Geography Research Strategy 2015

Excellence with impactGeography and Environment research strategy 2014–2020

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Our vision 03

Context 04

Priorities 06

Strategic objectives 07

Research group strategies

1 Earth Surface Dynamics (ESD) 12

2 Economy, Governance and Culture (EGC) 15

3 Global Environmental Change and Earth Observation (GECEO) 18

4 Palaeoenvironmental Laboratory at the University of Southampton (PLUS) 21

5 Population, Health and Wellbeing (PHeW) 24

GeoData’s strategy 27

Contents

This will include: – developing new research agendas and providing

transformative intellectual leadership– producing knowledge that has a major impact on society,

changes policy and practice, and shapes public debate– building interdisciplinary research through collaborative

networks and global partnerships

We will do this within a research culture that: – prioritises intellectual achievement– provides space for thinking– changes knowledge and people– encourages collaboration and partnership– appreciates and rewards different types of success– encourages risk and ambition

Our vision We aim to produce world-leading research in geography and environmental sciences.

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High-quality research

In recent years Geography and Environment has been extremely successful in its research. During 2008–2013, the period covered by the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF2014), we published influential and highly cited work. Indeed, the high quality of our research was confirmed by REF2014 which:

– rated 82 per cent of our research activity as either ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ in quality, placing us sixth overall1

among UK geography departments for the quality of our research

– placed us in the UK top five for research outputs, with 79 per cent of our publications being rated as either ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’

– graded over 80 per cent of our impact activity as having ‘outstanding’ or ‘very considerable’ impacts in terms of their reach and significance.

– rated 100 per cent of our research ‘environment’ as being of ‘internationally excellent’ or ‘world-leading’ quality

Funding and organisational successes

Our total research income has been on a strong rising trend. Research Council UK (RCUK) income comprises over 40 per cent of our total funding portfolio, with a balanced split between Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Natural Environment Research Council

(NERC) funding. We have also sought to diversify our income streams and have achieved major success in attracting charitable, governmental and industrial funding, as well as developing our enterprise activities.

We have collaborated extensively with other leading research institutions in geography and environmental studies, as well as with related disciplines within, and external to, the University. Since 2008 we have grown the number of our postdoctoral research staff and doubled the size of our Graduate School. We have also made significant investment in our laboratory and equipment facilities while reconfiguring the associated technical support.

Future challenges

Like other centres of excellence in geography, we face the challenge of a more demanding research environment. The constrained budgets of the research councils, combined with high demand, means that RCUK funding has become much more competitive. Our recent track record in securing significant RCUK funding is therefore a very important measure of success. However, to maintain and develop this success we must address two key challenges. Firstly, we need to grow our research groups to introduce additional synergies; and secondly, we need to further diversify our funding portfolio.

We will continue to target RCUK funding while simultaneously seeking more European, government and industrial funding. A key focus

for the future will be to develop appropriately focused consortia to enable us to engage strongly with the EU Horizon 2020 programme.

Engagement with interdisciplinary networks

Our five research groups, in conjunction with GeoData, a specialist unit focusing on enterprise and applied research, have the capabilities and expertise to make leading and substantial contributions to the Faculty of Social, Human and Mathematical Sciences’ four research themes:

– modelling our world

– population, health, wellbeing

– global change, adaptation and resilience

– citizenship, economy and governance

Our role in the Administrative Data Research Centre – England (ADRC–E) will also provide opportunities for staff to engage in research on large, linked datasets and to further cement our reputation as a leading centre for quantitative geographical methodology. We are, therefore, well placed to exploit interdisciplinary research agendas around climate change, sustainability, adaptation to climate change impacts, resilience, health and environment, economy and governance, and large-scale and administrative datasets.

The University’s Strategic Research Groups (USRGs) provide a platform for large-scale interdisciplinary and collaborative research and we will continue to exploit these as the University

ContextSince 2008 we have

grown the number of our postdoctoral research

staff and doubled the size of our Graduate School.

1 The overall sixth place ranking is on the ‘Research Intensity’ metric, which adjusts the overall GPA to account for the high proportion of our staff submitted to the exercise.

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refreshes its portfolio of USRGs. We will build on our leading role in the Population Health USRG and play a key role in the development of the Global Health Research Institute. We will continue to connect with the Web Science Institute and also target developing maritime and coastal capabilities so that we can make more use of the opportunities afforded by the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute (SMMI), including the strengthening of interdisciplinary research on deltas and associated coastal environments. We are also engaging strongly with the new Autonomous Systems USRG and the Network for Anti-Microbial Resistance and Infection Prevention.

Quality and impact

To prepare for future REF evaluation, our research activity will maintain a strong focus on quality and impact. To build our research reputation we will continue to publish leading monographs and articles in the most influential journals. Research impact will continue to be emphasised, with each of our research groups seeking to develop major societal impacts in at least two areas.

Enterprise

In order to diversify our research income, we will seek to secure further enterprise income from both industry and the non-governmental organisation/charity sector. Each research group, working with GeoData as appropriate, will aim to develop a mixture of pure and applied research activity to facilitate these enterprise

relationships. GeoData is a key aspect in this respect, as it is a source of expertise for applied research that is usually undertaken in partnership with external agencies and funders, thereby facilitating the development of societal impact as well as income. GeoData has also been highly successful in securing international funding for applied research and funding from government departments and agencies.

The development of enterprise and applied research will focus on three main areas:

– environment and vulnerability, including the natural resource, biophysical and socio-environmental factors affecting sustainable management, livelihoods and policy

– geospatial data and analysis, involving a range of business analysis, data analysis and application development

– spatial data infrastructure, concerned with the elements of spatial information management, geoportal development, data planning (at national and global levels) and administration and delivery technologies

These areas connect with, and cross-cut, research group priorities. The support and growth of continuing professional development (CPD), and related capacity development within the international sector, will also be used to support growth in this area.

People and facilities

Our research environment will be improved by supporting staff and through accelerated investment in key research technologies and facilities. Our built infrastructure now represents a constraint on our ability to expand, and major capital investment in office and laboratory space is necessary in order to allow growth and the delivery of this strategy. The Graduate School will maintain its current size, but with a renewed focus on improving the quality of our postgraduate students by raising the quality of their research environment, timely thesis submissions, quality publications and enhancing the quality of destinations of our graduating PhD students.

Raising our profile

Raising the national and international visibility of our research continues to be a priority. We will strengthen international collaborations through an internationalisation strategy, the University’s membership of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), and quality partnerships underpinned by funding and/or track records.

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Our priorities for the period to 2020 are as follows:

– The key priority for all five research groups, and for GeoData, is to grow. Growth will allow stronger internal coherence of our groups and facilitate a robust intellectual exchange around key emerging themes.

– Engaging in more networking and collaboration to enable us to target larger funding calls. Dual membership of research groups will be encouraged to facilitate cross-group collaborations.

– Continuing to develop and nurture the research capabilities of our postgraduate students, postdoctoral researchers and junior academic staff through generous support and mentoring.

– Developing and expanding GeoData’s applied research and ensuring that this increases enterprise income and recognition, as well as contributing significantly to enhancing the societal impact of our work.

– Further developing our international partnerships and networks in order to raise our global visibility and profile. We will focus on internationalising both the intellectual content and societal impact of our work and on working selectively with the best global institutions.

– Further strengthening our engagement with interdisciplinary networks and USRGs within the University.

Each of our five research groups has areas of expertise that it wishes to continue to exploit and build as well as new research areas for development:

– Earth Surface Dynamics (ESD) is aiming to develop its research expertise in large rivers and sediment transport systems, particularly in Asia, as well as in environmental sensing and in coastal systems and deltas.

– Economy, Governance, Culture (EGC) is seeking to strengthen its research in economic geography, particularly on spaces of creativity and innovation. It is also seeking to develop further its strengths in human geographies of governance, practice, food and risk.

– Global Environmental Change and Earth Observation (GECEO) is aiming to augment its expertise in remote sensing of vegetation and develop its research in climate change adaptation and risk mitigation.

– Palaeoenvironmental Laboratory at the University of Southampton (PLUS) is seeking to broaden its expertise in the use of environmental indicators, especially aDNA, biomarkers and isotopes, and to develop further its research on resilience in complex human-environment systems.

– Population, Health and Wellbeing (PHeW) is seeking to expand its research specialisms in big administrative data, in international population analysis, and in disease and health related behaviour mapping and modelling (in conjunction with GECEO and the proposed Global Health Research Institute). PHeW is also looking to strengthen its research in the areas of care and wellbeing.

In addition to our five research groups, GeoData plans to expand its strengths in delivering applied research and enterprise (including CPD and capacity development) and developing multi- and cross-disciplinary research initiatives. For instance, it will grow research in international development and poverty, and in spatial, open data and population modelling by collaborating with key groups within Geography and Environment and across the University. It will also expand its research in environmental risk and social vulnerability and exploit opportunities in Earth Observation and remote sensing through collaboration with GECEO.

See pages 11-29 for more detailed information about the areas of expertise and objectives identified by our research groups and GeoData.

Priorities

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Strategic objectives In order to achieve our strategic aims in these priority areas, we have set the following objectives. For more detail about the objectives set by each of our research groups and by GeoData, see pages 11-29.

Growing our research

Objective Action(s) Timescale and measures of success

1. To grow our research groups by increasing staff numbers

– Grow student numbers and research income, recruiting new staff as student numbers grow

– Seek to attract more funded RCUK or equivalent research fellows to our groups

– Gradual growth in staff numbers over the next five years

Growing our research groups


1. To grow our research groups by increasing staff numbers

– Grow student numbers and research income, recruiting new staff as student numbers grow

– Seek to attract more funded RCUK or equivalent research fellows to our groups

– Gradual growth in staff numbers over the next five years

Strengthening our networks


2. To strengthen our engagement with interdisciplinary networks and USRGs

– Target key USRGs and use research groups to encourage and steer staff engagement

– Establish interdisciplinary seminars

– By 2018, research projects and outputs connecting with USRGs in all research groups and GeoData

3. To develop our international partnerships and networks

– Establish five key international partnerships and support their development with seed funding/incentives

– By 2018, five or more top quality, ‘flagship’ and highly publicised international partnerships

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Developing a sustainable funding base


4. To maintain funding success with the research councils

– Introduce more rigorous internal peer review

– Encourage staff to network onto RCUK peer review colleges

– Hire staff with active RCUK portfolios to act as ‘catalysts’ within each research group

– Annual review of grant submission success rates with RCUK

5. To diversify research funding – Develop capability of selected staff as research intermediaries to identify opportunities and encourage consortium building

– Improve internal peer review processes

– Use successful staff as role models and trainers

– Increased research income from non-RCUK sources, including substantial EU Horizon 2020 funding and other EU and international funds

Developing our enterprise activities


7. To increase enterprise income and networks – Use the capabilities of GeoData as enterprise intermediaries and brokers to deepen and widen collaboration with external agencies

– Increasing the volume of our enterprise funding during the current REF period

8. To develop and enable GeoData to be a leading CPD provider and capacity development partner

– Invest in and support staff to develop/deliver CPD and capacity development in distinctive courses

– Secure improved training space commensurate with professional delivery

– Development of advanced courses by end of 2016/17

– Increases in income from CPD activity

Improving the quality of postgraduate research


6. To maintain the size of the Graduate School and improve the quality of postgraduate student research

– Improve admissions and supervision processes

– Exploit Doctoral Training Centre (DTC) opportunities

– By 2018 attract postgraduates from leading geographical schools

– Increased proportion of postgraduates producing outputs in quality journals

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Investing in high-impact research


9. To develop the societal impact of our research

– Each research group to identify two potential REF impact case studies

– Invest strategically in the most promising areas

– Exploit impact accelerators

– By the next REF, be able to publicise and report six excellent impact case studies in different areas of geography

Nurturing our researchers


10. To nurture junior staff through generous support and mentoring

– Adjust system of internal research support to give more support to junior staff

– Introduce and consolidate a system of writing fellowships (see also objectives 1 and 11)

– Improve the consistency and quality of staff mentoring

– Develop the research profiles of junior staff and achieve healthy promotion rates

11. To increase the number of postdoctoral fellowships

– Develop a writing fellowship scheme and improve publicity and reputations in key areas (see also objectives 1 and 10)

– By 2018, build a vibrant community of research fellows

– Attract three to five new fellows each year

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Strengthening expertise within our research groups and GeoData


12. To strengthen expertise in river and sediment systems (especially in Asia) and develop expertise in coastal systems and deltas research

– Appoint staff to lead collaboration with coastal researchers elsewhere in the University, including with the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute

– Outputs, funded projects and new collaborations by 2019

13. To develop research in environmental monitoring, organic geochemistry and biogeochemical cycling

– Appoint staff in these fields

– Invest in laboratory facilities

– Collaborate with relevant experts elsewhere in the University

– Excellent research capabilities in diverse areas of environmental research demonstrated by outputs and funding by 2019

14. To develop research strengths in climate change adaptation, complex systems and risk mitigation

– Appoint staff in these areas

– Adjust research group structure and focus

– Deepen sustainability collaborations

– Internationally recognised research group, key outputs and projects in this area by 2019

15. To strengthen expertise in big administrative data in international population and disease analysis and modelling

– Appoint in these fields

– Develop collaborations with the University’s Global Health Research Institute

– Evidence of research leadership, key outputs and new projects by 2019

16. To strengthen human geography including in care and health and in practice, governance and culture

– Recruit staff in these fields – Better balance in staff profile, excellent outputs and funding by 2019

17. To develop laboratories to support research directions in ESD and in PLUS

– Secure University funding and external investments, reinvest research income in research infrastructure

– Top quality physical geography laboratories by 2019

18. To develop and strengthen GeoData’s applied research in key areas, including environmental vulnerability and international development

– Appoint staff in growth areas

– Develop presence and attract funding through national and international collaborations

– Uplift in international development funding (Department for International Development (DFID), International Research Development Centre, International Institute for Environment and Development)

– Enhanced research income

Investing in facilities


19. To invest in building restructuring to provide office space for growth

– Persuade the Faculty and University to commit to a major capital investment programme

– Restructured and improved buildings with increased capacity by 2019

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Research group strategies

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Earth Surface Dynamics (ESD) ESD undertakes internationally leading geomorphological research. Its core aim is to understand how land surface systems respond to past, present and future environmental change.

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Research focusESD is home to international leaders in

fluvial geomorphology, with complementary strengths in glacial, marine and dryland environments. The group has a distinguished track record of research involving the development and application of novel methodological approaches that integrate high-resolution field and laboratory data acquisition with numerical and physical modelling.

ESD is outward-facing and multidisciplinary, linking internally with the Palaeoenvironmental Laboratory at the University of Southampton (PLUS), GeoData and Global Environmental Change and Earth Observation (GECEO) research groups, with groups across the institution (notably in the Faculty of Engineering and the Environment (FEE), Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) and the Faculty of Natural and Environmental Sciences), Humanities, and through selective collaborations with climatologists, ecologists and oceanographers in the UK and overseas.

ESD works closely with GeoData across disciplinary boundaries, notably in relation to the societal impacts of coastal and river processes, and in the development of evidence to support improved methods of river restoration and management.

Strengths

– ESD has been very successful in fluvial geomorphology and especially in its focus on the dynamics of large rivers in monsoon climates, with significant NERC funding and external visibility. The group now has a leading international reputation in this area and wishes to develop this strength.

– The group has an international reputation for its work on novel environmental sensing technologies. It has pioneered the use of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) to characterise beach and desert surfaces, and wireless subglacial probes to study processes of till formation and ice mass dynamics. The group

is building on this work with new initiatives on autonomous platforms, mobile laser scanning and applications of the ‘Internet of Things’.

– The group contributed one of the academic unit’s four REF2014 impact case studies, based on its influential work on river restoration and management.

– It has produced influential outputs, with an estimated REF2014 grade point average (GPA) of 3.24.

– ESD has a growing portfolio of research income and has seen a notable acceleration of RCUK income from NERC in the last five years.

– The group has provided a good environment for the development of young staff and has two Level 5 staff with rapidly growing research profiles, as well as a number of Level 4 research fellows and a large number of postgraduate researchers.

– ESD collaborates with key international academics, expressed in our highly influential visiting Professors. Professor Best (Illinois) is a Diamond Jubilee Visiting Research Fellow with interests in large river morphodynamics and sedimentology. Professor Collins (Rothamsted) heads up the soils and water team, collaborating with ESD staff on the fingerprinting and modelling of sediment delivery from agricultural landscapes and its delivery into river and stream ecosystems. Professor Ken Gregory is a former President of the British Society for Geomorphology and a world expert in hydrology.

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Directions/opportunities

Over the next five years ESD will pursue research agendas that intersect the common theme of understanding the response of geomorphic systems to environmental change. Thus it will:

– extend its work on water and sediments to link source to sink across a range of river, estuary and delta environments

– employ novel technical approaches (e.g. mobile laser scanning) to develop new insights into the factors controlling dust emissions from dry land surfaces and glacial processes

– investigate the long-term legacy of extreme events in the sedimentological and morphological record and their effects on altered flood risk and resilience

These research themes represent a logical continuation of existing research agendas, but opportunities exist to extend the scope of the group’s work in new directions. Growth should be achieved via new appointments intended to consolidate and extend the group’s capacity as follows:

– There are significant opportunities to work on coastal systems. ESD already has some interests in this arena, notably in studies of sediment delivery to the world’s deltas, marine density-driven flows, and in studies of coastal erosion. However, there are strong disciplinary contexts that would support an extension of activity in this field (and, importantly there is the necessary undergraduate and taught

postgraduate demand to provide the resource required for investment). Coastal sediment transport systems are here defined to encompass estuaries and deltas as well as coastlines per se, but all these geographic domains represent a logical extension in the geographic scope of ESD activities and connect with the group’s aspiration to understand the movement of sediment from source to sink.

– In recent years ESD has worked hard to develop its visibility and reputation. This remains a strategic priority and the group will extend and deepen its links across the University, especially with SMMI, FEE and the National Oceanography Centre Southampton (NOCS) and with GeoData, which has a long-established reputation in this area (including the Applied Coastal Research Group and support for the Channel Coastal Observatory). One possible such initiative is the establishment of an interdisciplinary Deltas Research Centre, perhaps under the umbrella of SMMI.

– Building on the theme of ‘source to sink’ there are significant opportunities for interdisciplinary engagement with groups both internal and external to the University in research focused on biogeochemical cycling (with a particular focus on the role of sediments as vectors for nutrients and carbon – in which we enjoy close collaboration with one of our visiting Professors). There are also clear opportunities here to engage with PLUS’s aspiration to develop a capability in isotopes.

Objectives to 2020

– To expand the complement of staff (including research fellows) to a size comparable with other research groups in the Faculty/University and to lead competitors in the Russell Group.

– To develop excellence in the emerging areas of geomorphology noted above (deltas, estuaries and coasts).

– To develop world-leading experimental facilities in conjunction with FEE, by investing in state-of-the-art flow and sediment transport monitoring equipment (eg particle imaging velocimetry equipment) and associated enhanced technical support to develop the Chilworth flume facility.

– To develop at least one very high quality impact case study for REF2020, to highlight the societal impact of the group’s work.

– To develop the group’s reputation and esteem by enabling staff to take on a greater array of disciplinary leadership roles, to grow its representation in international science forums such as the American Geophysical Union, European Geosciences Union, etc.

– To diversify and increase research income from both RCUK and non-RCUK sources and funding for postgraduate researchers.

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Economy, Governance and Culture (EGC) EGC has a distinctive specialisation in human geography.

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Strengths

– EGC has been successful in economic geography and especially in retail geography, where it has secured large amounts of research income and a prominent role in the ESRC’s Retail Industry Business Engagement Network. It has a leading international reputation in evolutionary economic geography.

– It has been successful in terms of influential outputs and had an estimated REF2014 GPA of 3.2.

– It has had highly successful public impact through its retail research.

– It has provided a good environment for the development of young staff and has several members of staff with rapidly growing research profiles.

– It has productive links with other parts of the University including the Third Sector Research Centre, Politics and International Relations and Work Futures Research Group, which could be developed further.


In order to pursue a distinctive path that meets the triple goals of exploiting key research agendas, providing an attractive, relevant curriculum and strengthening research connections, the group has rebranded itself Economy, Governance, and Culture. This group will look to build on its strength in economic geography and add expertise on the politics and governance of urban, economic and cultural change. There are three overlapping themes that the group aims to pursue:

– Evolution in economic geography, including retail industries, centres and consumption; globalisation and emerging markets; regional and urban growth and decline; global production networks; innovation systems and transitions; cities, digital and cultural economies.

– Practice and culture, including food and animal welfare; matter and technology; organisational practices, risk and behavioural change; migration and diversity; resilience and development, urban culture and space.

– Governance and politics, including political governance and regulation; urban governance and culture; localism, decentralisation and democracy; social welfare and inequalities.

Research focusGeographers in EGC focus on contemporary

economies and cultures and their governance. ECG has focused on the interfaces between economic geography and political and cultural geographies. It has had a leading reputation in retail geography and the governance of global supply chains. With recent appointments, the group has reinforced its expertise in economic geography and broadened this into cultural and social geography.

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Development of these themes would be aligned with ESRC research themes on economic performance and sustainable growth, influencing behaviour and informing interventions, and a vibrant and fair society. The themes also fit with the European Commission’s emphases on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. These directions will allow group members to strengthen networks and collaborations with cognate groups within the University (eg Business and Management, Politics and Sociology, and environmental social science), while our research on marine industries, including trade, work and transport, connects with SMMI.

Objectives to 2020

– To further develop the group’s strengths in economic geography, developing new research in evolutionary approaches, the dynamics of regional and local economic growth and decline, innovation and supply chains, and cities and the creative economy.

– To provide additional academic research leadership in the group through the appointment of a chair in human geography.

– To rebalance the group through appointments in political and cultural geography, including research fellows.

– To engage with research opportunities with Southampton Business School and with the Work Futures USRG.

– To raise and diversify research income by applying its theoretical work on governance, practice and culture to a range of substantive research areas including food security and supply chains, migration and social change.

– To further enhance Southampton’s reputation in human geography through disciplinary networking, improved publicity and web visibility, and leadership of conferences and research networks.

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Global Environmental Change and Earth Observation (GECEO) GECEO has been very successful in both the use of remote sensing to monitor vegetation phenology (or seasonality), carbon flux and to quantify biomass burning emissions at regional and global scales and in developing climate change adaption strategies and risk mitigation.

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Research focusGECEO has a long-standing and sustained

international reputation in areas of remote sensing of vegetation, carbon flux, vegetation burning and agriculture monitoring with a strong link with the European Space Agency and publication in world-class journals. The group also has a world-leading reputation for research on climate change impacts and adaptation strategies, with lead authorships in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report

Strengths

– GECEO has skills and capability in a wide range of numerical and mathematical modelling approaches for handling large volume of data. This capability has increased the quality of GECEO publications and provides an opportunity to engage with large interdisciplinary projects.

– GECEO has a strong international profile and a large number of high quality publications (Southampton is ranked 4th in Europe for ‘ Remote sensing’ publications). As a result the group attracts a large number of PhD students and, in collaboration with PHeW, supports Geography and Environment’s taught postgraduate programmes.

– GECEO has a growing portfolio of research income with strength and resilience lying in its diverse range of sources. It has seen considerable success in recent years with research council (NERC, STFC) funding, European Space Agency, a large DFID (Deltas, Vulnerability and Climate Change: Mitigation and Adaptation DECCMA) grant, Leverhulme funding and Gates and Clinton Health Access Initiative funding.

– The group has excellent representation on external panels and scientific committees and an excellent track record of policy engagement, for example, through its work with the IPCC, its Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) grants, through GeoData, and expert support for the European Space Agency’s Sentinel mission.

– It has paid considerable attention to ensuring the development of young staff. It has three Level 4/5 staff with a growing number of high-profile publications and significant media attention, as well as several Level 4/5 research fellows and the large number of postgraduate researchers mentioned above. The group has an excellent track record of retention and conversion from PhD to post-doc to academic staff.


Over the next five years, the group will focus on global environmental monitoring including the innovative use of Earth Observation data, climate change impacts and adaptation, and sustainability science, including Earth system science at the global scale to local community impacts and trade-offs at the other. Cutting-edge methodological application and development will provide competitive advantage. In all of these themes, socio-economic impact and societal relevance will be placed at the forefront of thinking, and end-users and stakeholders will be included in project ideas from inception of ideas through to grant execution.

With the group’s computational strength and remote sensing expertise, and excellent links into the Sustainability Science and Population Health USRGs at Southampton, GECEO has the ability to be world leading in the monitoring and modelling of environmental and socio-ecological systems.

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Key directions identified for the group, and into which appointments will be sought, are therefore as follows:

– ‘Scaling out’ to regional and global geographical scales the group’s interest in, and mapping and monitoring of, vegetation systems and carbon flux, climate change impacts, ‘Nexus’ approaches and remote sensing and sustainability science.

– Global challenges posed by the ‘Nexus’ of energy, food and water insecurity, encompassing ecosystem services and environmental sustainability on the one hand and poverty alleviation on the other. A related area that is strategically valuable is risk, mitigation and adaptation, both to climate changes and natural hazards.

– The group has close links with a number of satellite missions (Sentinel 2 and 3) in the EU Copernicus programme and will seek to exploit these opportunities through external funding and high quality publications.

– The opportunity exists to connect GECEO’s regional and global products to the outside world by developing Geoportals to disseminate regional and global scale remotely sensed data products (e.g. carbon emissions, vegetation phenology parameters).

– Biogeochemical modelling and climate modelling to transform the ability of existing remote sensing staff to address Earth system science questions (in collaboration with PLUS).

The group will also coalesce around several core links to generate critical mass in the department. Three examples are risk reduction and mitigation from climate change and natural hazards, understanding and monitoring complex socio-ecological systems and vegetation response to natural and anthropogenic stresses.

Objectives to 2020

– To expand the complement of academic staff to a size comparable with other research groups in the Faculty/University and competitors in the Russell Group.

– To develop excellence in one or more of the emerging areas in remote sensing and societal challenges (e.g. food security)

– To increase research income from both RCUK and non-RCUK sources, particularly the EU.

– To maintain and increase the quality of our postgraduate students and postgraduate publications

– To expand GECEO’s research environment in terms of space, computational resources and equipment

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Palaeoenvironmental Laboratory at the University of Southampton (PLUS) PLUS generates and utilises a wide variety of palaeoecological data on past (Quaternary) environments allied to a range of modelling approaches in order to understand the mechanisms, rates and implications of environmental change, and anticipate future change at a range of temporal and spatial scales.

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Research focusPLUS has a distinctive history of research

into the palaeoecology of mires, bogs and lakes and is home to international leaders in the fields of mire palaeoecology, palaeolimnology, geoarchaeology and Arctic palaeoecology. The group is porous and multidisciplinary, linking externally with ecologists, climatologists, biologists and archaeologists.

Strengths

– PLUS is the leading Quaternary/Holocene research group within any geography department in the UK.

– It achieved an estimated mean GPA of 3.4–3.6 for REF2104.

– It has a wide research income portfolio from both RCUK (NERC) and other sectors.

– PLUS enjoys strong and productive links with other research groups within Geography and Environment (particularly ESD and Global Environmental Change and Earth Observation) and with groups in other areas of the University, particularly OES/NOCS and Archaeology.


The group aims to develop outstanding contributions in two areas:

– understanding long-term climate and ecosystem change

– human impact on the environment

Human impact incorporates sustainable practice, resilience and management, which lie at the interface of natural and human systems, particularly in environments that are sensitive to climate change (e.g. Arctic and semi-arid zones). PLUS aims to be at the forefront of developing a range of palaeoenvironmental indicators or ‘proxies’ in an integrated manner and also the development of new models that can simulate observed human-environment interactions over long timescales integrating palaeoenvironmental, archaeological and historical data. A research emphasis on human-environment interactions extends in time from middle Pleistocene geoarchaeology to debates on the status and dating of ‘The Anthropocene’.

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A major aim of PLUS research is to help recognise vulnerable ecosystems at an early stage and formulate strategies for sustainable management, by integrating innovative approaches into the reconstruction of past ecosystem processes, such as carbon and nutrient and biodiversity changes. This involves the development of new high-resolution palaeobiological indicators of past climate change. The research group centres on the Palaeoecology Laboratory, which is used by all staff in the group. Our aim is to enhance this laboratory-centred strategy. The role of enterprise in PLUS research is through the use of laboratory resources in applied research, some of which can be through GeoData, and via research input into environmental management at a variety of levels from the local to the international.

However, a comparative review of the group with other universities has highlighted its small and top-heavy profile, with only five permanent academic staff: all being at either associate professor/professorial level. It is therefore regarded as a top priority to bring new, younger, staff into the group. It is also essential for the group to develop its capacity in a number of interrelated areas:

– stable isotopes in organisms and sediment

– organic geochemistry including biomarkers (biogenic Si, faecal sterols, n-alkanes, PAH)

– palaeogenetics including aDNA metabarcoding

– complimentary proxies; coleopteran, phytoliths, diatoms and associated isotopic research

– geochronology including AAR, OSL, U-series, 14C and tephrachronology

Organic geochemistry is a common factor in this list and OES is currently investing in the equipment required for such research, having received Mulser funding for new mass-spectrometers (including GC-IPMS). PLUS also aims to develop pre-processing facilities in these areas and negotiate processing arrangements with outside agencies (e.g. British Geological Survey) and/or within the University (e.g. OES/NOCS). The group seeks to increase its internal links with Archaeology, the Institute for Life Sciences and Chemistry. PLUS is also supportive of joint initiatives with other research groups and GeoData, particularly in the areas of coastal research, river-lake interactions and habitat survey, monitoring and protection. Priority areas for grant applications include:

– reconstruction of complex landscape dynamics and human-environment interactions

– geoarchaeology of fluvial and lacustrine environments and human evolution

– environmental change; human adaptation and innovation cycles

– inter-hemispheric linkages in climate change and plant community responses to environmental change using ancient DNA

– methanogenesis in Arctic environments

Looking further ahead, PLUS’s collaborative areas will focus on complex dynamic systems, niche evolution and epigenetics, resilience, tipping points and biological ecosystem services.

Objectives to 2020

– To expand the complement of academic staff to a size comparable with competing research groups in the Russell Group.

– To develop excellence in one or more of the emerging areas in palaeoecology (as described above.

– To maintain and develop its research laboratories for staff, postdoctoral researchers and postgraduate researchers.

– To grow the group’s representation in international science forums such as the American Geophysical Union, European Geosciences Union etc.

– To diversify and increase research income from RCUK and non-RCUK sources and funding for postgraduates.

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Population, Health and Wellbeing (PHeW) PHeW has an outstanding reputation for leadership in population and health research, based on the combination of innovation in methodology covering geographical information systems (GIS), spatial analysis and quantitative and qualitative methods with substantive expertise in population and health issues.

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– Spatial population analysis and modelling – focusing on a range of innovative models for representation and analysis of spatial population distributions, including methodological development and application of automated zone design, spatio-temporal population modelling and synthetic estimation.

– Cultures, spaces and practices of care – approaching care through various conceptual and empirical concerns relating to how it is practised, including who does it and how and where it is done, as well as its successes, failures and limitations.

– Population health – looking at the study of the health outcomes and behaviours within population groups and the associated spatio-temporal distributions.

Strengths

– PHeW spans a wide range of perspectives on population, health and wellbeing and is engaged with policy-relevant agendas with high societal impact. It contributed two of the academic unit’s REF2014 impact case studies and continues to undertake high-impact work.

– The group has a very strong UK and international profile for population mapping. The combination of its work on global mapping projects and with the Office for National Statistics and other national statistical agencies makes this a truly world-class centre with a diversity of funding sources.

– The group’s international profile continues to grow, particularly through its internationally focused research agendas, which are funded by agencies such as the Gates Foundation, World Bank and DFID, and its work on smoking behaviour in Europe and in New Zealand.

– The group has proved to be an environment in which individual staff can develop and progress their careers, with three staff progressing from Levels 4 to 5 and 5 to 6 in recent promotion rounds.

Research focusSince the preparation of the 2014 REF

submission, PHeW has identified the following three research themes, which are re-affirmed as the basis for the next strategic planning round:

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– Recent appointments will increase capacity in Cultures, spaces and practices of care, rebalancing the overall profile of the group.

– PHeW has strong involvement with ESRC-funded centres, particularly through staff members’ leadership roles in the UK Data Service, National Centre for Research Methods and ADRC–E.

– It has high external visibility through senior roles held by its staff. These include co-leadership of the Population Health USRG, Associate Dean for Research, ESRC Council member and Vice Chair of the Royal Geographical Society Geographies of Health Research Group.


PHeW will continue to work within the framework of the three agreed research themes, but will increasingly look to exploit common areas of interest in international development and health and in poverty, which are already aspects of much of our work. Both are the basis for current and potential collaborative opportunities within the group, academic unit and Faculty. The group will seek to develop greater synergy between its researchers and develop more collaborative projects, exploring how health and care intersect with other factors including poverty and engaging with resarch using different methodologies.

Objectives to 2020

– To continue to develop the group’s strength in population analysis and modelling into a globally distinctive contribution, working with national statistical agencies to shape future censuses and international population data systems.

– To engage increasingly with the analysis of administrative data and specifically geospatial linkage methods, taking advantage of Southampton’s lead role in the ADRC-E, contributing to major Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and ESRC priorities with great impact potential.

– To strengthen and redevelop the Care theme, to create a distinctive path in care research. This will explore the complex trajectories of care work in the context of welfare reform, austerity and ‘Big Society’ voluntarism, single people’s care networks and the development of ‘global care chains’.

– To engage strategically with current and new University initiatives in population/global health and locally with GECEO to leverage increased reach and research profile in the population health theme, contributing to Southampton’s external profile.

– To build up a more balanced base in grant funding and postgraduate supervision to provide strength in depth across the group’s three research themes.

– To grow the spatial analysis and modelling group in order to release research capacity while supporting GIS teaching that can meet the academic unit’s and the University’s broader demand for GIS education across multiple programmes. This represents an excellent opportunity for Geography and Environment to realise the often-claimed interdisciplinary relevance of geospatial skills.

– To enhance internal and external communications, through regular monthly meetings and substantially redeveloped digital presence, both refreshed in 2014.

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GeoData’s strategyGeoData is a research and consultancy group specialising in environmental research, data management, analysis and processing.

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– Environment and vulnerability – focusing on natural resources, biophysical and socio-environmental factors affecting sustainable natural resource management, livelihoods and strategic planning and policy support, particularly related to climate change and adaptation and in the emerging frameworks of Ecosystems Services and the Water, Energy and Food nexus.

– Geospatial data and analysis – focusing on a range of business analysis, data analysis (including Earth Observation and remote sensing) and application development, including database Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and proprietary and open source technologies applied to natural resource management, land use/land cover, socio-environmental vulnerability and risk.

– Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) – concerned with the framework and elements of location-based data and information, standards and metadata tools and users, including ‘big’, linked and open data. Through online web-mapping and geoportals this work supports data access, analysis and visualisation for strategic planning and decision-making.

GeoData has been highly successful in areas of international development on vulnerability and risk, spatial data infrastructures, geospatial and environment sectors. Recent successes in attracting Department for International Development (DFID), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) funding clearly put GeoData on the international funding stage. In the last two years GeoData has also successfully bid for

RCUK funding. This research has contributed substantially to the REF income and GeoData research outcomes contributed in part to all four of Geography and Environment’s REF2014 impact case studies.

Strengths

– GeoData has excellent and long-standing links with academics in Geography and Environment and across other faculties and external agencies through its contacts for multidisciplinary work, providing research and bidding support for collaborative projects.

– Its strengths in market and technology foresight have linked GeoData into national and international arenas with significant potential, in resource management, the role of open spatial date applications (exemplified by the establishment of the Open Source Geospatial Laboratory to focus University open source applications) and environmental and climate adaptation projects.

– It has a strong cross-disciplinary team structure, with permanent staff that facilitate proposals and projects which support enterprise funding sources and provide a rapid response to energy finding opportunities.

– Strong development of international funding for applied research (e.g. through FAO, World Bank, DFID, International Union for Conservation of Nature, etc) and significant research funding from non-departmental public bodies, government departments and agencies (e.g. DEFRA, Forestry Commission, Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, Environment Agency, Rail Safety and Standards Board, etc).

Research focusGeoData is focused on interdisciplinary

research, applied research and enterprise. These interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research strengths span environment, information management and data science and form three themes:

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Objectives to 2020

– To maintain and strengthen multidisciplinary activity within GeoData, other cross-faculty groups and through USRG programmes – particularly in EU activities and SMMI.

– To strengthen activity in the international development sector to enhance the capacity to take up opportunities and integrate these with spatial data and open source SDI initiatives. This will be achieved by recruitment of additional staff within the relevant sectors.

– To seek research appointments, including jointly with GECEO and through PHeW, to consolidate and support opportunities in open data, population modelling, Earth Observation and remote sensing and seek to link these with the Open Source Geospatial Laboratory initiative.

– To grow and specialise the core team able to deliver professional CPD and capacity development through a permanent appointment to the geospatial/Earth Observation theme. The latter in particular will be enhanced through the development of specialised courses that link closely to the research themes.

– To enhance external presentation through redevelopment of GeoData’s web presence and communication strategy. GeoData will further develop its research associations with external agencies and organisations to enhance this presence.

– To develop and support the establishment of the Open Source Geospatial Laboratory to provide a focus for its SDI aspirations and Open Source applications and to act as a University, regional and national focus for open geospatial activity. It will develop external links (including international links) and seek support and sponsorship to fund Open Source Geospatial Laboratory developments.

– To develop associate contacts to build strategic collaborations that mutually support the development initiatives and appoint a steering group to provide a strategic input.

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www.southampton.ac.uk/geography [email protected]+44 (0)23 8059 3779

@geogsouthampton

Documents

Geography Research Strategy 2015