Cost of Conservation debate at Science Festival

Dr Bhaskar Vira and Dr Chris Sandbrook are taking part in a panel discussion on 'The Cost of Conservation' on the first day of the 2013 University of Cambridge Science Festival. The discussion will be held on Monday 11 March, 8 pm - 9 pm in the Mill Lane Lecture Rooms. The event is co-organised and convened with collaborators from the Cambridge Conservation Initiative.

Read more …

Retribution and restoration: Bosnia on trial

Twenty years after Bosnia was devastated by civil war, ordinary people who witnessed, or were the targets of horrific war crimes, are still not getting the support they need from a process designed to bring the perpetrators to justice. Cambridge University reports on research by Dr. Alex Jeffrey.

Icy debate on BBC’s ‘The Forum’

Poul Christoffersen can be heard on the BBC World Service after his recent return from Antarctica, to debate "Ice" with fellow scientist Mary Albert and visual artist Camille Seaman. The debate is a journey into the wilderness of polar regions and the panelists explain how they are confronted by impacts from climate change.

Water under the ice

Craig Stewart, PhD student and recipient of the Scott Centenary Scholarship, talks to The New Zealand Herald about floating ice shelves in a warming climate. The interview took place in a remote camp on the Ross Ice Shelf, and during the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key's visit to Antarctica. Craig's PhD research at the Scott Polar Research Institute aims to understand how ocean currents affect the Ross Ice Shelf, a large (487,000 km²) floating part of the Antarctic ice sheet.

The journals of William Hooper: Inuit ethnographer and evangelical

The Arctic humanities are a broad and developing field, encompassing subjects from the social impact of environmental change to the use of indigenous mapping techniques in western geographical knowledge. Taking a broad historical and circumpolar perspective, this seminar series explores the encounters and engagements between different actors, communities, and systems of knowledge in the Arctic. How do historical encounters and passages continue to shape issues of contemporary governance in the polar regions? This seminar series showcases the interdisciplinary strengths of the Scott Polar Research Institute while also engaging with the research of visiting and invited scholars.

Our natural wave buffers

A storm surge in the North Sea caused catastrophic flooding on the coast of eastern England on 31 January 1953. The flood inundated more than 65,000 hectares of land, damaged 24,000 houses and around 200 important industrial premises, resulting in 307 deaths in the immediate flooding phase.

The Cambridge Coastal Research Unit in the Department of Geography is part of the Natural Environment Research Council's CBESS project, investigating the role of saltmarshes and coastal ecosystems in reducing flood damage. The project features in an article by BBC Science editor David Shukman on 31st January 2013 and in a Cambridge University feature on the research. See also a BBC News piece on iPlayer.

The future of smallholder farming

In an blog published in The Guardian David Nally and Bhaskar Vira argue that smallholder farmers are too often ignored in schemes designed to improve food security. A longer version of the article was posted online at Al Jazeera.

The issues raised both articles were debated at the second of three public debates on Global Food Security organised by members of Cambridge's Strategic Initiative on Global Food Security. The final debate on food distribution and waste will take place in King's Place London on April 8th.

Dr Iris Möller calls for new priorities in coastal management policy

Dr Iris Möller calls for new priorities in coastal management policy in the October issue of Public Service Review.

The Magic of Mud

Cambridge coastal scientists are heading to the unlikely locations of Essex and Morecambe Bay to prove that coastal salt marshes and mud flats protect from storms.

The Cambridge Coastal Research Unit (CCRU) of the Department of Geography in Cambridge has been part of a large team of coastal specialists carrying out a detailed investigation into the benefits humans derive from our muddy coast. From the storage of greenhouse gases, to the benefit as a natural buffer between stormy seas and the people that live near them, the CBESS project aims to discover the true value of this coastal wilderness.

Read more …

Reducing deforestation in the Amazon

A Conservation Leadership alumnus, Francisco Oliveira Filho, is heading the efforts of the Brazilian Government to reduce deforestation and land clearance in the Amazon.

His work involves detecting and deterring illegal clearances of forest using helicopters and satellite imagery, and confiscations and arrests, as recently featured in the Guardian newspaper.

"Highest Camp in Antarctica" rediscovered atop active volcano after 100 years

Precisely one century after members of Captain Scott's Terra Nova Expedition climbed Mount Erebus, Clive Oppenheimer has located their highest campsite, and retraced their ascent of Antarctica's most active volcano.

Subaltern agents of colonialism in Solomon Islands

Tim Bayliss-Smith has published a book with Judy Bennett, Professor of History at University of Otago, New Zealand. The book is entitled An Otago Storeman in Solomon Islands: the Diary of William Crossan, Copra Trader, 1885-86. It is based on a recently discovered manuscript diary kept by a young New Zealander who traded on the violent frontier of early European contact in Island Melanesia.

Read more …

International Workshop Examines War Crimes Trials in Bosnia and Herzegovina

An international workshop led by Dr Alex Jeffrey and held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, has emphasised the disadvantaged position of victims and witnesses within war crimes trials in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Read more …

QPG joins GSI3D as a Consortium Member

GSI3D (Geological surveying and investigation in three dimensions) is a methodology and associated software tool for 3D geological modelling which enables quick and intuitive construction of 3D solid models of the subsurface for a wide range of applications. The methodology and software have been developed jointly by the British Geological Survey (BGS) and INSIGHT GmbH and are being applied by the BGS, where they are the modelling tools of choice. They are now available on general release as part of the not–for–profit GSI3D Research Consortium. The QPG, led by Professor Phil Gibbard, has been invited to join the consortium as a full member to assist with the evaluation and development of the three-dimensional mapping of superficial deposits in the British Isles and beyond.

Atlas of the Great Irish Famine wins book award

The Atlas of the Great Irish Famine (Cork University Press 2012), in which Geography Department member Dr. David Nally has a chapter on the colonial dimensions of the Irish experience, has been awarded the International Education Services Best Irish-published Book of the Year. Through its 50 chapters (including contributions from over 60 scholars from the arts, geography, history, archaeology and folklore studies), The Atlas of the Great Irish Famine seeks to achieve a greater understanding of one of the world's worst subsistence crises. Including 400 images, 200 maps, and over 700 pages of text, The Atlas of the Great Irish Famine has already been reprinted three times since its publication in September 2012.

Cambridge Geography ranked best degree by the Guardian University Guide

The Guardian University Guide has once again given top place to the Geography Degree at Cambridge for 2013.

Our online course guide has full details on the Geography Degree at Cambridge.

Read more …

Snow Lab

Snow Lab is a scientific project to study snow, which needs lots of volunteers to help take measurements. It is being run by Dr Gareth Rees, who is based at the Scott Polar Research Institute. At present, Snow Lab is only looking for volunteers from schools in Cambridgeshire although in future we hope to run it for the whole of the UK. So if you are at a school in Cambridgeshire, and there's snow on the ground (or might be), and you think you might like to get involved, please have a look at the Snow Lab website.

MPhil courses

The Department offers a range of MPhil courses, including our newest MPhil, MPhil in Conservation Leadership. The full list of MPhils we offer are: