolidated. |
| The Northern Rivers Institute’s hydrological collaborations with colleagues in Germany have been consolidated by two recent developments. Prof Chris Soulsby has been invited to join an international advisory panel to review the water research programme of the Helmholtz Institute, Germany’s leading state funded environmental research centre at Leipzig. Also, Prof Doerthe Tetzlaff is now Adjunct Visiting Scientist at the Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin. |
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18th Apr 11 - AGU Award for glaciologist Caroline Clason |
| Glaciology PhD student Caroline Clason has been selected to receive an Outstanding Student Paper Award from the American Geophysical Union (AGU) for her presentation at the 2010 AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, California. Her presentation was recognized as among the best of a strong group of student presenters. Caroline’s award winning presentation was based on her PhD research and was entitled “Modelling meltwater delivery to the ice-bed interface through full thickness fractures on outlet glaciers of the western Greenland Ice Sheet”. |
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6th Apr 11 - Research Fellow position available at the Centre for Transport Research |
| A Research Fellow position is available at the Centre for Transport Research. To support the ambitious research programme of the dot.rural Digital Economy Research Hub we are looking to appoint a postdoctoral research fellow to work in the area of Smart Logistics on a project entitled Smart Micro-logistics for the Rural Economy (SMiLE). For more details, follow the link. The closing date for the receipt of applications is 18th April 2011 |
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6th Apr 11 - Leading scientists work together to tackle conservation conflict |
| Conservationists are increasingly coming into conflict with land managers, companies and in some cases governments who have different priorities. These conflicts occur over a range of scales from the local management of single species to international conflicts over the management of resources. They are multi-dimensional, involving ecological, social and economic interests and operate within political and legal frameworks. Using cutting edge techniques and collaboration, social science researchers from the Universities of Aberdeen, Leuphana (Germany) and Leeds are finding out what it takes to get opposing groups to work together, for the benefit of environment, people and economy. The project is funded by the British Academy and led by Dr Mark Reed. Follow the link for the full press release. |
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1st Apr 11 - GSA honour for Prof Jeff McDonnell |
| Geological Soceity of America Birdsall-Driess Lectures. The oustanding research of 6th Century Chair Prof Jeff McDonnell has been recognised by the Geological Society of America. Jeff has been selected as the 2011 Birdsall Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer. The lectureship is made to one person annually by the GSA Hydrogeology Division and is a major honour. Jeff is the 33rd GSA Birdsall-Dreiss Lecturer and will tour over 30 US institutions this year to lecture on his cutting edge work in isotope hydrology and runoff processes. |
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14th Mar 11 - Applications welcomed for NERC PhD studentship |
Applications are invited, on a competitive basis, for a NERC algorithm studentship. Five projects are being advertised by staff from Geography and Environment:
Prospective students need to apply using this online link: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply. Please refer to the NERC studentship handbook for funding eligibility. The entry requirements are an Honours degree at 2.1 or above in a subject relevant to the discipline you are applying to. Please note that we will require supporting documentation and this should be sent to us as soon as possible. If you are unable to complete the form online it is also possible to download the application form by following the link above. Please ensure that you include all supporting documentation and return the application to the address on the form and not directly to the Graduate Schools Admissions Unit. In order to process an application we require the following documentation:
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14th Mar 11 - Archaeological lessons learned in Orkney shared with international experts |
| Scientists and researchers from across northern Europe will gather in Orkney on Thursday to learn how the islands protect their rich archaeological resources from rising seas and winter storms. The conference, Archaeological heritage and adaptation of coastal communities to climate change is organised by the University of Aberdeen (Professor Alastair Dawson) and the University of Highlands and Islands will be held at Orkney College on Thursday and Friday to share this expertise through the international CoastAdapt project - an international partnership of local municipalities, environmental organisations and academic institutions which seeks to adapt and respond to the impacts of climate change. |
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14th Mar 11 - International conference on Titanic heritage and place identity announced |
| Bill Neill under the auspices of the Irish Scottish Spatial Planning Forum has organised a major international conference on Titanic heritage and place identity to commemorate the centenary of the ship's launch. For further information contact Bill Neill. A flyer can be downloaded here |
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18th Mar 11 - ESRC Scottish Doctoral Training Centre studentships available in Human Geography |
| Human Geography at the University of Aberdeen is member of the ESRC Scottish Doctoral Training Centre Human Geography pathway. Applications for ESRC 1+3, and +3 doctoral studentships are invited from prospective students who wish to be considered for specific projects (details available here) or from those who are interested in developing their own project proposal with members of staff. Our main research themes are nature, culture and livelihoods; transport and mobilites; and development, politics and social justice. For further information please contact the member of staff associated with specific projects or (Dr Lorna Philip).
Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria for holding an ESRC studentship (see here) will be considered for an award by the Human Geography pathway of the ESRC Scottish Doctoral Training Centre. The Human Geography Pathway have at least 5 studentships for award for an October 2011 start and the awards will be made by a committee comprising representatives from the Geography Departments at the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews. Other funding opportunities will be investigated where appropriate. The closing date for applications to be received by the University of Aberdeen is 15th April 2011. The Human Geography pathway will make their awards in mid May 2011. Information about how to apply is available here. Please note that the application must include a 2-3 page research proposal, a full CV and 2 references (one must be from someone other than a member of the proposed supervisory team). |
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7th Mar 11 - New research project in the South American Pantanal: Water and society |
| Antonio Ioris, member of the human geography group, is one of the academics involved in the new research project (Pronex) recently approved by the research council Fapemat (that oversees research in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil). The project deals with water quality and environmental regulation in the South American Pantanal and includes scientists from the International Pantanal Network. The networking initiative was initiated in 2008, with support by The Leverhulme Trust and is coordinated by Antonio Ioris (more information can be obtained at www.aces.ac.uk/PantanalInternationalNetwork.htm). The team of scientists will examine the impacts of water pollution on the ecology and society of the Cuiabá River Basin, the most urbanised area in the Pantanal. The work will last for three years and will be profoundly interdisciplinary. Final outcomes are expected to inform policymaking and be highly relevant for water users, including farmers and water utilities. The first phase of Pronex will be a workshop in the city of Cuiabá on 14-15 March 2011, which will be followed by a fieldtrip to the Cuiabá River Basin. Ioris will attend the workshop with five other colleagues from the Macaulay Institute and the Scottish Agriculture College. |
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1st Mar 11 - John Nelson appointed to steering committe for Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce tranpsort awarness campaign |
| Prof John Nelson from the Department’s and School of Geosciences’ Centre for Transport Research (CTR) has been selected recently to sit on a steering committee of a new Chamber of Commerce campaign. The initiative is meant to raise awareness about the key transport issues which impact on business and economic development in the North-East of Scotland. For more details, follow the . |
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25th Feb 11 - Northern Rivers Institute staff star in “Featured Articles” in leading international hydrology journal |
| Two recent papers from Northern Rivers Institute staff are currently amongst eight Featured Articles on the home page of the leading international journal Water Resources Research. The papers: Shopping for hydrologically representative connectivity metrics in a humid temperate forested catchment by Genevieve Ali et al. and Interpreting parameters in water transit time distribution by Markus Hrachowitz et al. are excellent examples of the internationally leading hydrological research undertaken in the School of Geosciences. |
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17th Feb 11 - NERC funding for Younger Dryas glacial research in the Alps |
| Matteo Spagnolo is the recipient of a NERC-CIAF grant (£13k) that provides costs for 18 cosmogenic analyses. The project entitled “The effect of climate variability across the Alps on the age, number and size of glacier advances associated with the Younger Dryas” will investigate a series of Younger Dryas moraines in the Western Alps and integrate the results with other dated deposits on a on a west-east transect across the mountain chain. |
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14th Feb 11 - Congratulations to Christian Imholt on a successful thesis defence |
| Congratulations to Christian Imholt on a successful thesis defence. Christian's thesis examines the effects of thermal regimes and climate change on the in-stream ecology of Cairngorm rivers and has already produced three papers in ISI journals. He was supervised within the Northern Rivers Institute by Chris Gibbins and Chris Soulsby, in collaboration with the Macaulay Institute and Marine Scotland. His PhD was examined by Professor Nikolai Friberg of the University of Aarhus in Denmark. |
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8th Feb 11 - Applications welcome for two Research Council funded PhD studentships available in Human Geography |
| Two Research Council funded PhD studentships available in Human Geography: Technologies to support Older people at home: maximising Personal and Social interaction (TOPS) - The role of in-person and virtual social interactions and Establishing the relationships between high-speed broadband and rural community resilience.
Technologies to support Older people at home: maximising Personal and Social interaction (TOPS) - The role of in-person and virtual social interactions Supervisors: Dr Lorna Philip (Geography and Environment, UoA), Dr Judith Masthoff (Computing Science, UoA) and Dr Gaener Rodger (Centre for Rural Health, UHIMI), Professor John Farrington (Geography and Environment, UoA) Focusing on older people experiencing chronic pain who live in their own homes this PhD project will investigate how social interaction can help support overall personal wellbeing. Both in-person social interaction and social interaction supported by new and existing technologies will be examined. It is envisaged that social interaction in three distinct domains will be explored: personal contacts (e.g. with family and friends); participation in and interaction with members of self-help/ community groups; and interaction with health and social care professionals. The project will contribute to the development of an evidence base about how in-person and virtual social interactions help to support independent living amongst the older, rural population. The findings will help health and social care policymakers and service providers make decisions about how best to care for older people in their homes in the future. Further information is available here. Establishing the relationships between high-speed broadband and rural community resilience Supervisors: Prof John Farrington (Geography and Environment) and Dr Sarah Skerratt (Scottish Agricultural College) The PhD will focus on the relationships between high-speed broadband and rural community resilience. Research rarely explores links between communities’ interaction with innovative, broadband-enabled digital technologies and those communities’ actual enhanced resilience. This PhD will address this shortfall. It will identify patterns in how communities use, adapt to and interact with broadband-enabled innovative technologies across a range of dot.rural projects (www.dotrural.ac.uk). It will investigate these in a multi-disciplinary way, working across the projects and themes, and with partners, projects on the ground and co-investigators. Further information is available here. |
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1st Feb 11 - New editorial appointment for Helmut Geist |
| Helmut Geist received an appointment as co-editor of the “Regional Environmental Change” (REC) journal published by Springer (Luxembourg, Berlin). REC is a young, ISI-accredited and inter/multidisciplinary publication outlet for mainly original works which adopt an earth system perspective addressing the spatially explicit regional dimensions of global (environmental) changes such as desertification and deforestation. The academic subjects which relate to the journal include geography, geology and globalisation studies. For more details, see here. |
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1st Feb 11 - John Nelson and Mark Beecroft recognised as Aberdeen ambassadors |
| The 5th International Symposium on Travel Demand Management, featuring the theme of “Sustainable mobility”, had a feedback on those from the Centre for Transport Research who hosted the event at the University of Aberdeen, 26 - 28 October 2010. John Nelson and Mark Beecroft were among those 22 ambassadors awarded by Lord Provost Peter Stephen at the most recent Aberdeen Convention Bureau’s annual Ambassador Awards dinner for their contributions to bring conference business worth £10M to the North-east’s economy. For more information, see the awards dinner and symposium. |
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24th Jan 11 - Science Communication Workshop for early career researchers |
| PhD student Richard Morris, through his role on the committee of the UK Polar Network, hosted a three-day workshop (12th-14th January) for early career scientists on the topic of science communication. Participants from across the UK and abroad gathered to share experiences and ideas for effective communication and public outreach, and take part in lively discussions and engaging practical sessions. The discussions were led by a number of external speakers, from institutions such as the British Antarctic Survey, Our Dynamic Earth (Edinburgh) and the University of Aberdeen’s Public Engagement with Science Unit. The workshop received very positive feedback, with attendees impressed by the range and depth of topics covered. Funding for the event came from generous grants by NERC, the Royal Astronomical Society and the International Glaciological Society. |
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19th Jan 11 - High citations for NRI papers |
| In the recent citations statistics of “Hydrological Processes” – one of the top ranking journals in the ISI Water Resources subject area – 4 out of the 20 most-cited articles from all issues of the journal published during the period January 2008 to December 2009 (the data are from Thomson ISI Web of Science) were first- or co-authored by staff from the Northern Rivers Institute. |
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18th Jan 11 - Aberdeen glacial research presence at AGU and CESM Land Ice Working Group Meeting |
| Caroline Clason and Richard Morris, PhD students within the Cryosphere and Climate Change Research Group, represented the University and the School of Geosciences at the recent American Geosciences Union Fall Meeting 2010. Richard presented his work on the modelling of high arctic snow pack melting and refreezing at a lively poster session. Caroline delivered a talk to over 200 delegates at the largest Cryospheric Sciences session of the entire conference. Her topic on modelling spatial and temporal patterns of moulin formation on the SW Greenland Ice Sheet was very well received and consequently, following AGU, Caroline was invited to speak at the Community Earth System Model (CESM) Land Ice Working Group Meeting in Boulder, Colorado. The meeting included a glacial hydrology workshop with the aim of leading towards better representation of glacial hydrologic systems within the Community Ice Sheet Model (CISM). Caroline is currently based at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, funded by a Leverhulme Trust Study Abroad Studentship, during which she aims to strengthen links with the North American cryospheric community. |
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17th Jan 11 - High impact for hydrology research at American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. |
| 2010 ended on high for staff from the Northern Rivers Institute who represented the School of Geosciences at the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco in December. Prof. Doerthe Tetzlaff was busy convening three sessions, as well as presenting papers on their own work. She was also invited to join the technical committee on Surface Waters of the Hydrology Division. Prof. Chris Soulsby also made presentations. Both received very positive feedback on the work conducted by the NRI. The team – including postdoc Dr. Genevieve Ali – also ensured a strong Aberdeen presence at the prestigious Catchment Science Symposium at the University of California, Berkeley immediately prior to AGU. |
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16th Dec 10 - Farm-based food entrepreneur research project funded |
| David Watts has been awarded a grant by The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland to conduct research with farm-based food entrepreneurs. The context for the research is the Scottish Government’s national food policy, which emphasises the important contribution of food production and processing to the future of Scotland’s rural areas. However, there is lack of evidence to guide policy development on issues such as food networks and the promotion of local foods. The aims of this collaborative research are: to use the experience and insights of farm-based food entrepreneurs to guide policy development; and to develop a research instrument that will help to evaluate such policies. For more information, please contact David Watts. |
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9th Dec 10 - Scottish-French Collaboration confirmed |
| Dr. Lionel Guillemot, Maître de Conférences, Dr. Samuel DELEPINE, Maître de Conférences, Dr. Manuella ROUPNEL-FUENTESHERRERA, Maître de Conférences at the ESO-CARTA Lab, University of Angers (France), and Dr. Chadia ARAB, Chargée de recherche CNRS, ESO, University of Angers (France) visited Dr. Sergei Shubin (School of Geosciences) and Dr. Heather Dickey (University of Aberdeen Business School). The colleagues from the University of Angers and the Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique (France) are working together with Dr. Shubin on a prestigious Alliance project within the Franco-British Research Partnership Programme funded by the British Council. Their ongoing research focuses on Integration of East-European and Euro-Mediterranean Migrants in France and Scotland and aims to establish long-term research partnership for future cross-national and international networking and collaboration. On the basis of this collaboration, the Universities of Poitiers, Angers and Aberdeen organised a joint seminar at the MIGRINTER institute to disseminate the results of this project. The Alliance project is also used to successfully develop a transferable research methodology, which is now applied to investigate other instances of inequality/under-representation of itinerant groups in Scotland, France and Portugal. |
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13th Dec 10 - Rural elderly are the focus of “New Technologies to Support Older People at Home” project |
| Lorna Philip is a co-investigator on a new research project, funded by RCUK through the Rural Digital Economy Hub, entitled New Technologies to Support Older People at Home. The research will explore ways in which personal and social interactions can be maximised to improve the well being of members of the older rural people who suffer from chronic pain. Lorna will be working with colleagues from Aberdeen University (Computing Science, Health Economics Research Unit, Division of Applied Health Sciences, Centre for Rural Health), University of the Highlands and Islands (Centre for Rural Health) and Dundee University (School of Computing) on this 3 year project. Further information is contained in the press release available at here. |
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7th Dec 10 - Visit from Spanish Collaborators at NRI |
| Dr Ramon Batalla from the University of Lleida (Spain) and Dr Damia Vericat of the Forest Technology Centre of Catalonia visited the UK as part of a new Environment-Agency funded project being undertaken by Dr Chris Gibbins of the Northern Rivers Institute. The project focuses on a river in the English Lake District which will be the subject of restoration measures implemented to improve its ecological status. The restoration will involve engineering to reconnect an important tributary, so that it can once again supply sediment and contribute flows to the river. Drs Batalla and Vericat are recognized authorities on so-called ‘Environmental Flows’ and, together with staff from Natural England, Environment Agency and Chris Gibbins, visited the catchment as part of preliminary work on the 3 year project. |
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7th Dec 10 - Scottish-German Collaboration confirmed |
| Prof. Gunnar Nützmann, Deputy Director of the IGB Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries ( Berlin, Germany) and Dr. Joerg Lewandowski visited Prof. Doerthe Tetzlaff from the Northern Rivers Institute, School of Geosciences. The IGB guests visited the NRI’s long term research sites in the Girnock experimental catchments and the Feugh in the Cairngorms to initialise inter-catchment comparisons with their own long-term field site in Germany. |
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1st Dec 10 - Alastair Dawson's book nominated for Scottish History Book of the Year |
| Professor Alastair Dawson's book 'So Foul and Fair a Day’ has been nominated for Scottish History Book of the Year by the Saltire Society. The book documents provides a detailed account of Scotland's past weather and climate conditions how these shaped the physical and human aspects of Scotland today. |
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23rd Nov 10 - Kevin Edwards has currently the most downloaded paper in Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology |
| Congratulations to Kevin Edwards. His paper “Pollen preservation zones as an interpretative tool in Holocene palynology” (co-authored with John Tweddle of the Natural History Museum, London) is currently the most downloaded paper in Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, the premier journal in its field and published by Elsevier.
Kevin has also been invited to join the board of the Journal of the North Atlantic. The journal is an internet publication emanating from the Humboldt Field Research Institute and the Eagle Hill Foundation, Maine, USA. |
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23rd Nov 10 - Jillian Anable announced as Young Transport Professional of the Year |
| Congratulations to Dr Jillian Anable who has received the accolade of Young Transport Professional of the Year at the Scottish Transport Awards. Jillian is a member of the Centre for Transport Research her work has relevance to both transport policy and practice. |
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8th Nov 10 - USGS visit to Northern Rivers Institute |
| Dr. Jake Peters, USGS Atlanta, visited the Northern Rivers Institute in the School of Geosciences in October. Jake is a geologist / biogeochemist and established the Panola Watershed Research Basin which is running since 1984. He is also one of the editors of Hydrological processes and served many years as the Chair of the Water Quality committee of the International Association of Hydrological Science (IAHS). Jake visited the NRI’s long term research sites in the Girnock experimental catchments in the Cairngorms. In addition to fruitful discussions regarding future involvement of the Northern Rivers Institute with the USGS, Jake also gave a well-received seminar on “How Does a Watershed Work? Process Understanding from the Water, Energy and Biogeochemical Budgets Site – Panola Mountain Research Watershed, Georgia". |
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22nd Oct 10 - Congratulations to Christian Birkel on a successful PhD defence |
| Congratulations to Christian Birkel, who just successfully negotiated his PhD viva - just 2 years and 10 months after he started his PhD. Christian’s PhD topic was titled “Integrating high resolution tracer data into lumped conceptual rainfall-runoff models” and was based on a collaboration between the School of Geosciences and the Macaulay Institute. To his great credit, Christian has also contributed 4 senior authored and 2 co-authored papers to internationally leading ISI-listed journals during his PhD. |
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21st Oct 10 - Congestion Charging Research in the news |
| Research undertaken by Dr Geertje Schuitema, from Centre for Transport Research, has shown that congestion charging would be more acceptable to the public if they were to experience the benefits from a charging scheme, for example under a trial period. The focus of her research was Stockholm where, similar to London, a congestion charge has been successfully introduced already. |
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14th Oct 10 - Congratulations to William Walton on his call to the Bar |
| Congratulations to William Walton, Senior Lecturer in Geography, who has today been called to the Bar of England and Wales by The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn in London. William teaches planning, land and environmental law to students studying spatial planning, surveying and geography and he is currently engaged in research in third party rights, environmental justice and the implications for access to law and justice of jurisdictional differentiation across geographical space. Click the link for a photograph. |
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13th Oct 10 - Prof Chris Soulsby addresses RCUK Flood Risk Management Consortium and LWEC Flood workshop |
| Flooding is a major concern to many threatening many communities in the UK and worldwide. The Northern Rivers Institute participated in two recent conferences on Flood Risk Management (FRM); one hosted by the FRM Research Consortium and one by the RCUK LWEC initiative. In both cases, Prof. Chris Soulsby gave invited talks profiling recent process-based hydrological research conducted by the NRI emphasising the critical role of such process-based work in underpinning sustainable flood management. |
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7th Oct 10 - University of Aberdeen Antarctic research profiled in China |
| Glaciologist Dr Rob Bingham will represent the School of Geosciences, and its Climate and Cryosphere Change research group, at a special workshop concerning “Geophysical Studies of Antarctica,” being held in Beijing, China, 22-24 October 2010. Rob is one of four UK scientists sponsored by RCUK to attend the event, at which internationally leading scientists drawn from different fields of Antarctic research will meet to present and discuss the latest explorations of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, and target future collaborations in Antarctic research. |
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23rd Sep 10 - Prestigious invitation to join technical committee of American Geophysical Union AGU |
| Prof. Doerthe Tetzlaff is invited to join the Hydrology Section Surface Water Technical Committee. These Technical Committees are a key element of the Hydrology Section of the American Geophysical Union. The charge of the Surface Water Committee is to promote scientific interactions in surface water science and closely related sub-disciplines of Hydrology. |
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23rd Sep 10 - Invited NRI participation at CUAHSI 2nd Biennial Colloquium in Boulder, Colorado |
| Prof Chris Soulsby was invited as keynote speaker at the CUAHSI (Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science – the leading USA university pooling initiative in hydrology) 2nd Biennial Colloquium in July. Prof Doerthe Tetzlaff was also invited in her role as a member of the Steering Committee for International Inter-site Comparison which had a workshop in Boulder. |
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20th Sep 10 - Congratualtions to Ian, Huw and Sue, winners of the Bandit Trophy |
| Last week saw the September playing of the Bandit Trophy, at a windswept and sodden Turriff Golf Club. Twenty one brave soles battled the elements in a seven team Texas Scramble. The winners, Ian, Huw and Sue won by a VERY CLEAR margin in the worst of conditions. Despite the poor weather everyone made it around in good humour and all had a good time.
BREAKING NEWS: An official inquiry has been launched to investigate betting irregularities and "banditry" related to the winning team's handicap! |
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20th Sep 10 - Al Gemmell and UoA colleagues win the Innovation category at the Scottish e-Assessment Awards |
| The SMS Flood Disaster Simulation exercise developed by Alastair Gemmell (Geography), Sarah Cornelius (School of Education) and Phil Marston (School of Education) won the Innovation category at the annual Scottish e-Assessment Awards earlier this month.
This is an interactive exercise in which students play the role of a civil defence manager in a small French town who has been charged with prevention of flood damage over a period of 4 days. Situation reports on aspects such as weather and river levels are sent to students by text messaging, and the same technology allows students to communicate management decisions back to the computer controlling the evolution of the scenario. Messages can arrive at any time of day or night during the simulation, and it is this ‘real-world’ aspect of the scenario, together with the use of text messaging to deliver information, which was regarded as highly innovative. |
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10th Sep 10 - Alastair Dawson appointed as co-convenor of the SAGES graduate school |
| Prof. Alastair Dawson has been appointed as co-convenor of the SAGES Graduate School. |
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9th Sep 10 - Involved - How to get people working more effectively together to protect the environment |
| Involved is a research project investigating what makes stakeholder participation in environmental management work. By understanding why different approaches work in different contexts, we want to help people design participatory processes that are more likely to deliver the outcomes people want.
It is asking who benefits in what ways, and how outcomes are influenced by the design of participatory processes and the contexts in which they take place. In doing so, the project will develop new theoretical and methodological insights that can enhance stakeholder participation in environmental management. It will do this by analysing: i) different participatory processes in comparable socio-economic and biophysical contexts; and ii) comparable participatory processes in different contexts. The project runs till 31 December 2012 and has a budget of £120K. The project is co-ordinated from the University of Aberdeen by Mark Reed, with collaborators from the Universities of Leeds and Leuphana, and members of the EU-funded DESIRE project. |
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9th Sep 10 - Aberdeen work on tracer hydrology and transit times profiled in benchmark volume |
| Internationally leading work of the Northern Rivers Institute was highly profiled in the recently published Annual Review Issue of Hydrological Processes. This focuses on a “state of the art” workshop on isotope hydrology and catchment transit times which was held at the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2009. The volume, which includes 6 papers involving members of the NRI, will be a benchmark contribution to this rapidly evolving field of hydrology. |
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9th Sep 10 - Environment Agency to fund river restoration PhD studentship |
| The NW Region of the Environment Agency is to fund research conducted at the Northern Rivers Institute to assess the ecological benefits of river restoration work being undertaken in the English Lake District. The new project is part a long-running collaboration between Dr Chris Gibbins and NW Environment Agency related to the conservation of freshwater pearl mussels. These mussels are extremely rare and declining in many parts of their range, as a result of human activities which alter the suitability of river habitat conditions. The Environment Agency is undertaking river restoration work aimed at improving habitat conditions for mussels and, as part of this, they are to fund a PhD studentship at the Northern Rivers Institute. Under Chris Gibbins supervision, the student will carry out monitoring and modelling work to evaluate the success of the restoration efforts. |
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8th Sep 10 - NERC-DFID grant awarded to Antonio Ioris and Sergei Shubin |
| Antonio Ioris and Sergei Shubin of the School of Geosciences of Aberdeen University, in collaboration with Michelle Pinard of the School of Biological Sciences (who is the PI of the project), have been awarded a research grant under the Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme. ESPA is a partnership that brings together the Department for International Development (DFID), the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The title of the research project is “Forest dependent poor at the agricultural frontier: the complexity of poverty and the promise of sustainable forest ecosystems in Amazonia” and the aim is to provide a holistic and inter-disciplinary approach to understanding of the links between the causes, mechanisms and the effects of deforestation on poverty at the agricultural frontier in three case study areas in Bolivia and Brazil. Previous approaches to equitable management of forest ecosystems in the Amazon tended to offer very narrow formalised solutions, lacked structure and coherence, were too insular and lacked broader international perspective and expertise. The current project will address these gaps by providing a holistic and inter-disciplinary understanding of the links between the causes, mechanisms and the effects of deforestation on poverty at the agricultural frontier. The problem of making the benefits of forest ecosystems available equitably to the disadvantaged people is one of the top priority policy issues identified in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. However, environmental governance in the Amazon tends to lack engagement with forest dependent poor, so that some ecosystem management initiatives restrict poor people's access to resources and reduce their anti-poverty capabilities. The project attempts to rectify this problem by giving the voice to the rural poor in the Amazon, reconnecting them with the regional policy makers and linking them into broader research networks to develop Southern-led solutions to the problems of deforestation and poverty. Through the series of workshops, pilot studies and user-engagement events, it will expose the dynamism of deforestation and its effects on poverty in the frontier areas, as well as suggests institutional changes necessary for equitable forest ecosystems management in the Amazon. |
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30th Jul 10 - Guest editorship of Hydrological Processes |
| A special issue of the leading ISI water resources journal “Hydrological Processes” on “Catchment Processes and Heterogeneity at Multiple Scales” has just been published. This was edited by a team led by Prof. Doerthe Tetzlaff. The special issue is closely aligned with the scientific activities of the Theme 2 working group (Conceptualization of Process Heterogeneity) of the 2nd Hydrological Decade of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS) on “Prediction in Ungauged Basins” (PUB) which is also lead by Prof Tetzlaff. |
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30th Jul 10 - Christian Birkel represents NRI at the British Hydrological Society International Symposium |
| The 3rd British Hydrological Society International Symposium was a huge success bringing over 250 practitioners and scientists together. PhD Christian Birkel gave a talk entitled "Using stable isotopes to assess hydrological processes and underpin understanding of diffuse pollution transfer in a nested agricultural catchment system". The paper will be published in the BHS conference proceedings. |
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26th Jul 10 - In Livingston’s footsteps - NRI staff undertake ecosystem health assessment in the Zambezi river |
| Drs Mike Kennedy and Chris Gibbins have just returned from fieldwork in Zambia. The trip was part of the 3-year SAFRASS (Southern African River Assessment Scheme) programme in partnership with the University of Glasgow, and which also includes Universities and stakeholder groups in Zambia and South Africa. The project, also involving Professor Chris Soulsby aims to develop a method of assessing the ecological health of Zambian rivers and transfer the necessary skills and knowledge to local scientists so that they can apply the method in future monitoring. As part of the recent visit, Drs Kennedy and Gibbins followed the iconic river Zambezi for part of the course, and thus followed in the footsteps of Livingston, who explored the region as part of his search for the source of the Nile. Their work involved collecting samples of aquatic plants and invertebrates, as well as the collection of water samples for chemical and isotopic analysis. Sample data will be used to construct a picture of the current health of Zambia’s rivers. |
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1st Jul 10 - Helmut Geist delivers a keynote lecture on "Land Change in a Globalised World" |
| As part of his recent appointment to the Scientific Steering Committee of the International Geographical Union's Commission on Land-Use and Land-Cover Changes, Helmut Geist gave an invited keynote lecture at an International Conference on "Land Change in a Globalised World" at the Charles University, Prague, in Czechia on June 28. |
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16th Jun 10 - Congratulations to Kate Pangbourne on the successfull defence of her PhD thesis |
| Congratulations to Kate Pangbourne who successfully defended her PhD thesis today. Kate’s thesis, entitled, "The changing geography of Scottish transport governance", makes an original intellectual contribution to theorising governance and state restructuring. It assesses the effectiveness of the current arrangements for implementing strategic transport objectives in order to information future development of Scottish transport governance structures. The research was funded by the Scottish Executive Transport Group. |
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21st May 10 - Christian Birkel wins Science for Life 2010 student award |
| Congratulations to hydrology PhD student Christian Birkel who won the Science for Life 2010 student award earlier this week. Christian is based jointly at the Northern Rivers Institute and the Macaulay Institute, and won the 2010 student presentation award in the annual competition between post-graduate students at the Scottish Research Institutes. PhD student Heather Smith, joint between Macaulay and Centre for Planning and Environmental Management, was also one of the finalists in the competition. |
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20th May 10 - Editorial appointment for Helmut Geist |
| Following a decision by the Board of the International Association for Ecology and Health, Helmut Geist has been appointed as a member of the executive editorial group and has taken up work as co-editor of the (ISI-accredited) EcoHealth journal this month. |
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19th May 10 - Successful representation of NRI staff at European Geosciences Union assembly |
| Staff from the School of Geosciences’s Northern Rivers Institute were well represented at Europe’s largest symposium for geoscientists at this years EGU (European Geosciences Union) meeting in Vienna. Dr. Doerthe Tetzlaff gave an invited talk on the use of multiple tracer sampling to investigate large scale river basins. She also presented two posters: one of PhD student Rene Capell’s work and one on the international “North-Watch” project which she is leading (involving 11 partners from 10 international institutions). She also represented UoA at the annual meeting of the executive committee of the “Catchment Hydrology sub-division” which she is a member of. Likewise, recent post-doc Dr. Markus Hrachowitz gave an invited talk on transit time modelling carried out at Aberdeen. In addition, PhD Christian Birkel successfully presented his poster on results which were also just submitted to an ISI listed journal – his 3rd senior authored paper – and Christian received a lot and very positive feedback. |
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19th May 10 - Congratulations to Scott, Tim and Emilia, winners of the May Bandit Trophy outing |
| Another very successful day was had on the Bandit Trophy outing to Insch Golf Club. 33 players participated in an 11 team Texas scramble, in glorious Aberdeenshire weather. The clear (bandits) winners were Scott McGrane, Tim Davis and Emilia Grecka, with the next 8 teams separated by only a few strokes. Keep practising for the September outing, details coming soon. |
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11th May 10 - Congratulations to Louise Reid on a successful defence of her thesis |
| Congratulations to Louise Reid who successfully defended her PhD thesis with only minor corrections. Louise’s PhD investigated ‘Environmental behaviour change: a role for household diaries?’, and was funded through the ESRC/Government Dept. Joint Collaborative Studentship Scheme. Louise is the first to complete under the Scheme with, in this instance, the Scottish Government as the co-funder. |
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6th May 10 - Northern Rivers Institute organises 2nd International North-Watch workshop |
| The workshop focused on Hydrological regulation of stream Dissolved Organic Carbon in northern catchments. North-watch, a major grant funded by the Leverhulme Trust and held by the Northern Rivers Institute held a successful 2nd international workshop in Vindeln, northern Sweden. The workshop was organised by North-Watch PI Dr. Tetzlaff and Prof. Hjalmar Laudon of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in Umeå. Internationally leading hydrologists and biogeochemists from Finland, Norway and Sweden and co-investigators of six other countries attended the four day workshop. There has been an increasing interest in understanding the regulating mechanisms of increased dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in streams over the last decade. The major goal of the workshop was to expose each other to different ways of looking at hydro-climatic variability and biogeochemistry in northern catchments in context of a changing climate trying to understand how catchment DOC is being affected by climatic, land use and hydrological change. Data from ten long-term experimental catchments in different parts of the northern region were considered. These included sensitive boreal, sub-arctic and sub-alpine environments ranging from the Yukon and northern Sweden to the Scottish Cairngorms. Hydroclimatic conditions have profound control on DOC on episodic, seasonal and inter-annual time scales across the northern catchments. Whilst there is a strong seasonality in runoff and DOC export among all catchments, it becomes successively more dominated by export during the spring towards the sites in colder regions. There is also decoupling between runoff and DOC export, with a generally lower relative export of DOC during winter and spring and higher relative export during late summer and fall. Discussion from the workshop highlighted the importance of both climatic and catchment characteristics in controlling integrated catchment response and an inter-site modelling study exploring these issues further. More information on North-Watch and the Swedish workshop (including talks and photos) can be found here |
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28th Apr 10 - SAGES coastal and sea level change workshop |
| Alastair Dawson chaired a SAGES coastal and sea level change workshop at the University of Dundee on Tuesday 27th April. The workshop attracted researchers from across Scotland with common interests in coastal and sea level change research. The group discussed the development of new synergies involving different groups of earth system scientists whose interests include integrated coastal zone management, ocean acidification, coastal geoarchaeology as well as extreme events and coastal change. The initiative also seeks to develop research links with the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology Scotland (MASTS). |
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30th Apr 10 - American Anthropological Association award for Kevin Edwards |
| Kevin Edwards, along with co-authors from Britain, America and Iceland, is to receive the 2010 Gordon R. Willey prize from the American Anthropological Association, for their article "Landscapes of Settlement in Northern Iceland: Historical Ecology of Human Impact and Climate Fluctuation on the Millennial Scale". The prize is awarded for the most outstanding archaeology article appearing in the American Anthropologist during the previous three years (in this case 2007-2009); the winning article is cited for its innovative application of archaeological data to a problem of general anthropological interest. The award, consisting of a certificate and $1,000, will be presented in New Orleans in November 2010 |
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28th Apr 10 - Major NERC funding on Virtual Observatories for the Northern Rivers Institute |
| The Northern Rivers Institute, School of Geosciences, is a key partner in a new £2M total (2010-2012) project funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The VO (Virtual Observatory) is a new initiative from NERC designed to deliver proof of concept for new tools and approaches for catchment science driven by the need to contribute to the solution of major environmental issues. This VO will act as a pilot study for a NERC Thematic Programme for which £20 million has been allocated. Dr. Doerthe Tetzlaff from the Northern Rivers Institute was the only representative from any Scottish university invited to a related sandpit event and was consequently elected as one of the work package leaders on international integration of the UK Virtual Observatory. The aim of the two year pilot project is to investigate better methods of linking data and models and to demonstrate scenario analysis for both research and environmental management, using effective communication tools such as portals to provide cost effective answers to vital questions in the water resources / soils area. The project will exploit cloud computing to develop new applications for accessing, filtering and synthesising data to develop new knowledge and evaluation tools. As such the cloud enables the integration of a variety of information sources (including disparate data sets, sensor data and models) at different granularities and scales together with associated information services to provide both interoperability between such services and encourage the flow from data to knowledge to policy setting in the quest for answering big science questions. A wide range of possible management and environmental futures will be explored at a range of spatial and temporal scales. Novel visualisation tools will promote cross-disciplinary communication and illustrate the effects of alternative strategies and solutions. The major goal of the work package lead by Dr. Tetzlaff is to demonstrate the potential for international collaborations and provide awareness and dissemination of important activities and current technologies to the VO project team as a whole. It also will ensure outreach through global linkages with institutions with similar activities and setting standards for exchanging data sets. The project team is a consortium of 13 institutions and includes a stakeholder steering committee to ensure that external linkages with industry, regulatory bodies, government and other research initiatives are understood and incorporated from the outset. |
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26th Apr 10 - Congratulations to Caroline Clason on the award of a Leverhulme Trust Study Abroad Studentship |
| Caroline has been awarded a Study Abroad Studentship from the Leverhulme Trust, providing £17000 for twelve months of research at an overseas institution. She will be based within the Glaciology Research Group at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada, and will be working under the supervision of Dr Gwenn Flowers, Canada Research Chair in Glaciology. The research is entitled, “Meltwater-enhanced sliding of glaciers: A predictive model for routing of surface meltwater to the base of the Greenland Ice Sheet”, and will be a continuation of her current PhD research. It will focus on quantification of meltwater delivery through moulins on outlet glaciers in Greenland, a process potentially significant in controlling ice sheet dynamic thinning and mass loss. |
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8th Apr 10 - Aberdeen Geographers at the AAG Annual Meeting, Washington DC, April 2010 |
| Geography at Aberdeen will be well represented at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Washington DC with Antonio Ioris, Adele Laing, Lorna Philip and Heather Smith all presenting papers. Antonio Ioris will present a paper in Session 3113 Power, Politics, and Water Resource Technologies entitled ‘The expansion of water infrastructure in Lima, Peru: Populism, Neoliberalism and the Increasing Sophistication of Social Exclusion’. He will also participate in Panel Session 4456 Theorising the Hydrosocial Cycle on Saturday 17th, 12:40-2:20. Adele Laing’s paper, ‘Embodied understanding: enabling / disability knowledges’ will be given in Session 3422 Embodied, emotional and affective geographies of participation on Friday 16th, 12:40 – 2:20pm. In the same time slot Heather Smith will present in Session 3410 Environmental Science, policy and politics: exploring the links on Friday 16th, 12:40 – 2:20pm. The title of Heather’s paper is ‘Facilitating integration: river basin management meets land use planning in Scotland’. Lorna Philip will present a paper co-authored with Adele Laing and Edoardo Pignotti entitled ‘Supporting interdisciplinary research, scientific collaboration and policy making: the PolicyGrid II project’ in Session 3616 Virtual Communities on Friday 16th, 4:40 – 6:20pm. In her capacity as co-editor of the Scottish Geographical Journal Lorna will be attending a ‘meet the editors’ reception hosted by the SGJ publishers, Taylor and Francis, in the National Press Club on Wednesday 14th. |
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30th Mar 10 - PhD studentship available in the Northern Rivers Institute |
| Environment Agency and United Utilities are co-funding a PhD studentship to investigate the influence of river restoration on the geomorphology and ecology of the River Ehen (NW England).
The PhD start in October 2010 and will focus on assessment of the physical habitat and ecological responses of the River Ehen to planned restoration work. The research is interdisciplinary and represents a major opportunity for anyone interested in working at the cutting edge of hydro-ecology. The ideal candidate will have an environmental science background, and well qualified applicants from the physical or biological sciences are encouraged to apply. The student will be based at Aberdeen, but will spend periods of time in Cumbria, as required by the research. The lead supervisors are Dr Chris Gibbins (Northern Rivers Institute) and Jane Atkins (Environment Agency). Full details of the project can be found here. Applications can be completed online. Informal enquiries and requests for further information about the project should be directed to Dr Chris Gibbins (c.gibbins@abdn.ac.uk). |
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29th Mar 10 - ‘Interdisciplinarity in Environment & Well-being Research’: An Early Career Researcher Workshop |
| The relationship between the environment and a person’s sense of well-being will be explored at a two day workshop beginning at the University of Aberdeen today (Tuesday March 30th). Around 20 participants working in the social, natural and medical sciences will be involved in the workshop, designed to discuss and disseminate ‘cutting-edge’ research. With participants coming from across the UK, it is hoped that the workshop will also foster future research collaborations and endeavours.
The workshop has been organised as part of the on-going ESRC, MRC and BBSRC funded ‘BeWEL’ (Behaviour for Well-being, Environment and Life) exploratory research network, funded under the ESRC’s Understanding Individual Behaviour programme (Principal Investigator Colin Hunter, School of Geosciences). |
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25th Mar 10 - Congratulations to Rebecca Oakes |
| Rebecca, part-time student on the RPEM programme, was part of the winning team at the Scottish Government's "Designing Places" student competition held at the Lighthouse in Glasgow. Rebecca's team presented their winning scheme and were involved with masterplanning work being carried out by Andres Duany and his team during the Scottish Sustainable Communities Initiative Charrette Series. Rebecca combines studying for her Masters degree in Planning with working as a planning trainee for Aberdeen City Council.
The Design Competition was open to all built environment students studying in Scotland. The results of the masterplanning exercise were assessed by the design professionals who gave lectures during the event. |
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17th Mar 10 - Geosciences PhD students lead the way at the Macaulay Institute's 2010 Student Seminar Day |
| Congratulations to Heather Smith,
who won first place at the Macaulay Institute's 2010 Student Seminar Day (17/03/10) and has been awarded the Sprent Prize. Heather's winning paper is entitled: At a Watershed - Land Use Planning in Scottish River Basins. Congratulations also to Christian Berkel, PhD student, who placed second in the competition with his paper entitled: Tracing Hydrological Processes at Catchment Scales. Prof. Sprent was on hand to judge the presentations, along with Clare Neely from the Macaulay Institute, and Dr. Rene van der Wal from the Aberdeen Centre for Environmental Sustainability. |
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12th Mar 10 - Research Fellowship in Hydrology |
| A Research Fellowship in Hydrology is available in the Northern Rivers Institute, School of Geosciences at the University of Aberdeen.
We are looking for a self-motivated, imaginative post doc to work on watershed model development and testing, aimed at linking hydrologic response with streamwater residence time. Experience with programming in MATLAB, C++ or other software development tool is required. Experience with incorporation of tracers into hydrological models is preferred. The post is based at the University of Aberdeen but allows for extended travel to Oregon State University for research collaborations and field work. The opportunity offers significant potential for professional growth and exposure in Europe and North America.
The Research Fellow will be co-supervised by Professors Jeff McDonnell (OSU, Corvallis, Oregon, US and University of Aberdeen) and Chris Soulsby and Dr Doerthe Tetzlaff (both University of Aberdeen). Closing date is 30th April 2010.
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25th Feb 10 - Congratulations to Sue Heard on a successful defence of her MSc Thesis |
| Congratulations to Sue for a successful defence of her thesis entitled: Some Perceptions of, and Attitudes and Responses to Volcanic Hazards with special reference to Tungurahua, Ecuador. The project implemented a novel approach to the investigation of Vulnerable People’s areas of perceived danger by plotting their combined Mental Maps onto Tungurahua’s volcanic hazard map. This spatial information can be used to highlight areas for future hazard management foci. The project also produced some interesting qualitative data about the economic, cultural and political issues involved when Vulnerable people make decisions faced with other risks, apart from those posed by an active and dangerous volcano. |
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28th Jan 10 - PhD congratulations to Steve Addy |
| Steve Addy has successfully defended his thesis on “Hierarchical controls on river channel morphology in montane catchments in the Cairngorms”. Steve was jointly supervised between Geography and Geology and is now working at the Macaualy Institute as their specialist in fluvial geomorphology. |
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19th Jan 10 - Congratulations to Andy Sole on a successful PhD defence |
| Congratulations to Andy Sole on a successful defence of his PhD thesis. Andy completed his PhD at the University of Bristol, where he was "Investigating Greenland Outlet Glaciers": The periphery of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) has been thinning for the past decade and much of this thinning is thought to be related to ice flow. The aim of the thesis was to identify and investigate the cause of this dynamic thinning using remote sensing and numerical models. The thesis included analysis of NASA airborne altimetry data to investigate ice sheet thinning and numerical fjord circulation and ice dynamics modelling. |
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19th Jan 10 - Congratulations to Dmitri Mauquoy on NERC grant success |
| Congratulations to Dmitri Mauquoy who has just secured NERC funding for the following Small Grant Project:
An evaluation of plant wax markers to reconstruct long-term vegetation change in peat bog deposits’
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11th Jan 10 - Congratulations to Christian Imholt on his first paper in ISI journal Aquatic Ecology |
| The new year sees Christian Imholt, final year PhD student in the Northern Rivers Institute, publish his first senior authored paper in an ISI journal. The paper, which has important implications for climate change impacts, shows how riparian tree cover can moderate high summer stream temperatures and influence invertebrate growth rates in Cairngorm stream and can be viewed here. |
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11th Jan 10 - High impact for hydrology research at American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting |
| 2009 ended on high for staff from the Northern Rivers Institute who represented the School of Geosciences at the AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco in December. With over 16,000 delegates, this is the largest annual gathering of geoscientists in the world. Dr. Doerthe Tetzlaff convened a successful session on “Upscaling and Process Emergence”, as well as presenting papers on her own work. Profs Chris Soulsby, Jeff mcDonnell and Dr. Markus Hrachowitz also made presentations, as did PhD students Christian Birkel and Rene Capell. The team also ensured a strong Aberdeen presence at the prestigious Catchment Science Symposium at the University of California, Berkeley immediately prior to AGU. |
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11th Jan 10 - New Book on Climate Change in Scotland Published |
| Alastair Dawson has just published a new book on climate change in Scotland. In "So Foul and Fair a Day: a History of Scotland’s Weather and Climate", Alastair provides for the first time a detailed account of Scotland's past weather and climate conditions and the effects that they have had on determining the physical and social face of the country. From the middle of the last Ice Age and the arrival of Scotland's first settlers around 9,000 years ago, Alastair traces the fascinating story of the often dramatic changes in weather and climate that have played an important role in shaping Scotland's history to the present day. Examining the ways in which inhabitants of Scotland adapted to changes in climate and weather through the ages, Alastair charts a previously unrecorded history of how floods, storms, blizzards, droughts and volcanic eruptions have influenced the Scottish nation. Concluding with changes that are occurring in the present day, Alastair discusses the key lessons to be learned from the past, providing pointers to the future and new perspectives on the terms 'climate change' and 'global warming'. |
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