Quaternary Glaciations - top of the pops!

Quaternary Glaciations - Extent and Chronology - A Closer Look. Developments in Quaternary Science 15. 1108 pp. published by Elsevier: Amsterdam in 2011, ISBN: 978-0-444-53447-7, edited by Emeritus Professor Philip Gibbard with J. Ehlers and Philip Hughes was the most downloaded e-book from the Geological Society of London's Library in 2019.

Pani, Pahar: The Water Curriculum

Research led by the Department has been used to develop an innovative resource for schools in India, Pani Pahar: The Water Curriculum. The resource is free to use and download, and should be adaptable for use in a wide range of contexts, including the UK.

The underlying research focused on the political economy of water resources and water security in six small towns in the hill regions of India and Nepal. The project was led by Professor Bhaskar Vira and Dr Eszter Kovacs, and worked with the Centre for Ecology, Development and Research (CEDAR), Dehra Dun, India and the Southasia Institute for Advanced Studies (SIAS), Kathmandu, Nepal Further work focused on developing a visual archive of the research, in collaboration with photographer Toby Smith, which resulted in an exhibition that travelled across the UK, India and Nepal.

The curriculum material was developed following the exhibition, and was co-developed by a recent Department graduate, Beth Barker with The Hearth Education Advisors (India and UK), who led on the education structure, development of curriculum resources (including activities, worksheets, learning tools) and instructional design for the learning materials.

Funding for this research was generously provided by grants from the UK's Ecosystem Services for Poverty Alleviation (ESPA) programme, which was a joint initiative of the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Funding was also provided by the University of Cambridge's Economic and Social Research Council Impact Acceleration Account. The Oxonian India Foundation funded the graphics design of the curriculum materials.

Undergraduate Geography dissertation prize for Paavan Sawjani

In more success for Cambridge Geography, we are delighted to congratulate Paavan Sawjani of Sidney Sussex for winning first prize for his undergraduate dissertation, "Sex and the post-colonial City: University students' understanding of the accepted boundaries of public intimacy in New Delhi, India".

The prize was awarded by the Geographies of Children, Youth, and Families Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers. Paavan graduated last summer, and is currently studying for his MRes at the University of Nottingham. Well done, Paavan!

Antarctic research features on BBC Radio 4 Today programme

Current glaciological research being undertaken by Ian Willis and Alison Banwell as part of a joint US-NSF and UK-NERC funded project featured on a recent edition of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, guest edited by Greta Thunberg. The research investigates the role of surface meltwater movement on the stability of Antarctic Ice Shelves and involves fieldwork on the George VI Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsular from where the SPRI scientists have recently returned. Their work is mentioned as part of a larger report into Antarctic glacier melt and sea level rise, which begins about 47 minutes into the programme.

Contemporary climate change debates: a student primer

Climate change raises many complex and interlocking moral, ethical and political questions about the future, the answers to which lie beyond the reach of science. In this new book edited by Professor Mike Hulme, 15 important questions that lie at the heart of climate politics are debated by leading scholars. Understanding how and why serious people arrive at different answers to these questions is a crucial learning experience for any climate student or activist.