Being “out out” but still “in in” at Kew Gardens: measuring the invisible of lianas and trees

November 25, 2021

A blog by Geertje van der Heijden In July 2021, Doreen Boyd and I went to the tropical greenhouses in Royal Botanical Gardens Kew to collaborate with Dr. Justin Moat to start an ambitious project to collate the first substantial tropical liana (woody vines) and tree spectral library. Equipped with a fancy Spectral Evolution spectrometer …

COP26: faith for a safe climate future

November 11, 2021

A blog by Dr Chris Ives The recent IPCC Working Group 1 report has made it clear that the climate crisis is not fundamentally a challenge of science but a challenge of our beliefs, commitments and actions. The UN Secretary General commented that “the evidence is irrefutable” and that the report sets out “a clear …

Addressing modern slavery at COP26

A blog by Dr Bethany Jackson Modern slavery has increasingly been linked to the environment; in particular environmental degradation and climate change. This nexus is both cyclical and bi-directional meaning that modern slavery can be a driver of environmental change as well an outcome – changes in the environment can push people into situations where …

COP26: crops for a changing environment

A blog by Matt Jones and Malcolm Bennett Human societies have been dealing with climate change for a long time. It is therefore not a new concern as such, but it is one that has been exacerbated in recent decades by our own activities and global awareness. Agriculture is impacted by, and impacts, the climate …

Realising resilience: How do we make COP26 deliver for adaptation in fragile urban environments?

A blog by Dr Arabella Fraser Financing adaptation and resilience is a big theme for COP26 in Glasgow. Regardless of any future warming trajectory, some measure of adaptation will be necessary. For developing and vulnerable nations, financing this is the lynchpin of developed world commitment to tackling climate change. The US has recently followed through …

RE: Power the Valley

November 9, 2021

A blog by Ian Jackson In 2010, I knew a little about climate change as Chief Engineer in a multinational packaging manufacturer, responsible for our Climate Change Agreement, but I didn’t start to understand the significance and urgency of its impacts until I discovered Transition Belper (TB), a local sustainability community group, and read Rob …

Talking farmed animal health and welfare at the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, 31 Aug – 03 Sep 2021

October 7, 2021

A blog by Carol Morris, Associate Professor With some financial support from the School of Geography’s Research Committee I contributed to the Annual International Conference of the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers that took place between 31st August and 3rd September 2021. The conference had been cancelled in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic …

IGARSS 2021

September 9, 2021

A blog by Giles Foody The Covid-19 pandemic has greatly limited the ability to disseminate research through conferences. Conference organisers, like everyone else, have had to be adaptable and moved events online. With generous support from the School’s overseas conference fund I was able to take part in one such conference this summer. The event …

Geografia e Cibo 2021

July 15, 2021

A blog by Robert Hearn This year’s Giornata della Società Studi Geografici (10-11 June) was dedicated to discussions surrounding the diverse geographies of food. The presentations contributed by participants across and throughout Italy were as cornucopian as might be expected at such a themed event hosted by an Italian organisation. Whilst very much an Italian …

Public perceptions of flood management options and my Research Masters experience

July 7, 2021

A blog by Mikaela D’Souza I undertook both a BSc Geography degree (graduated 2018) and Research Masters (graduated 2020) in the School of Geography at the University of Nottingham. My Research Masters supervised by Chris Ives and Matt Johnson, investigated ‘Public Perceptions of Flood Management Schemes in the UK’ and was recently published in the …