Follow us on Twitter @PlymGeog - University of Plymouth · The project follows on from a recent RCUK Global Challenges Research Fund project which focuses on soil erosion causes,

NEWSLETTERSPRING 2018

Welcome to the spring 2018 edition of our newsletter. The cover photo was taken recently on a local trip to study river management practices. On the subject of fieldwork, our staff and students in Geography have been busy preparing for fieldtrips to the Pacific Northwest of the USA, Brittany and Ireland.

Students have been using their own geographical research skills to produce excellent work, some of which has been internationally recognised. Meanwhile, staff have been awarded more than £180,000 of external research funding over the last three months. This allows them to bring the latest developments in geography into the modules that they teach and continues to place our research at the forefront of the discipline. We hope that you enjoy reading about some of our latest developments.

Dr Alan SmithEditor | Admissions Tutor

GEOGRAPHYWITHPLYMOUTHUNIVERSITY

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Students prepare to head off to the USA, Brittany and Ireland on fieldwork Preparations for summer fieldtrips are well underway, with staff and students gearing up for an exciting range of visits. Our 2018 final year students have the option of a two week fieldtrip to the Pacific Northwest of the USA. This trip continues to be popular, with students gaining a wealth of experience in fieldwork methods and getting the chance to meet local experts, learn about different cultures, and explore new urban and rural environments. The fieldtrip route visits three states and extends over 1,000 miles.

Second year geographers will be travelling to either the west coast of Ireland or to Brittany where they will take part in a wide range of human and physical Geography projects and develop the fieldwork and research skills needed for their final year dissertations.

At the start of this academic year new first year geography students embarked on a residential fieldtrip to the West of England. This is part of a dynamic immersive module taken by all new Geography students. Staff and students spend four days based in Bath and carry out projects in nearby locations such as Weston-super-Mare, Cheddar Gorge and the Somerset Levels. Residential fieldwork helps students build geographical research skills with hands on experience. Also, the timing of the trip early in the course means that students get to know each other and members of geography staff from an early stage, building social networks which help ease them into their new university life.

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James Whitefield (BSc (Hons) Geography and Ocean Science, 2017) has been named as the winner of the British Hydrological Society Dissertation Prize for his final year research project on soil erosion. His dissertation was titled ‘The effect of land use on the aggregate stability of soils: a study of the Bidwell Brook catchment’ and he was advised by Professor of Catchment Science, Will Blake.

“James’s research was innovative in both design and implementation,” Professor Blake explained. “His professional approach was exemplified by attention to detail, critical analysis of results and the demonstrated significance of his findings to agricultural intensification debates”.

Inspiration for the dissertation came from James’s longstanding interest in environmental issues. These were fostered during his studies at Plymouth University and he developed a particular interest in concepts underpinning food and water security covered in lectures by Professor Blake.

“I started to realise how important these were for global food and water sustainability and then ended up choosing this dissertation topic as I could see how this would fit into that wider context,” James said.

The dissertation process was not without challenges, as James found he was unable to collect the data needed for his original dissertation topic. However, on returning to Plymouth he used the academic and technical support available to change tack and embark on a new ambitious study in catchment hydrology and soil erodibility. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis was used to detect trace elements such as iron and aluminium in catchment soil samples.

James said: “The Geography department supported me a great deal during my dissertation, in particular Will Blake as my supervisor but also the technical support staff. Rupert Goddard was really helpful with the practical side of the dissertation and putting me in contact with the local land owners. Once I had the samples and started the lab work, Rich Hartley was invaluable. Andy Arnold and Andy Fisher were also great at telling me exactly how to implement my ideas. Collaboration with Harriet Bell from the Dartington Hall Trust was really helpful in introducing me to landowners and giving me a background geographical context to the area.”

James is currently using skills gained during his dissertation as a Management Information (MI) analyst for an insurance company and is hoping in the future to work in the water industry on enhancing water security.

James used GIS skills learned during his studies to produce this land use map of his Bidwell Brook study area.

Plymouth Geography students win national and international dissertation prizes Two Plymouth geography students have been awarded prestigious dissertation prizes in recognition of their excellent work.

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Calum Edward (BSc (Hons) Physical Geography and Geology, 2017) was awarded the prestigious international John Evans Undergraduate Dissertation Prize by the Association for Environmental Archaeology.

Calum's dissertation was titled ‘Investigating potential climatic and anthropogenic change, through sub-fossil non-biting midge (Chironomidae) larvae analysis, surrounding the Black Loch of Myrton crannog, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland’. He was advised by Dr Nicki Whitehouse, Associate Professor (Reader) in Physical Geography, and Dr Kim Davies.

Calum’s dissertation project involved reconstructing past climate indicators over the last 4,000 years from sediment cores. It was the first Late Holocene chironomid-inferred temperature reconstruction undertaken for the south-west of Scotland, and one of only a few applied to the archaeological study of a crannog (an ancient artificial island).

Calum participated in fieldwork that was part of the AHRC-funded ‘Celtic Crannogs’ project to collect the material used as part of his dissertation as well as across the wider crannogs project. His efforts and enthusiasm during the fieldwork were praised by all involved. On returning from fieldwork, Calum spent extensive hours in the lab, learning practical aspects of palaeoecology such as chironomid taxonomy.

"Calum’s eye for detail and professional approach in the lab really stood out. His hard work and determination to succeed meant he completed his analyses to a very high standard and with little need of supervision," said Kim, who helped supervise Calum with this specialist skill. "He showed a real willingness to tackle difficult and complicated datasets and learn new skills, using statistics to analyse the data in a sophisticated way".

Referring to the award, Calum said, “It also highlights the great support and teaching I had from Plymouth's Geography and Earth Science departments.”

Calum plans to go on to study a Masters degree in the field of Quaternary science and palaeoecology with the hope of beginning a PhD in the near future.

Non-biting midge (Tanytarsus mendax) microscope photograph (Photo: Calum Edward)

Research grant successProfessor Will Blake and Dr Alex Taylor have been awarded a £31,080 research contract as project partners in a NERC programme entitled ‘C-Side: blue carbon storage in intertidal environments’ led by the University of St Andrews and University of York.

Dr Pete Downs and Professor Dave Gilvear have been awarded £12,430 from the Westcountry Rivers Trust. They will be helping Wessex Water monitor the effectiveness of gravel augmentation in rivers downstream of dams using RFID tags and seismic impacts plates.

Professor Anne Mather has been awarded £5,000 for a Women in Science Showcase grant by the Faculty of Science, Monash University, Australia. This award recognises internationally distinguished female academics who are hosted during a visit to Monash, as part of a women in STEM initiative.

Dr Andrew Seedhouse has been awarded an initial £6,000 by the Welsh Government to support it in planning the future direction of integrated smart and concessionary travel in Wales for its existing 761,000 smartcard holders.

Dr Nicola Whitehouse has been awarded $8,000 (US) by Past Global Challenges (PAGES) to host a workshop with an international team from Spain and Germany on 'European Land-use at 6000BP: from on-site data to the large-scale view’. The workshop will take place 21-23 May 2018 in Barcelona.

Dr Nichola Harmer was awarded £2,750 from the SoGEES SEED Fund for a pilot project titled: ‘Devolution and resilience: the case of Cornwall’. The project investigates the influence of the 2015 Cornwall Devolution Deal on the resilience of communities in Cornwall and the Co-Investigator is Professor Geoff Wilson.


Professors Will Blake, Geoff Wilson, Neil Roberts and Dave Gilvear, with Dr Claire Kellyand Maarten Wynants have been awarded a Natural Environmental Research Council research grant entitled ‘Jali Ardhi’ [Care for the Land] project: Realising land management change in degraded Maasai grazing lands. The project follows on from a recent RCUK Global Challenges Research Fund project which focuses on soil erosion causes, processes and impacts in rural Tanzania, specifically Maasai communities that are in a fragile state of transition from pastoralism to more sedentary and mixed agri-pastoral livelihoods. The project mission is to apply a combination of physical and human geography approaches, intertwined with psychology and design thinking, to develop knowledge of complex human-environment interactions and support changes in land management.

The interdisciplinary team is led by Professor Will Blake in partnership with Professor Patrick Ndakidemi of the Nelson Mandela African Institution for Science and Technology in Tanzania, with colleagues from Exeter University and Schumacher College. The grant value is £124,000 and the programme will last 18 months. You can read more about the project and the soil erosion problems in a Guardian newspaper online article here: https://tinyurl.com/JaliArdhi

Rewilding in a changing Europe

In January 2018 Dr Kim Ward, Lecturer in Human Geography, co-organised and attended an event 'Rewilding in a Changing Europe'. The conference was co-organised with colleagues from the Universities of Bangor, Cardiff and Aberystwyth.

Rewilding involves the restoration or reorganisation of a landscape’s biota and ecosystem processes to improve the health, functionality and resilience of a social-ecological system. Rather than focusing on the preservation

of existing sites, rewilding advocates aim to create new spaces that allow nature to take its own course in an open-ended process.

The conference was funded by a networking grant awarded to Kim and colleagues from the National Research Network for Low Carbon Energy and Environment (NRN-LCEE). The aim of this event was to set an

international agenda for research activity to evaluate the opportunities and threats that rewilding poses, and how this is reflected in land-use changes across Europe.

National events run by Plymouth geographers in early 2018


Do species move, adapt or die?

Also in January 2018, Dr Nicki Whitehouse, Associate Professor (Reader) in Physical Geography, co-organised a research showcase with colleagues from the School of Biological and Marine Sciences. The event, held here at Plymouth University, focused on research on biodiversity, ecological change and community dynamics in the Anthropocene. The organisers said

“anthropogenic (human) processes are now leading to major changes in our environment, and understanding how species, communities and ecosystems respond to environmental change on macro-evolutionary scales is instrumental in understanding the processes that govern modern global biodiversity”. The event attracted together global researchers who tackle fundamental issues concerning that planet on which we all live.

QRA Annual Discussion Meeting 2018

The 2018 meeting of the Quaternary Research Association (QRA) was hosted by Plymouth University between the 3rd and 6th January 2018, and convened by Dr Caroline Clason with a supporting cast of physical geographers.

The meeting attracted delegates from institutions across the UK, Europe and Canada. The overarching theme of the conference was data-model inter-comparison in Quaternary Science, and delegates were treated to five highly topical keynote talks. Professor Chris Clarke (Sheffield) presented the latest research on how models of the former British and Irish Ice sheet match field observations. Professor Marie-Jose Gaillard-Lemdahl (Linnaeus, Sweden) demonstrated how pollen data is being used within regional and global climate modelling to assess the role of land cover change in climate forcing. Professor Roland Gehrels (York) showed the results of global studies of recent sea-level change and the role of ice sheet melt models as forcing factors in this. Professor Marie-France Loutre (Bern, Switzerland, and head of the Past Global Changes programme) gave the Wiley lecture and spoke more generally on the importance of both modelling simulations and data at global scales. Our fifth keynote speaker, Professor Susan Ivy Ochs (ETH Zurich, Switzerland), presented the latest in model simulations of glacial advance and retreat in the Alps.

Overall, 42 talks and 28 posters were presented by researchers across all career stages on subjects including landscape evolution, palaeohydrology, long-term ecology, palaeoclimate reconstructions, glacial modelling and geomorphology, and sea level change. Professor Jan Mangerud of the University of Bergen was presented the 2017 James Croll Medal for his outstanding contribution to the field of Quaternary science, while Dr Stephen Livingstone (Sheffield) was presented the 2017 Lewis Penny Medal as a young research worker who has made a significant contribution to the Quaternary stratigraphy of the British Isles. Delegates enjoyed “dinner with the fishes” in the stunning surroundings of the shark tank at Plymouth’s National Marine Aquarium, and the conference ended on a high with a trip to the local Quaternary sites of Kents Cavern and Hope's Nose.

Organisers Prof. Ralph Fyfe, Dr Stephanie Mills and Dr Caroline Clason

The end of meeting trip to Kents Cavern and Hope's Nose


The Geography Society has, again, had a really successful start to the academic year. Last year’s committee finished on a high, arranging the largest social event of the year and fundraising over £150 for Devon-based social help charity 'Shekinah' through a quiz and pizza night. The society is looking forward to raising more money for charities this semester, with a number of events in the planning stages.

The ‘Spring Clean’ was a massively successful event, arranged with the Environmental Science Society and the Geography department. As a society, we received recognition for the event's success from the Students' Union (SU) at its annual awards evening. Ellen White (BA (Hons) Geography) and 2016/17 President, was also recognised as the SU Chairperson of the year, which was deserved recognition of her commitment and tireless hard work. Key in organising the Spring Clean, Ellen noted how it was a great chance for the society to act conscientiously within the local community as well as to meet students involved in different societies. The society is planning a second annual ‘Spring Clean’ and hopes to get even more students involved.

This year GeogSoc has 150 active members, and has got off to a good start with volunteer days to the River Fowey and Looe Monkey Sanctuary. These days were wonderful opportunities to explore the surrounding area, and offered the chance for members to get to know each other across year groups. Kayaking along the River Fowey and picking up litter along the way, both related to the green impact work of the SU and was a really energising, if wet, experience. The trip to Looe Monkey Sanctuary was equally successful and members enjoyed looking around the sanctuary as well as providing support for their open day preparations.

Our Annual Winter Ball was held in December

2017 at the Copthorne Hotel. The event was a success off the back of a lot of hard work and organisation, offering a great excuse to dress up and celebrate the end of term and the festive period. The evening was enjoyed by all, and for many continued well into the night.

Looking forward, the Committee is looking to prepare for our Annual General Meeting. We are offering students the chance to shadow current committee members, gaining some invaluable experience before elections. We also hope to fundraise for a number of charities and provide members with more opportunities to explore the South West with beach cleans and other volunteer opportunities. We continue to provide support for both our football and netball teams, who have performed well again this year.

If you’re interested in working with the society or joining the committee please contact us:

[email protected]/GeographySocietyPlymouth Snapchat: @PUGEOGSOC

GeogSoc President:Henry Leahy, BA (Hons) Geography

News and awards for the Plymouth's Student Geography Society (GeogSoc)

Kayaking along the River Fowey


‘Changing the face of the Mediterranean’ project workshopA workshop was recently held in Mallorca (Spain) as part of the Leverhulme Trust-funded ‘Changing the face of the Mediterranean’ project, which is a collaboration between Plymouth University geography staff Professors Neil Roberts and Ralph Fyfe and Dr Jessie Woodbridge, and University College London (Institute of Archaeology). The workshop, held at the Santuari de Lluc (7-10 September 2017), was jointly organised with the University of the Balearics. It brought together 31 palaeoecologists and archaeologists from across

Europe to share expertise and analyse trends in synthesised fossil pollen and archaeological datasets from across the Mediterranean, which have been transformed to provide proxies for past land cover and population change. Researchers worked in small groups based on six regions of the Mediterranean to plan publications as part of a special issue of the journal The Holocene. The workshop concluded with a field excursion to the Serra de Tramuntana region and a guided tour of the Balearic Museum of Natural Sciences in Sóller.

For more information about this project visit:

https://tinyurl.com/MedChanges

Geography students excel studying 'Long-term Ecology' module Two final year student posters highlighting the change in range of spruce and reindeer since the early Holocene period have been praised as outstanding work.

The two posters were produced by Sam Gibbs, Joseph Chamberlain, Alice Kalnins (BSc Geography) and Hannah Griffiths (BA Geography) for an assessment on the final year 'Long-term Ecology' module taught by Dr Nicki Whitehouse and Dr Kim Davies. The assignment topic was an investigation into the flora and fauna existent in the late glacial and early Holocene periods and how distributions have changed over time. Sam and Joseph chose to examine the changing distribution of spruce (Picea) across North America and Europe. Alice and Hannah used GIS skills that they have developed throughout their geography degrees to map the changing distribution of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) across northern latitudes. They created their own database from online sources and a literature review.


Natural climate mitigation solutionsDr Tim Daley, Associate Professor of Physical Geography at Plymouth, was invited to present two papers at the 2nd Annual Climate Change Conference of the Mexican National Institute for Ecology and Climate Change, 27-30 November 2017 in Mexico City. In the first paper he presented work from his NERC Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (BESS) programme grant, where a team of Plymouth Geography researchers alongside national and international partners have developed a new tool for tracking methane recycling in peatlands. The work offers new potential in the search for natural climate mitigation solutions. In the second paper, Tim presented the current UK government approach to managing Climate Change Adaptation. Speaking after the conference, Tim said “the highlight for me was how the conference organisers managed to get half the Mexican cabinet to attend the launch. That sort of government engagement would be truly astonishing in the UK and was wonderful to see."

Former transport minister speaks to geography studentsLord Richard Faulkner of Worcester, the former Labour transport minister, spoke to our students during a visit to the University in November. Richard has drawn upon his experience as a minister to write two books about the railway

policies of successive governments. On this occasion, Richard spoke with the students about the ‘Twists and Turns of Rail Policy’, charting the story of the Beeching cuts to the rail network from the 1960s. Richard’s books, co-written with former Strategic Rail Authority Director Chris Austin, have revealed an extraordinarily ruthless attitude of senior politicians and civil servants towards the railways, with both Conservative and Labour ministers seeking to close down branch lines they viewed as unprofitable. In an ironic twist, Barbara Castle, the Secretary of State for Transport perhaps best remembered for her progressively pro-public transport policies, oversaw more closures than any of her Labour or Conservative counterparts.

In recent years, there has been much more of a recognition among those in government of the role railways can play in a modern, high-capacity transport system. Station re-openings have become commonplace, and, as evidenced by the current government’s just-published rail strategy, it has become increasingly necessary to rebuild lines closed in the post-Beeching era. One of the real problems, identified by Richard at his talk, is that where former track-beds have not been kept intact – perhaps because of a new housing estate or trading park appearing over where they used to run – it becomes very difficult, not to mention expensive, to reintroduce rail services between two formerly connected places. In a lively question and answer session following the talk, the full range of consequences of the way Beeching radically reshaped the geography of the British railway network became all too apparent.

Lord Richard Faulkner of Worcester.Photo courtesy of the RCTS (RailwayCorrespondance and Travel Society)


International Society of River Science Conference 2017, New ZealandPlymouth Geography Professor of River Science and President of the International Society of River Science (ISRS), David Gilvear, travelled to Hamilton, New Zealand in late November for the 5th biennial conference of the society.

His duties included opening the conference, prize-giving and chairing an ISRS board meeting – the latter whilst on an evening boat and BBQ trip down the Waikato River. David also presented his research on the dynamics of gravel augmentation on the River Avon, Dartmoor being led by Dr Peter Downs and himself. The conference dinner took place at Hamilton Gardens and was a “flower-power” themed fancy dress event – David claims no photos were taken!

The highlight of the trip was a field-day to the Kaituna River. Rivers are central to Maori culture as they provide “kai” (food) and “wai” (water). The word “tuna” is the Maori name for the long-finned eel which has traditionally been a source of food – hence the name “kai-tuna” for the river. The trip involved seeing a site of river restoration, and discussions regarding hydro-power and riverine ecosystem services. The highlight of the day was “rafting” and “body surfing” the river’s rapids including the world’s highest (7 metres) commercially raftable water fall. The photograph shown also made it in to a December lecture on instream flow requirements as part of the final year module GGP3200 Restoring Freshwater Environments.

The trip was all the more interesting for David in that two years ago he supervised Plymouth alumna Maria Bargent’s (BSc (Hons) Geography, 2016) undergraduate dissertation which mapped ecosystem services using Google Earth of the Kaituna River. David said “little did I know when supervising the dissertation that I

would get the chance to see the river in reality”. Second year Plymouth geography students are currently in the process of designing their exciting independent dissertation research projects with academic staff members.

Mark Blacksell public lecture – long term climate change in AfricaThe second of our biannual Mark Blacksell lecture series this academic year will be delivered by Professor Philip Barker from Lancaster University.

The lecture titled “The ice age in tropical Africa: new results from deep lake drilling”, is jointly hosted with the Royal Geographical Society and open to members of the public. It will be held in the Devonport Lecture Theatre, Portland Square Building, Plymouth University at 5pm on Wednesday 14th February 2018.

This lecture forms part of a wider series of regular research seminars in the Geography Department. They feature innovative research from geographers at Plymouth University, across the UK and beyond. The seminar series is advertised and regularly updated on the Geography website and is open for all staff, students and the wider public to attend:

www.plymouth.ac.uk/geography

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Arctic climate change in focus: SWIPA report 2017The Snow, Water, Ice and Permafrost in the Arctic (SWIPA) 2017 assessment, coordinated by AMAP (the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme), was published in November. The report outlines observations of changes in the Arctic climate and cryosphere, in addition to developments in the state of knowledge since 2010, and presents projections for and impacts of future changes in snow, ice, water, and permafrost. A team of over 90 international scientists worked together to produce the assessment, including Dr Caroline Clason, a lecturer in Physical Geography at Plymouth and expert in glaciology, who contributed knowledge on changes to Arctic land ice (glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets).

The SWIPA assessment is a fantastic, peer-reviewed resource for researchers, students, and the public, and also acts as a platform to inform future climate and environmental policy. Some key findings of the SWIPA 2017 assessment include:

• Arctic sea ice has seen a decline in thickness of 65% between 1975 and 2012

• Autumn and winter air temperatures in the Arctic are projected to increase by twice as much as the Northern Hemisphere as a whole by the mid-21st Century for medium or high greenhouse gas emission scenarios

• Melting of Arctic land ice could add 25cm to sea-level rise by 2100 under current greenhouse gas emission rates

• Greenland lost an average of 375 gigatons of ice per year between 2011 and 2014 (equivalent to an ice cube measuring 7.5km on each side!); almost double the ice mass lost between 2003 and 2008

• Subglacial lakes have been discovered beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet for the first time. Twinned with influx of meltwater from the ice surface to the bed of the ice sheet, the impact of meltwater on seasonal and episodic acceleration of ice flow is now better understood than ever before

• Snow cover in the Arctic is decreasing by 2-4 days per decade

The full report and the summary for policy-makers are freely available via: www.amap.no

A moulin (ice meltwater sinkhole).

Dr Caroline Clason, SWIPA report contributor and Lecturer in Physical Geography.

The SWIPA report observes Arctic climatic change and makes predictions for the future extent and impacts of snow and ice cover.

Professor Jon Shaw FHEA, Professor of Transport Geography

Dr Caroline Clason FHEA, Lecturer in Physical Geography

Dr Jessie Woodbridge AHEA, Research Fellow

Dr Katie Head AHEA, Technical Specialist (Palaeoecology)

Mr Jamie Quinn AHEA, Technician (Cartography)


Staff awarded external professional recognition In every year of the Plymouth degree programmes students are taught by experienced lecturers and professors. This year the Higher Education Academy (HEA) continues to award geography staff fellowships (FHEA) and associate fellowships (AHEA) as independent recognition of their teaching excellence:

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental SciencesPlymouth UniversityA504 Portland SquareDrake CircusPlymouth, UK PL4 8AA

NEWSLETTERSPRING 2018

GEOGRAPHYWITHPLYMOUTHUNIVERSITY

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@PlymGeog

Produced by the GeoMapping Unit, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Some of our second year students investigating soil permeability and erosion at nearby Slapton, South Devon in October 2017 as part of their 'Catchment and River Environments' option module.

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Follow us on Twitter @PlymGeog - University of Plymouth · The project follows on from a recent RCUK Global Challenges Research Fund project which focuses on soil erosion causes,