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Annual Report 2000: Graduate School 1999-2000


Review by the Director

The 1999-2000 year saw the Graduate School maintain its position as one of the largest M.Phil./Ph.D. training programmes in Geography in the UK. Seventeen PhD's were awarded, as well as 32 M.Phil. degrees across the three programmes of Environment and Development, GIS and Remote Sensing and Quaternary Science. Our students also continue to achieve excellent job placements across the academic world, industry, research and government agencies. The list of topics testifies to the breadth and depth of the Department's research base.

The process of administering this wide range of activity would be impossible without the help of many people; 273 applications were processed in 1999-2000, and 45 students admitted. This burden falls heavily onto the Graduate School Office, which during the year saw Maria Constantinou succeeded by Elisabeth Burmeister. Both deserve considerable thanks for their efforts. The administration process also relies heavily on the directors of each M.Phil. and on the Degree Committee, to whom the Department owes a great debt. The whole process was overseen in this period by Professor Keith Richards, who directed the Graduate School.

During 2000-2001, the Graduate Training Programme is undergoing considerable development with stronger integration between the training offered in Geography and that in other departments of the University. This process is likely to develop further during future years.

Professor. R.J. Bennett,
Director of the Graduate School

Graduate School Statistics

M.Phils

M.Phil.
Year
Applications
Offers
Admitted
Pass
Fail
1998-1999
158
42
25
25
0
1999-2000
160
52
14
14
0
Geograpical Information Systems and Remote Sensing
1998-1999
53
41
14
14
0
1999-2000
710
49
11
11
0
Quaternary Science
1998-1999
7
6
5
5
0
1999-2000
14
8
7
7
0

Research Student Applications And Admissions

YEAR
APPLICATIONS
OFFERS
ADMITTED
October 1997
87
33
12
October 1998
80
53
28

Dissertation Titles 1999-2000

M.Phil. in Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing

Name
Dissertation Title
Baylon, Ms M. Environmental Conflict, participation and policy development in the Phillipines: an analysis of the case of the Bolinao Cement plant project and its impact on the application of the Philippine EIA law and the concept of social acceptability
Branch, Mr N. Countering threats to the marine environment through the implementation of innovative management and alternative development initiatives incorporating indigenous knowledge: a case study of the Togean Islands, Indonesia
Chaudhri, Ms Y. Gender and participation in natural resource management projects: exploring heterogeneity among members of a woman's organisation in Punjab, Pakistan.
Erskine, Ms S. The socio-economic impacts of conservation space on local people.
Hand, Mr E. Including human dimensions for probabilistic risk assessments of dam safety
Ishikawa, Mr E. An investigation of agri environmental policy in the UK: can farmers become countryside stewards
Jacinto, Mr J Management response to crisis discourse – a study of the Atlantic rain forest of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Jakariya, Mr M. Arsenic problem and its mitigation options in Bangladesh.
Joo, Mr I. Role of scientific expertise in the debate around Yongwol dam construction on the Tong River, South Korea.
Kadzere, Ms N. Zimbabwe land policy: an analysis of the relationship between property rights, agricultural production and land conservation practices
Kaonga, Mr M. Agroforestry development in southern province of Zambia.
Klose, Mr J. Historical landscape elements and their integration in landscape conservation schemes – demonstrated at the parish of Oderberg (Brandenburg)
Lund-Thomsen, Mr P. The politics of trade and environment in Pakistan
Mango, Ms M. Material reuse vs recycling: a comparative study of waste management in a developed and a development economy.
O'Connor, Ms T. Swans and habitat management.
O'Shea, Mr N. The Tiger's Upkeep?: Prospects for Irish Local Agenda 21
Takano, Ms T. Sustainable development in the Arctic and effect of climate change - case study in Ammassalik, Greenland.
Vallejo, Mr A. Sustainable development, biodiversity conservation and indigenous peoples: the case of the Huaorani in Ecuadorian Amazon.
White, Ms C Environmental Studies 5-14: Scotland's answer to sustainable development?
Zacarias-Farah, Ms A. Sustainable consumption as a story-line in the international environmental discourse: analysis of the United Nations Environmental Programme Agenda.

M.Phil. in Environment and Development

Name
Dissertation Title
Elsner, Mr P. Managed realignment as a coastal defence strategy – GIS analysis
Emmanuel, Mr N. The mapping of landslides in St Lucia
Garcia, Mr R. The use of GIS to analyse measles occurrence and propagation in the USA
Hasseea, Mr R. A GIS approach to modelling emissions due to road traffic
Jones, Ms E. The identification and monitoring of change in forest cover in the Bermenda Highlands using remotely sensed data
Knauf, Mr C. Evidence of neotectonism in Southern Oklahoma: a geomorphologic study of the Red River Basin
Koudounas, Mr Y. An evaluation of the use of GIS and remote sensing in predicting desertification levels in Crete
Makari, Ms W. The geology and tectonics of the Danakil Depression Ethiopia: a remote sensing investigation using SAR and optical imagery
Toyos, Mr G. Lahar hazard zonation and modelling
Tsigaridas, Ms Z. Remote sensing of vegetation change in reindeer-herding areas in Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Artic Russia
Whitesides, Mr G. Imaging of thin linear features in high resolution satellite imagery

M.Phil. in Quaternary Science

Name
Dissertation Title
Adams, Ms E.M. The palaeoecology of late-glacial sediments from Church Stretton, Shropshire
Austin-Smith, Mr R.J. The palaeoecology of Cavenham Mere, Suffolk, England
Cawston, Mr P.A. Pleistocene migration patterns in the Mediterranean regions
Fletcher, Mr W.J. Late Quaternary woodland vegetation of the Vela Draga Canyon, Croatia
Hughes, Mr P.D. The last glaciers in the Arenig mountains, North Wales
Margari, Ms V. Reconstruction of vegetational history of Lesvos Island, Greece
Skinner, Mr L.C. Palaeoceanographic changes off the Iberian Margin during the Younger Dryas and Holocene, and their palaeoclimatological implications

Ph.D. Degrees Awarded 1999-2000

Name
Dissertation Title
Allard, Ms D.J. The sub-alpine fir forest of Lamjung Himal, Nepal: Vegetation types, forest dynamics and human impacts.
Blake, Mr J.M. Method or madness? A contextual approach to researching environmental values
Bradbrook, Ms K.F. Numerical field and laboratory studies of three dimensional flow structures at river confluences
Butler, Mr J.B. High resolution photogrammetric monitoring and analysis of the structure of gravel-bed river surfaces
Gitas, Mr I.Z. Geographical Information Systems and Remote Sensing in Mapping and Monitoring Fire-Altered Forest Landscapes
Glaister, Mr C.G. Palynology of Late Pleistocene Marine sediments in North Jutland
Herman, Mr W.M. Wave Dynamics in a Macro-Tidal Estuary
Hu, Mr W. The impact of land tenure reform on China's agricultural environment
Jeffrey, Mr C.J. Reproducing difference: The accumulation of richer jat farmers in western Uttar Pradesh, India
Karlekar, Mr I. The State and Political Economy of Industrial Development in India, the Automobile Industry circa 1980-96
Klahr, Ms R. Economic restructuring, rural industrialisation and gender relations: A case study of the garment industry in Marco de Canaveses, Portugal
McDowell, Mr R. Processes controlling phosphorus release to run-off, prediction implications for agriculture management
Pinder, Mr D.J. Utopian Spaces of the Avant-Garde
Pyle, Mr C.J. Monitoring and modelling of river bank erosion
Watson, Mr I.M. Remote Sensing of Tropospheric Volcanic Plumes
Wiart, Mr P.A.M. Quaternary Volcanism of North-East Afar
Wu, Ms S-Y. Privatisation and Policy Development and Implementation in Water Pollution Control in England and Wales

Departmental Seminar Programme 2000

20th January DR M. OGBORN (Queen Mary and Westfield), ‘Writing travels: power, knowledge and ritual on the East India Company's early voyages.'
27th January DR J. MEADOWCROFT (University of Sheffield), 'Implementing sustainable development in the industrialised world.'
3rd February PROFESSOR P. SIMPSON-HOUSLEY (York University, Canada), ‘Perceptions, Myths and Classical Literature in a Polar Context.'
10th February PROFESSOR D. SUGDEN (University of Edinburgh), 'The timing of the last glacial/Holocene transition in Patagonia and global climatic inferences.'
17th February DR T. CRESSWELL (University of Wales), Aberystwyth‘Bodies, Modalities, Knowledges: Making Up the Tramp.'
24th February PROFESSOR A. GURNELL (University of Birmingham), 'Large wood, sediment deposition and island development along a gravel-bed river.'
2nd March PROFESSOR P. JACKSON (University of Sheffield),‘Theorising transnationalism.'
9th March DR T. PAYNE (University of Southampton), 'Modelling the dynamics of the Siple Coast ice streams, West Antarctica.'
27th April PROFESSOR J. BURGESS (University College London), 'Environmental Decision Making: Engaging Stakeholders in Marine Conservation.'
11th May DR M. HULME (University of East Anglia), "Climate Change Risk and Sustainability"
12th October PROFESSOR A. YAIR (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), "The ambiguous impact of climate change at the desert fringe"
19th October DR F. DRIVER (Royal Holloway & Bedford New College), "Hints to Travellers - Science, exploration and the production of geographical knowledge"
26th October PROFESSOR E. KELLER (University of California, Santa Barbara), "Tectonic Geomorphology of Active Folding Associated with the "Big Bend" of the San Andreas Fault, Southern California"
9th November DR R.V. WELCH (University of Otago), "Legitimacy of Rural Local Government in the new Governance environment."
16th November PROFESSOR J. DAY (Louisiana State University), "Coastal wetlands loss in the Mississippi Delta: Analysis using spatial simulation modelling"
23rd November DR J. BRASINGTON (University of Cambridge), "Theory and Practice in Environmental Modelling: case studies from the watershed"
30th November PROFESSOR R.P. HAINING (University of Cambridge),"The Geography of Crime: some examples of what GIS has to offer"