skip to primary navigation skip to content
 

Annual Report 2007-8

Staff

Newcomers

The Department welcomed four new University Lecturers.

Dr Michael Herzog was appointed in October 2007 University Lecturer in Atmospheric Science having spent two years as a visiting scientist at NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory at Princeton, New Jersey. Michael has a PhD in Geophysical Sciences from Max-Planck-Institute of Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany. His research activities and interests include the development of atmospheric models from local to global scales; modelling of convective clouds and volcanic plumes; the role of convection in the climate system, understanding of the hydrological cycle in present and future climate; and understanding the role of aerosols in present and future climate, and the impact of aerosols on dynamical and microphysical processes.

Dr Andrew Friend was appointed in January 2008 University Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science and Fellow of Clare College having spent time since 2003 time at LSCE, Saclay, in France. His research interests focus on the use of numerical models to study vegetation-environment interactions, plant ecophysiology, and feedbacks between global change and biospheric processes at a wide range of scales.

Dr Tim Vorley also joined the Department in October 2007 as a replacement for Professor Ron Martin whilst he is on leave, as a Temporary University Lecturer in Economic Geography and Fellow of Churchill College. Tim will be in the Department for four years and contributes to the core teaching of the Geography Tripos. He was previously at Said Business School, Oxford University.

Dr Jude Browne was appointed in September 2008 as Frankopan Director of Gender Studies. J ude joins the Department having spent time in the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences and spearheads the Department’s new MPhil in Gender Studies.

Amongst support staff, the department welcomed Bethan Jones in a new post as Research Development Officer, and Fiona Scoble as assistant to Jamie Horsley. The accounts department welcomed a replacement for the Senior Accounts Clerk, Sally Knock, who comes from the Secretariat and Richard Hill as the new Accounts Manager, having spent time previously at the Clinical School. The department also welcome a new administrator in the newly developed Gender Studies Centre, Lesley Dixon.

Dr Alison Maguire, Research Grants Administrator, took maternity leave from April 2008 and will be returning to the Department in February 2009.

Departures

The Department saw the departure of two teaching staff in 2007-08.

Dr James Brasington, a geomorphologist and hydrologist who worked on modelling channel and floodplain dynamics in meandering and braided rivers, moved to a Readership at the University of Aberystwyth where he heads up the River Basin Dynamics.

Dr Al James also left having arrived as an undergraduate student at Fitzwilliam College in 1996; and then continued his studies here as a graduate student under the supervision of Dr Mia Gray; and became a lecturer in economic geography and a fellow at Fitzwilliam College. His research on the cultural embeddedness of the economy and on gender and work-life balance in the labour market quickly established him as an important scholar in the field. He has moved to Queen Mary University of London and is the programme convenor for their MSc in Globalisation and Development.

Amongst support staff, Christine Hollinshead our Senior Accounts Clerk, left to take early retirement. Christine had been with the department for nearly 10 years, during which time she provided stalwart support to the Accounts department. Also in Accounts, the department saw the departure of Judy Heath, Accounts Manager, who left to work in Africa. Judy worked for both Geography and SPRI and has contributed greatly to the department accounts system.

Promotions, Honours and Prizes

There were three promotions in the department in 2007-08. Dr Sarah Radcliffe was promoted to a Reader, and Dr Michael Bravo and Dr Mia Gray were both promoted to Senior Lecturers.

Other honours in the department came from Professor Ron Martin, Professor of Economic Geography, who accepted a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship from 2007 to 2010; and Professor Sue Owens, Professor in Environment and Policy. Professor Owens was appointed as a member of the Strategic Research Board of ESRC from 1s September 2007 (for two years in the first instance). The main role of the SRB is ‘to develop and implement a strategy for long-term research addressing topics of major national and international importance’; it oversees ESRC’s Research Centres, has an annual budget of rather more than £38m, and is increasingly working with other funders on major issues requiring multi-disciplinary approaches. Professor Owens also accepted the King Carl XVI Gustaf Professorship of Environmental Sciences. She hold this for the academic year 2008-09, hosted jointly by the Resilience Centre at Stockholm University and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Professor Richard Smith was elected President of the Economic History Society for three years from 2007-2010

Professor Julian Dowdeswell, Director of SPRI, was awarded The Founder’s Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for 2008. This is one of the two most prestigious medals awarded by the RGS

The Committee for Space Research (COSPAR) awarded one of the Department’s Research staff, Dr Kauzar Saleh, the Zeldovich Medal for 2008 in Space Studies of the Earth’s Surface, Meteorology and Climate. This award is given jointly by COSPAR and the Russian Academy of Sciences to recognize excellence and achievements of early career scientists.

Students who were awarded prizes in 07-08 were Benjamin Thorpe for winning the Undergraduate Dissertation Prize by the RGS-IBG Urban Geography Research Group and James Trafford who was awarded the RGS-IBG Urban Research Group Prize for best dissertation. Dr Richard Powell, a former PhD student supervised by Dr M Bravo and Professor K Richards and ESRC Research Fellow at SPRI was awarded the 2007 Ashby Prize by the editors of Environment and Planning ‘A’ in recognition of the exceptional quality of his paper on the geography of experimental field practices in the Arctic.

Visiting Academics (1st October 2007 to 1st October 2008)

The Department saw an increase in visitors, from a wide range of backgrounds and research fields with seventeen visiting academics during the academic year 07-08. Nine of these were short term. They were either supported by their institutions or self-funded, and one was supported through the Cambridge Colleges’ Hospitality Scheme.

Nationalities of the visiting academics was diverse with both EU and non-EU visitors: China, Denmark, Brazil, US, Czechoslavakia, Spain, Italy, Ukraine, Canada, Germany and Greece.

Out of the seventeen visiting academics, five were long term (ie 1 year or just under) and two were part time. All of them were either Professors or Doctorates, except one who was a PhD student.

The collaborators in the department were mainly professors: Prof Gibbard, Prof Haining, Prof Adams, Prof Martin, Prof Smith, Prof Richards, Prof Graf. There were also Dr Bayliss-Smith, Dr Moeller, Dr Herzog and Dr Pungetti.

The busiest time for visiting academics appeared to be over the vacation period. They were almost equal in number of female and male (8:9 ratio).

Only one visiting academic required a work permit (for the US). However changes in home office rules mean that anyone from outside the EEA will not be allowed to enter the UK until a new process has been put in place for them. This is not expected to be until around Spring 09. In the meantime, only EEA visitors will be allowed to come to the department although due to lack of space, there will be no more visitors accepted until November 09. If collaborating academics wish to invite a visitor they will need to house them in their own offices or research spaces.

Visiting Academics and their Research Areas

  • Professor Catherine Corson (with Prof Bill Adams)
    Biodiversity in Madagascar; Institutional Ethnographies of Bilateral Foreign Aid Agencies; Transnational Biodiversity Politics
  • Dr JiangPing Chen (with Prof Bob Haining)
    Spatial Analysis in GIS
  • Professor Katherine Gough (with Dr Tim Bayliss-Smith)
    Urban, social and economic geography of developing countries, with fieldwork in West Africa, Latin America and, most recently, Solomon Islands. In Cambridge she worked with Tim Bayliss-Smith on continuity and change in Ontong Java atoll, 1970-2006.
  • Professor Rosangela Reis (with Prof Bob Haining)
    Remote sensing and GIS applied to the understanding of physical processes in basins, especially sediment production and transportation.
  • Mr Andrew Friedman (with Dr Michael Herzog)
    The effects of climate change on the tropical Atlantic sea surface temperature gradient and the intertropical convergence zone.
  • Professor Ron Boschma, Professor Lisa Dillon, Dr Bo Poulsen, Mr Wilko Schroeter, Ms Barbara Revuelta Eugercios
    All worked in HPSS and Cultural and Historical areas.
  • Professor Jan Kalvoda (with Prof Keith Richards)
    Physical geography in relation to geomorphology
  • Dr Philip Hughes (with Prof Phil Gibbard)
    Glacial geomorphology and Quaternary Science – The glacial history of the Mediterranean mountains – Developing a project on the glacial history of the Atlas Mountains, North Africa
  • Dr Federico Cinquepalmi (with Dr Gloria Pungetti)
    Technological support to integrated coastal management, biodiversity conservation and impact assessment of human activities. Establishment and management of coastal protected areas, safeguard of landscape and seascape in coastal zones. Bio-cultural diversity conservation with particular attention to the Mediterranean Basin
  • Dr Jasmin Lendzion (with Dr Iris Moeller)
    Baltic coast for a salt meadow monitoring project with CCRU
  • Dr Christopher Jeans (with Prof Phil Gibbard)
    A geologist who specialises in Clay Mineralogy
  • Professor Sergei Snizhko (with Prof Hans Graf)
    Atmospheric Processes
  • Dr Vasiliki Margarai (with Prof Phil Gibbard)
    Quaternary

Current Staff

Academic Staff

Professors
  • W M Adams, MA (Cantab), MSc (London), PhD (Cantab), Professor of Conservation and Development
  • R J Bennett, MA, PhD (Cantab), FBA, Professor of Geography (1931)
  • A D Cliff, BA (London), MA (Northwestern), MA (Cantab), PhD, DSc (Bristol), FBA, Professor of Theoretical Geography
  • J A Dowdeswell, BA (Cantab), MS (Colorado), PhD (Cantab) Professor of Physical Geography, Director of the Scott Polar Research Institute
  • P L Gibbard, BSc (Sheffield), PhD (Cantab), DOS (Helsinki), Professor of Quaternary Palaeoenvironments
  • H Graf, MSc, PhD (Humboldt)
  • R P Haining, MA (Cantab), MSc (Northwestern), PhD (Northwestern), Professor of Human Geography, Head of Department
  • R L Martin, MA, PhD (Cantab), FBA, AcSS, Professor of Economic Geography
  • S E Owens, OBE, BSc (UEA), MA (Cantab), PhD (UEA), AcSS Professor of Environment and Policy
  • K S Richards, MA, PhD (Cantab), Professor of Geography (1993)
  • R M Smith, BA (London), MA (Oxon), PhD (Cantab), FBA, AcSS Professor of Historical Geography and Demography
Readers
  • T P Bayliss-Smith, MA, PhD (Cantab), Reader in Pacific Geography
  • J S Duncan, BA (Dartmouth College, NH), MA, PhD (Syracuse, NY), Reader in Cultural Geography
  • C M Oppenheimer, BA (Cantab), PhD (Open), Reader in Volcanology and Remote Sensing
  • S A Radcliffe, BSc London, PhD (Liverpool)
University Senior Lecturers
University Lecturers
Assistant Directors of Research
College Lecturer
  • I Moeller, BA (Oxon), MPhil (Wales), PhD (Cantab)
  • I Scales, BSc (Durham), MSc (UCL), PhD (Cantab)
Temporary University Lecturer (for Dr G Kearns)
Temporary University Lecturer (for Prodessor Sue Owens)
  • R Doubleday, BSc (Imperial), MSc (Sussex), PhD (UCL|)
Temporary University Lecturer (for Prof R Martin)
  • T Vorley, MSc (Human Geography), PhD (Economic Geography)

Research Staff

Research Fellows
M Boichu, PhD (IPGP) Marie Curie Research Fellow Volcanic Degassing
M. Szoltyysek PhD Marie Curie Research Fellow Astride the Hajnal Line: Central Europe and the Geography of Family Forms 17th-19th centuries
K Hickson, BSc (LSE), MSc (LSE), MPH (Harvard), PhD (LSE) British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow Historical Health Economics
P Kitson British Academy Fellow The economic context of family formation in England, c. 1550-1851
F Moore, BA (Cantab), MSc (Edinburgh), MPhil (Cantab), PhD (Cantab) ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow Nineteenth and early twentieth century motherhood
C Sandbrook, MA (Cantab), MSc (Oxon), PhD (UCL) ESRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow Tourism, conservation and local livelihoods in the developing world
J van Lottum, MA (Amsterdam), PhD (Utrecht) ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow Social and economic history of North-western Europe 1550-1900 with a focus on labour history
S Brooks ESRC Fellow
Other Research Staff
G Amable, BA (Ghana), MSc (Aberdeen), PhD (Cantab) Research Associate with B J Devereux
M Bougamont, PhD (California), MsC (Grenoble), PhD (Strasbourg) Research Associate With P Christoffersen
C D Briggs, MA (Oxon), MPhil, PhD (Cantab) Research Associate HPSS
M Graham, BSc (Leeds), MPhil (Cantab) Research Associate With W A Adams
G H Newton, BA , MSc (Cantab) Research Associate HPSS
A M Reid, BA (Oxon), MSc (London), PhD (Cantab) Senior Research Associate HPSS
K Saleh Contell, PhD (Valencia) Research Associate With K Richards
M Satchell, BA (Otago), MA (Sheffield), DPhil (Oxon) Research Associate With HPSS
L M W Shaw-Taylor, BA (Open), MSc (Oxon), PhD (Cantab) Senior Research Associate and University Lecturer in Economic History HPSS
V I Tsanev, MSc (St Petersburg), PhD (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) Senior Research Associate with C Oppenheimer
Sir E A Wrigley, MA, PhD, FBA (Cantab) Emeritus Professor HPSS
J Yang, BS (Nanjing Institute of Meteorology), MS (Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences), PhD (Chinese Academy of Sciences) Computer Associate with H Graf

Academic-related and Support Staff

Administration

  • J Horsley, BA (Illinois Wesleyan), MA (UEA)
  • B Jones
  • N D Keating
  • A J Maguire, BA (Cantab, MSc (London), PhD (Cantab)

General Office

  • J E Parsons
  • M Constantinou

Head of Department’s Office

  • A Harvey, BA (Greenwich), MA (Anglia)

Accounts

  • R Hill
  • S Knock
  • E Giles

Library

  • R Carter, BA (Newcastle), Library Management (Liverpool John Moores)
  • J Hampshire, BSc (Open)

Undergraduate Office

  • D Wanchoo BA (Open), MA

Graduate Office

  • G Matthews, BA (Oxford Polytechnic)

Computing

  • M V Lucas-Smith, BA (Cantab)
  • S Harvey, BSc (Aberystwyth)
  • D Scott, BA

Cartography

  • P J Stickler, BA (South Africa), PG Dip (Swansea) (Technical Officer)
  • I Agnew
  • O Tucker

Laboratory

  • S Boreham, BSc (Cambridge College of Arts and Tech), PhD (Open)
  • C J Rolfe, BSc (Portsmouth)

Workshop

  • A Hayes, FIScT (Senior Technical Officer)
  • M Theobald

Reprographics

  • J D Youlden, BTEC Dip Graphic Design

Unit for Landscape Modelling

  • R Desmond (Picture Librarian)
  • A Fuller (Photographic Technician)
  • D Mackay (Photographic Technician)
  • P C Wilson-Smith, BA (Aberystwyth) (Assistant to the Director)

Other Staff

  • R Tyler (Data Editor, HPSS)