Post on 10-Mar-2016
description
transcript
ALUMNI NEWSLETTER • ISSUE NUMBER 5• MARCH 2012
ALUMNI
School of GeographyFACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT
2
Welcome
Welcome to another edition of the Leeds School ofGeography alumni magazine. It has been a busynine months for the School. Much of the talk aroundthe place is the impending move of Geography fromits present site on University road to the GarstangBuilding near the Medical School. The new spacewill be refurbished and tailored to our needs andshould provide a quality environment to facilitateexpansion in the future (the old ‘East building’ reallyis on its last legs). However, it will be sad to leavethe grand building we moved into in the mid 1990s.
We have also learned recently that our current headof School, Gill Valentine, will be moving on topastures new from August. We wish her well in herfuture role as a PVC at Sheffield University as wecurrently search for a new leader! Watch this spacefor more details on both these major news items.
Once again we hope you enjoy the mixture ofarticles on our alumni and current members of staff.There are details of two reunions in this edition andit was a pleasure to attend both of them. Please doconsider coming ‘home’ and meeting old friends.
Talking of old friends, there is an interesting pieceon Phil Rees’s retirement seminar which wasthoroughly enjoyed by all who participated. Phil isstill working on research projects in the School so itis great to report that he will be around for a fewmore years yet! Also catch up with two of our topprofs, Mark Birkin and Oliver Phillips, not to mentionone to watch for the future – Graeme Swindles.
Finally, thanks again to Tessa who continues to dosuch a great job in getting these articles to pressand keeping in touch with all of you. Enjoy! And asever, drop us a line, let us know what you are upand if we can help organise a reunion we’d love tohear from you.
Contents
3 Message from the Head of School
Research News
4 School research news in brief
Meet the Staff
6 What future for the Amazon?Professor Oliver Phillips
8 Talisman: GeospaTiAL Data AnalysISand SiMulAtioN, Professor Mark Birkin
10 The importance of peatland:Dr Graeme Swindles
Reflections
12 Professors Phil Rees & John Stillwell
Profiling Alumni
14 Samantha Brear: BA Geography 2008
15 Martine Croxall: BA Geography 1990Richard Rowney: BA Geography 1992
16 Craig Morley: BA Geography 2005
Reunions
18 Class of 1990 Reunion
20 Class of 1999 Reunion
Alumni Q & A
22 Rebecca Churchill: BA Geography1990
23 Emily Ledder: BA Geography 1998
Tessa GrantExternal RelationsManager and Alumnimagazine editor
Graham ClarkeProfessor andAlumni magazineeditor
3
The expertise our students can bring to your company ...even before they graduate!
Message from the Head of School
L eeds geography students have an opportunity to extend a three-year degree to a four-year programme by working for a year in industry
between Levels 2 and 3 of their degree. Whether they are a single honours or joint honours student, this opportunity will be presented to
them once they begin their degree programme with us. This is a fantastic opportunity for students to gain new skills, increase their employment
potential, earn some much needed money to support their studies and help them to decide upon their future career path.
Benefits for you as an employer ...
There are considerable advantages for
employers. Leeds geography students stand
out from the crowd due to their:
Ability to think flexibly and independently.
Motivation and high achievements.
Ability to analyse information and propose
creative solutions.
Ability to work as a team and value
difference.
Critical understanding of the commercial
sector and the needs of businesses.
Research, report writing and presentation
skills.
Project and time management skills.
Enthusiasm, commitment and talent.
Many of our students have gone on to work for
their industrial year companies following
graduation, bringing with them the skills and
expertise they have gained throughout their
geography degree at Leeds.
I just wanted to thank
the School for yet
another recruit. I
hope CACI will
continue to be a
source of
employment for
Leeds Geography/
GIS graduates over
the next few years.
We continue to be delighted with the quality of
your graduates, their knowledge of retail
location planning and their ability to work
effectively from day one.
Ian Thurman
Vice President, Location Planning, CACI
Interested in knowing more?
If you think your company might be interested
in placing a student for a year please contact
our External Relations Manager (and editor)
Tessa Grant to discuss this further.
A geography degree at
Leeds coupled with a
‘Year in Industry’
makes a student stand
out from the
crowd. On completion
of the ‘Year in
Industry’, I was offered
a permanent job
following graduation!
Paul Matthews
BA Geography Industrial, 2009, currently a
Location Planner at Javelin thanks to the Year
in Industry opportunity.
Recent Industrial Placements
Assistant Buyer, Mars
Demographics Analyst, Edge Analytics
Assistant Ecologist, Access Ecology
Property Management, King Sturge
Management Consultancy, Accenture
Operational Researcher, NHS
Risk Analyst, Lloyds Banking Group
Systems Implementer, Barnsley Council
Could you offer an industrial placement?
2012 is a significant
and auspicious year
– not only because of
the Olympics and
Diamond Jubilee --
but more importantly
in the world of higher
education because it
marks the
introduction of the new tuition fees.
The year is starting well for the School of
Geography - we are forecast to meet our
recruitment targets and have seen a rise in
applications for our BSc Programme. We have
sound finances despite the tough economic
climate and are currently seeking to recruit two
new Research Leadership Chairs able to
integrate their world class research and
teaching. We are also investing in the student
experience and have appointed a numeracy
fellow, alongside our existing literacy fellow to
support learning and we are further developing
our year in industry scheme. As mentioned
below, we would very much welcome offers
from our alumni to place a current student.
Indeed, the ‘Where are they now?’ section
provides testimony to the employability of
Leeds geographers.
The School remains committed to increasing
the impact of our research from a local to a
global scale. Articles from my colleagues
provide plenty of examples of the way our staff
and postgraduates are making important
contributions to international challenges on
climate change, the financial crisis and forced
migration as well as mapping emerging
social phenomenon such as cosmetic surgery
tourism and developing new ways of simulating
population and social change to inform all
aspects of planning/policy.
Lastly, on a personal note, this is my final
editorial as Head of School, as I will be leaving
at the end of August to take up a post of Pro-
Vice Chancellor at the University of Sheffield. I
would therefore like to thank all the staff and
students in the School for the support they
have given me and to offer my best wishes to
my successor for the future and the continued
success of Geography at Leeds.
Professor Gill Valentine
4
Research news in briefPutting the ash clouds into perspective
Leeds student Kristina Diprose was selected as one of ten young people to representUK youth at UN climate negotiations in South Africa in November 2011. The talksbrought together negotiators and politicians from UN member states to work towards acoordinated international response to climate change. Kristina, a PhD student from theSchool of Geography, joined the international youth constituency and a coalition ofenvironmental NGOs calling for more urgent action and leadership.
As well as rubbing shoulders with the likes of UK Environment Minister Chris Huhne(as was), Greenpeace International Director Kumi Naidoo and UN climate talks headChristiana Figueres, Kristina also led environmental education workshops for Year 9pupils in Leeds and Durban to strengthen existing school partnerships. Since returninghome, she's planning follow-up seminars for young people in Leeds to raise awarenessabout youth involvement in international decision-making and to share inspiring storiesof climate action from young people around the world.
Can we change anything?
Geography PhD student represented UK Youth at Climatechange talks
An analysis of ash fallout over the past 7,000 yearssuggests ash clouds are a relatively commonoccurrence throughout history. But ash cloudshave only reached northern Europe every 56 out ofthe past 1,000 years on average. The research ispublished in the journal Geology.
Lead author of the study Dr Graeme Swindles,from the University of Leeds School of Geography,said: "The ash cloud resulting from the 2010Eyjafjallajökull eruption caused severe disruption toair travel across Europe, but as a geological event itis not unprecedented. While the aviation industryand the travelling public will welcome the news thatanother large-scale ash event isn't expected in theimmediate future, they shouldn't breathe a sigh ofrelief just yet.” To find out more click here
Dr Paul Chatterton featured in a short documentary looking atsolutions to the current world crisis, affecting us financially,environmentally and socially. Director Pelayo Canga met specialists totalk about the credit crunch, global warming and the protests that arehappening around the Globe - from the Arab world through to Spain,Greece and England and asks can we CHANGE anything?To view the documentary visit: http://vimeo.com/28510275
Paul has also had a new paper published, entitled “Demand thePossible: Journeys in changing our world as a public activist scholar.To view the paper click here
5
Sun, Sea, Sand and Silicone: aesthetic surgery tourism
Dr David Bell is involved in an interdisciplinary project looking atBritons and Australians who participate in cosmetic surgery tourism,and at the countries and people that provide this service. It comprisesin-depth interviews and key on-site observations in order to explore thepeculiarly contemporary phenomenon of cosmetic surgery tourism andits connections to global flows of people and capital. Cosmetic surgerytourism has a crucial wider context: it is part of a general medicaltourism trend. Women and men travelling abroad for cosmetic surgeryare likely to become the pioneers of medical tourism and cosmeticsurgery is leading this growth industry because it is a largely privatizedhealthcare practice.
This research aims to broaden our understanding of the modes ofoperation of the organizations involved, the surgical tourist experience,and the potential implications for a globalized system of healthcareorganized around consumption. If you have previously had cosmeticsurgery abroad the research team would love to hear from you, email:k.r.jhardy@leeds.ac.uk
The impact of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) onUK river ecosystems
Asylum seekers and refugees’ experiences of forced labour
Pharmaceuticals find their way into theenvironment through sewage. Much recentresearch has focused on quantifying thepresence of PPCPs in the aquatic environmentand on understanding the ecotoxicological effectsof acute exposures of standard organisms (algae,invertberates, macrophytes and fish) in thelaboratory. However, very little is known about thelong-term effects of low level (chronic) exposuresand mixture toxicity to organisms in the aquaticenvironment and how these may impact onecosystem structure and function.To find out more contact: Steve Hughes, PhDstudent in the School of Geography.
Dr Hannah Lewis is an ESRC Research Fellow investigatingexperiences of forced labour among people who are refugees orseeking asylum. Her research interests include community andsocial relationships, migration and refugee studies; UKimmigration and asylum policy particularly in relation todestitution among refused asylum seekers; housing,volunteering, leisure, multiculturalism; and the ethics andmethodologies of research with migrant populations.
If you would like to find out more about Hannah’s researchplease email: h.j.lewis@leeds.ac.uk
6
What future for the Amazon?Professor Oliver PhillipsChair of Tropical Ecology, School of Geography
The Amazon forest is vast and magnificent. So
huge in fact that it is possible to fly over it for
hours on end, with nothing below but a
seemingly endless carpet of green, interrupted
here and there by winding, giant rivers and
small ox-bow lakes. Sometimes the rivers are
coloured milk chocolate by the mud which
washes off the towering Andes to the west.
Sometimes they are sparkling and transparent,
draining the ancient, crystalline rocks of the
great Brazilian Shield to the south. And
sometimes they are like black tea, stained by
the tannins washed out from billions of leaves
rotting on the forest floor of the north, where
lush vegetation often grows on deep white
sands. The Amazon is many things to many
people. To a biologist or a physical geographer
it is something akin to paradise.
The sun glints back at you from these watery
surfaces, and it is easy to imagine that it was
always like this, and that it always will be. Yet
the forest is changing, and in many ways not
immediately obvious to the human eye. One
fifth of the Amazon rainforest has been
destroyed. While there are some optimistic
signs that deforestation can be controlled, the
destruction is undeniable, and more subtle
changes are occurring too. The climate is
changing. Where the big mammals and birds
are hunted out for food, the trees that need
these animals to disperse their seeds may
continue to fruit year after year, but their
seedlings have little chance of survival,
suffocated under the deep shade and heavy
load of fungal pathogens supplied by their
parents. Intensive hunting - eventually - can kill
tree species just as effectively as it kills
animals.
But there are reasons for hope too. One of
these is that people are realising the valuable
role that forests play in our climate – not only
do they recycle huge amounts of water and
bring rains that feed crops even beyond their
borders, but they also store huge amounts of
carbon (100 billion tonnes of it in the Amazon,
to the nearest 10 billion or so), so keeping it out
of the atmosphere. This benefits us all. Our
research has also found that for decades now,
trees in the forests which do remain have
actually been growing bigger, taking up an
extra half billion tonnes of carbon each year. In
fact, over recent decades tropical forests
worldwide have absorbed one fifth of global
fossil fuel emissions. In several ways then
nature, is doing us all a very big favour in
helping to slow climate change.
The question is though – for how long can this
continue? Like most of the world, tropical
forests have already warmed noticeably.
Continuing climate change means that it is
Sometimes the rivers arecoloured milk chocolate by themud which washes off thetowering Andes to the west...
“
“
7
inevitable that the Amazon will become hotter
this century. It may also become drier. While
plants may be able to deal with extra heat, if
the great Amazon water-cycle becomes
disrupted and droughts also intensify they may
well find it harder to cope. Our research team
of more than 60 scientists has worked
throughout the Amazon for years, and now we
have the first solid evidence that drought can
cause big carbon losses in tropical forests,
mainly through killing trees.
We based our study on the unusual 2005
drought in the Amazon. This gave a glimpse
into the region’s potential future climate, in
which a warming tropical North Atlantic may
cause hotter and more intense dry seasons.
By measuring thousands of trees for years
before the drought and then through the event
itself, we were able to discover how they
responded to the unusual conditions.
The 2005 drought reversed decades of carbon
absorption in which nearly six million square
kilometres of Amazon forest has helped to slow
climate change. Yet in fact to our eyes, most of
the forest appeared as before - tree deaths did
increase but not enough to affect the complex
structure of the forest. Only by examining the
records from dozens of plots did we discover
an increase in the death rate of trees, one that
was linked to the increase in moisture stress
experienced. So, at the small scale of each plot
the effects were very modest, but because the
region is so vast, these small ecological effects
can scale-up to have a large impact on the
planet’s carbon cycle.
A few species were found to be especially
vulnerable, including some palm trees which
couldn’t get enough water to feed their huge
leaves. This means that as well as releasing
carbon, we can expect drought to have some
subtle but important effects on the forest’s plant
and animal species too. No other ecosystem on
Earth is home to so many species. If we fail to
stop climate change much of the forest itself
may remain, but the complicated fabric of life
which underpins it will certainly change. Some
species will gain. Others will lose, and many
adapted to the wettest areas may find
themselves with nowhere to go.
Yet the biggest danger to the Amazon is
probably not climate change. It is not even
hunting, or logging and agriculture and the
deforestation which accompanies it. Rather it is
the combination of climate change plus
development: a drier forest is certainly a
vulnerable forest but it will still remain a forest
unless it burns. Fires, set to clear land for
farming, can escape out of control in a drought.
Amazon trees evolved without fire and so they
have none of the protective features like thick
bark or heat-resistant seeds which their
relatives in areas which burn naturally have
evolved. Once burned, the canopy thins, dead
wood accumulates on the ground, the hot
tropical sunlight pours in, and the whole system
can be primed to burn again.
To keep the Amazon standing in a changing
climate will require better ways of living in the
region, with much less use of fire, and much
more value accruing to those forest dwellers
prepared to protect their land. Other models of
development exist. Using mixtures of compost
and charcoal, indigenous peoples have
managed to turn patches of normally nutrient-
starved tropical soils into artificial, rich ‘black
earths’ that can yield bountiful crops in small
farms. The push of industrial farming into
forests is driven by some unlikely forces –
including the meat that we eat (many cows in
Britain are fed with soya beans grown in the
Amazon), and global commodity demand which
make monocultures such as palm oil
plantations more attractive investments than
the hyper-diverse locally-managed forests they
replace. With knowledge and action these
forces can be reversed. And, last but not least,
if we can find ways to reward those countries
that help us all by keeping their climate-
protecting carbon-rich forests intact and
standing, the Amazon and its millions of
species may still have a bright future. It is in all
our interests to make sure it happens.
To find out more about the research
undertaken by Oliver Phillips visit his webpage
here.
Fires, set to clear landfor farming, can escapeout of control in adrought.
“ “
8
The project will build on letters ofsupport from partners who includeGoogle, Ordnance Survey, and the HomeOffice .
My research is concerned with the movement
of people in cities. Social scientists at the
present time are engaged in the challenge of
constructing large-scale simulations of city
regions which can help to understand the
impact, and response strategies, to disease
outbreaks, plan transport networks, and
allocate land use to meet local development
goals. Simulations of this type are now under
consideration by the European Union for
funding as a Technology Flagship project
(www.futurict.eu) which would pump hundreds
of millions of euros of funding into this sub-
discipline over the next decade.
Those of you with long memories and greying
temples who were my contemporaries as
students in the 1970s or early 1980s may have
vague recollections of ‘urban and regional
modelling’ in the work of Alan Wilson, John
Stillwell, and several others. At that time, the
models were largely theoretical, powered by
abstract spatial relationships and the
occasional anecdotal insight about patterns of
commuting. In the 1980s, the advent of
Geographical Information Systems transformed
the situation into one in which the capture of
spatial data was commonplace, and models
became much more faithful representations of
geographical behaviour in the real world. My
own work at GMAP, with Alan Wilson again,
Martin Clarke and Graham Clarke, even
showed that such models could be exploited for
commercial gain in our work with retail and
service organisations like Asda-Walmart,
Exxon, Ford and HBOS. The more important
underlying message from these endorsements
is that the models really can be made to work
effectively.
Nowadays one of the dominant scientific
narratives is about data intensive research,
also known as the Fourth Paradigm (see for
example http://blogs.nature.com/ fourth
paradigm/). I’ll allow the more diligent amongst
you to identify the first three paradigms as this
month’s homework! In this latest paradigm
shift, the natural sciences are increasingly seen
as moving from the laboratory to the computer
(experiments ‘in silico’) the classic example
perhaps being the human genome project. Now
that the genome has been decoded, all we
need to work out is what it actually means. For
geographers, and indeed other social
scientists, similar challenges are emerging.
Take communications as an example. Every
day in the UK alone, mobile phone companies
are capturing hundreds of thousands of geo-
located text messages and ‘tweets’, and much
of these data are freely available for research
use. As with the genome, what we have to do
now is to try and figure out what it all means,
and this is what we need the models for.
The TALISMAN project has a focus on
GeospaTiAL Data AnalysIS and SiMulAtioN –
a somewhat contrived acronym I know! Our
aim is to begin to exploit reserves of spatial
data, which are not only vast but growing
rapidly, using a combination of modelling
techniques ranging from the classical (not just
Alan Wilson’s spatial interaction models, but
random utility theory and choice modelling,
Hagerstrand’s time-space prisms perhaps) to
much more novel approaches like agent-based
modelling and microsimulation. TALISMAN is
one of six nodes which are supported by the
Economic and Social Research Council to
constitute the National Centre for Research
Methods (www.ncrm.ac.uk) with guaranteed
funding for the next three years. It is the only
one of these nodes which draws from
geography as its disciplinary basis. The work
has a theoretical and intellectual dimension
which is immensely challenging (because the
abundance of hard evidence forces us to
rethink hitherto abstract ideas about ‘who does
what where’) but it is also very applied, and the
project will build on letters of support from
partners who include Google, Ordnance
Survey, and the Home Office, as well as
academic collaborators in four continents.
Please keep your eyes on the School of
Geography and ESRC websites for more news
on our progress. Do get in touch with us
directly if you feel that geographers could help
with the analysis of spatial data in your own
organisation or community!
TalismanMark Birkin talks about his research projectGeospaTiAL Data AnalysIS and SiMulAtioN
Mark Birkin is Professor of Spatial Analysis and Policy. His major research interest is insimulating social and demographic change within cities and regions, and in understandingthe impact of these changes on the need for services like housing, roads and hospitals.Mark is a co-editor of the journal Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy and a member of theeditorial board of Transactions in GIS. He is also on both the programme committee forthe European Social Simulation Association and the International Conference on e-SocialScience.
9
This map has been produced by our partners at the Centre for Applied Spatial
Analysis at University College London. It shows variations in Twitter traffic across
London during a weekday. Contemporary information sources such as Twitter promise
researchers the opportunity to understand movement patterns in cities much more
deeply than ever before, and to shed new light on the (social) networks by which they
are connected. Geographers are also using new methods to increase public
engagement with the discipline: this map was viewed hundreds of thousands of times
after being ‘retweeted’ by Stephen Fry!
Equilibrium price distributions in a local network of petrol stations. A model reproduces
the reaction of Individual retailer ‘agents’ to disturbances such as a rise in crude oil
prices, or aggressive price cutting by a competitor outlet or chain. The model is
calibrated against daily price data, provided in this case by a third party, but which
now could just as easily be captured from volunteered geographical information such
as tweets or blogs.
Example 1. Crime Data
Many service organisations use geodemographic data to inform performance analysis and the allocation of resources. In this research, we
demonstrate that land use is equally important. For example, crime rates are high in areas of City Living according to the Office for National
Statistics neighbourhood classification, but primarily because of high levels of retail and business activity. This work is informed by land use
data newly released by the Ordnance Survey and related to the government’s Open Data initiative. More details: JISC GeoCrimeData.
So what does the data tells us ..?
Would you like to keep up to date withnews, events and graduate jobs?Join our facebook group, search under,University of Leeds, School of Geographyalumni.
Example 2. Twitter Data
Example 3. Retail Data
10
Meet the staff Dr Graeme Swindles, Lecturer
Geography was one of myfavourite subjects at school… so Idecided to read it at university,which set my career path!
After graduating from Durham University with a
BSc (Hons) degree in geography I went to
Queen’s University Belfast to undertake a PhD
entitled ‘Reconstruction of Holocene climate
change from peatlands in the North of Ireland’.
This firmly established my interest in
environmental change over the past 10,000
years. After a brief stint working as an air
pollution scientist, I took a post as lecturer in
physical geography at the University of
Bradford (2007-2010). I am currently a lecturer
in earth system dynamics in the School of
Geography, University of Leeds.
I am particularly interested in how peatlands
respond to climate change and currently work
on several projects with colleagues in the
School including examining the long-term
dynamics of peatland in Peruvian Amazonia
and using palaeoenvironmental data and
computer models to investigate how the
hydrology of peatlands respond to rapid
climatic change. Analysis of peatland
responses to past events will improve our
understanding of what might happen in the
future - peatlands represent a significant global
carbon sink which is under threat.
In addition, I research volcanic ash layers
which are preserved in sediments and peats. In
a recent paper1 we presented an analysis of
volcanic ash layers found in peats and lake
sediments across northern Europe. We used
these along with historical records to calculate
that ash clouds from Icelandic eruptions have,
on average, reached northern Europe every 56
years over the past 1,000 years and there is at
least a 16% likelihood of this happening in any
10 year period. So ash clouds punching into
Northern Europe is a relatively common
occurrence. This is a good example of how
looking to the past can be very useful!
My research takes me to many interesting
places including Ireland, the Shetland Isles,
Peruvian Amazonia and Arctic Canada. Apart
from research, much of my time is taken up
with teaching our large cohort of undergraduate
students in the field, laboratory and lecture
theatre which is both enjoyable and rewarding.
What is in store for the future? Well, lots of
things! I am trying to develop some new
projects looking in more detail at the dynamics
of Arctic peatland and permafrost and I’m also
collaborating with archaeologists to see how
prehistoric people may have adapted to abrupt
climate change. Watch this space!
1Swindles, G.T., Lawson, I.T., Savov, I.P., Connor, C.B. and
Plunkett, G. 2011. A 7000-yr perspective on volcanic ash
clouds affecting Northern Europe. Geology 39, 887-890.
Contact me at g.t.swindles@leeds.ac.uk if you want a copy!
Graeme’s research interests are in the past! He is interested in using evidence from thepast to help understand how environments may change in the future. In particular heresearches the nature and causes of rapid climate change, long-term ecological andhydrological dynamics of peatlands, volcanic ash deposition and human responses toclimate change in prehistory. Visit Graeme’s web page here
Analysis of peatlandresponses to past events willimprove our understandingof what might happen in thefuture.
“
“
11
Worldwide, peat stores make up at least a third
of global soil carbon. In the UK, peatlands are
the most important carbon store on the land
surface. However, recent work by staff in the
School of Geography has shown that natural
underground pipes are important pathways for
carbon loss in peatlands. Professor Joseph
Holden, Professor Andy Baird and Dr Pippa
Chapman have discovered that flows
transported through subsurface natural pipes
contribute 13% of river flow and yet contribute
21% of the fluvial carbon loss from peatlands.
They have monitored the carbon losses
through different natural pipes and found that
pipe outlets were also hotspots for greenhouse
gas release. However, despite being natural
features of peatlands, mapping the pipes by
using ground penetrating radar has shown
human action has accelerated the development
of pipes and hence the rate of underground
carbon loss. This is important because much of
this additional degradation is not visible on the
peat surface until pipes become so large that
they collapse to form gullies.
The team are now working with a local
company, Dinsdale Moorland Services, as part
of a TSB and NERC funded Knowledge
Transfer Partnership to use the geophysical
mapping techniques to improve our
understanding of peatland carbon stores and
losses while at the same time developing more
targeted peatland restoration actions.
The team hope that the work will also inform
management actions on peatlands such as
best practice for windfarms which, while acting
as a renewable energy source, also often
disturb sensitive peatland environments when
they are constructed, thereby potentially
releasing stored carbon from the peat into
rivers or the atmosphere.
To find out more about our work in this area
contact the research team here
For Peat’s Sake ...
Worldwide, peat stores makeup at least a third of globalsoil carbon.
Peatlands are the mostimportant carbon store onthe land surface.
“ “
“ “
12
Reflections: Reflections: Professor Phil Rees looks back over 40 years in the School and the relationships that helped toshape and inform his career.
In July 2009 my colleagues John Stillwell and
Martin Clarke organized a symposium,
supported very generously by the School, to
mark my impending retirement from the School
shortly after my 65th birthday in September.
The papers presented at the Symposium were
assembled into a book Population Dynamics
and Projection Methods edited by John and
Martin and published by Springer
in 2011. The Springer web site enables you to
buy individual chapters as well as the whole
book. The symposium brought together as
speakers and audience many of the people
with whom I had worked over the previous four
decades.
To read how those pictured above helped
shape my career visit:
http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/alumni
A celebration ofthe work ofProfessor PhilRees
13
I recall one afternoon, back in the 1970s,
wandering over from the Annex (41 University
Road and home to most of the Geography
postgrads in those days) to the main
Department (our current east Building) with a
new postgraduate colleague. On entering the
building, my companion espied a rather
unusual structure on display in the foyer (see
photo below). “What the hell is that?”, he
proclaimed with the curiosity of a promising
scholar, pointing to the structure confronting us.
“What’s an aquarium doing in a Department of
Geography? Who does research on fish
populations?”, he questioned. As we moved
closer, his inquisitiveness appeared to intensify
and I could see that he was considering
alternative interpretations. “My God”, he
declared, “Its an objet d’art! Is there someone
in the Department that does sculpture?”
I realised it was time to intervene and offer
some explanation in defence of its creator who
happened to be my supervisor, Dr Phil Rees,
as he was at the time. So I launched into a
rather feeble attempt to explain individual time-
space transitions and population accounting
methods based on different types of data.
“Wow”, he said, “so quantitative population
geographers still use physical models!”.
Reflecting on this, I realise that Phil has always
been creative in presenting important
demographic concepts in a variety of formats:
textual; algebraic; mathematical; graphical as
well as physical! And I have always felt very
privileged to have been one of his PhD
students; not the first, John King and Paul
Smith were already under his wing when I
started my research as an ESRC funded
student in October 1973, but one of the early
cohort in a Department governed in those
years alternately by Alan Wilson and Mike
Kirkby.
The early 1970s were exciting days for
quantitative geographers and I had completed
a degree in Geography and Economics, taking
a final year course on Urban and Regional
Analysis taught by Phil, Alan and Christine
Leigh that I had found particularly inspiring (and
did the exams for all my courses for two years
in the summer of 1973!). I should say also that I
had encountered Phil previously in my second
year as an undergraduate when he arrived
from Chicago in 1971 with a rather strange
Anglo-Welsh-American accent (using words
like ‘gotten’ and ‘for sure’) and a rather large
PhD thesis which he brought to his first lecture
and proudly used as his lecture notes!
Phil offered me the chance to stay on as a
postgraduate student under his mantle and I
was very pleased to accept, although I confess
that my decision to do so was partly driven by
the opportunity for another three years of
playing university rugby and cricket! In the
event, Phil was very good about my extra-
curricular activities, though I recall some rather
‘difficult’ 9-10am supervision sessions following
late nights out on the town. As all those who
have been supervised by Phil will know, those
sessions could be rather intense – but Phil’s
characteristic approach of ensuring that all
thoughts and ideas were always
comprehensively converted into written notes
and diagrams, photocopied and presented to
you at the end of the meeting, were immensely
valuable for subsequent reference.
I very much enjoyed my regular meetings with
Phil; whenever I tried to articulate some point
or other in a rather naive way, he seemed to
understand what I was thinking and it was rare
that, sometimes after an extended period of
pause for thought, an answer was not
forthcoming. I also felt well looked after – my
peers might see their supervisors once a month
and those with Alan Wilson as their supervisor
were lucky if they saw him once a term!
Since I have known him, Phil has always given
sound advice on both research related and
career matters and, on almost every occasion,
his advice has proven to be right. I was always
astounded by his knowledge of all matters
relating to ‘the Census’ and of the way in which
the national statistical office (OPCS in those
days) operated. I felt certain that Phil knew
more about the Census process than any one
who actually worked for OPCS, including the
National Statistician. The population /
demography conference circuit, both in the UK
and abroad, was one with which Phil engaged
closely and in which he always appeared to
feel very comfortable. It was a great bonus for
me to attend conferences and meet many of
the key population researchers across the
world – many of whom Phil introduced me to –
and all of whom knew Phil personally or by
reputation. He seemed to come into his own at
conferences and meetings, enjoying the
opportunity to mix with kindred spirits.
Conference chairs came to rely on Phil to ask
questions and take copious notes on all the
presentations, regardless of their relevance to
his own interests. But Phil also relishes
discussion of more serious matters in less
formal circumstances, see below!
I have thoroughly enjoyed studying and
working alongside Phil since those halcyon
days in the 1970s. I have been fortunate that
we have been friends and colleagues, but I
also know him as a most esteemed academic
whose reputation is truly ‘world class’ (check
out his CV here if you want the details). It was
a great pleasure for Martin Clarke and I to be
able to bring together so many of those people
who have worked with Phil over the last 40
years to celebrate his retirement in 2009,
although we both realised that retirement was
never on the cards. Perhaps semi-retirement
will allow for the creation of another new
‘object’. We will need something to enliven our
new building!
Reflections: Reflections: Professor John Stillwell recalls a 40 year relationship as student, colleague and friend of a world-class population geographer!
‘Fishtank’ or objet d’art!?
Getting down to some serious business at a Dialog-Plus meeting at Penn State in 2005
14
Samantha Brear BA (Hons) Geography 2008,Emergency Management Specialist in Iowa
I graduated in 2008 with a BA in Geography
having completed a dissertation on Hurricane
Ivan that hit the Cayman Islands in 2004. This
led to several research trips to the islands, my
own personal experience of a hurricane and
their effects and an ongoing interest in
emergency management related to this type of
major weather event.
Encouraged by Dr. Grainger and particularly
enjoying my modules in Natural Disasters and
Geopolitics, I planned out a career path in the
disaster management field starting with
volunteering with the Red Cross in Los Angeles
to expand my knowledge and to help me
decide what area of emergency management
would best suit my expertise and help me make
a difference. I soon realised that if I wanted to
get involved in the field in the States on a
Federal level, I would need a Masters degree in
Emergency Management. So, I began a
Masters and also interned with the local
government, helping them with re-writing their
emergency management plans and working for
a private consultancy group where my project
work included hands-on emergency
management training with multiple healthcare
workers to see if they were prepared for a virus
pandemic.
During this time I also worked for the Red
Cross in disaster response work, including
assisting during and after a massive apartment
block fire on New Year's Eve that resulted in 48
people being made homeless. In addition, I
participated in "ride-alongs" with the local fire
department to familiarise myself with the
workings of the response teams and gained
valuable experience of the work of the
emergency responders.
Having completed my Masters in 2011,
together with my internship and volunteering
experience and with a network of disaster
management contacts, I was able to secure a
post as an Emergency Management
Programme Specialist at county level in Des
Moines, Iowa. With responsibility for
emergency management planning in the county
and coordinating the three 911 dispatch
centres in the county. I will be working closely
with local police and fire departments as well
as other state and federal agencies. It’s an
exciting opportunity and I am looking forward to
the challenges ahead.
My geography degree at Leeds has set me in
good stead for my speciality work in emergency
management planning. The professors that
taught and encouraged me at the School of
Geography had a profound impact on my
career and where I am today.
If you are interested in this field of work please
look at the International Association of
Emergency Managers website, www.iaem.com.
Profiling alumni
The professors that taught andencouraged me at the Schoolof Geography had a profoundimpact on my career andwhere I am today.
““
15
Martine Croxall BA (Hons) Geography 1990,Presenter: BBC News24 / Extreme Weather, Green.TV
The fortnightly Extreme Weather series
features the latest reports and analysis on
extreme weather events around the world. If
there’s a drought, hurricane, freak snowstorm
or severe flooding, Extreme Weather will cover
the story and the science behind the headlines
– with expert analysis from leading
meteorologists and weather data from Vestas.
In the first episode of Extreme Weather Martine
looked at the devastating floods which hit
Thailand, claiming 500 lives and costing the
country an estimated $4 billion, freak snow
storms in the US, the coldest places on earth,
dust storms in Texas and the likelihood of
climate change bringing on more extreme
weather. Subsequent episodes have featured
South East Asia battered by tropical storms,
severe flooding in Australia, deadly tornadoes,
the Texas drought and the foggiest places on
Earth.
To watch these episode and tune in to
upcoming reports visit: http://green.tv/
videos/extreme-weather-2011/
Richard Rowney graduated from The University
of Leeds in 1992 with a 1st Class Honours
degree in Geography. Shortly after, Richard
embarked on a successful career within the
financial services industry and is currently the
managing director of Life & Pensions at
LV=, one of the UK's leading and fastest
growing insurance companies.
Richard joined Barclays in early 1992 and
during his fourteen year tenure was Small
Business Risk Director, Chief Operating Officer
of Premier Banking and Integration Director for
Woolwich and Barclays retail bank.
During his time at Barclays, Richard completed
his banking qualifications and became an
Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers
and then undertook an MBA at Henley
Management College. Richard was fortunate
enough to participate in a six month course at
Harvard Business School in 2006, where he
studied alongside some of the future senior
leaders of global companies.
Richard joined LV= in February 2007 as Group
Chief Operating Officer and was appointed to
the Board in August 2007. As Group COO,
Richard was responsible for the transformation
programme that saw LV= successfully re-brand
and develop trading businesses that have
delivered unprecedented growth and
recognition. In March 2010 Richard was
appointed Managing Director of LV= Life &
Pensions leading a strategy to become the
UK’s leading ‘in & at retirement’ and protection
specialist.
Richard remains passionate about education
and for the last four years has been Vice-Chair
of the governing body of Bournemouth & Poole
College.
Richard Rowney BA (Hons) Geography 1992,Managing Director of Life & Pensions at LV=
16
Craig Morley BA (Hons) Geography 2005HM Diplomatic Service, Foreign & CommonwealthOffice
After graduation in 2005, I took up a job as a
lecturer at a university in Hebei Province, China
(just outside Beijing). I taught what can best be
described as a “culture” module to
undergraduate English majors, covering topics
such as the politics, economics and history of
English-speaking countries. My contract ended
in Summer 2006 and, shortly after, I took up a
role with the Chinese Government as an Editor
of English language feature stories (for foreign
publications) for the Xinhua News Agency.
I left that role six months into my contract and
took up another contract position working for
the British Embassy in Beijing as locally
engaged member of staff investigating visa
fraud and abuse. My contract at the British
Embassy ended in November 2007 and I
decided it was time to return to the UK.
I decided to turn my journey home into an epic
train journey from Beijing to my parents’ village
of Finstock, Oxfordshire. I took the trans-
Siberian express - from Beijing to Moscow (via
Mongolia). After a few days sightseeing in
Moscow, I took the train to St Petersberg where
I stayed with a Russian family for a few days
for some more sightseeing. I then boarded the
train from St Petersberg to Berlin (via Minsk
and Warsaw). I’d never been to Berlin before
so that was a treat - especially for someone
who was obsessed with all things World War II
as a child!
The next legs of the trip were non-stop to
Oxfordshire, via Cologne, Brussels and London
Waterloo. A trip which took me just over two
weeks and one I will never forget!
After arriving back in the UK I took up a few
temping jobs before securing a permanent
position as Constituency Assistant to the MP
for Reading East, Rob Wilson. Within two
months I was promoted to Parliamentary Aide
where I spent two years working for Rob,
helping him with his reelection in the 2010
General Election.
Two weeks after the Election I started my
career at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office -
something I had been working towards since
my final year at Leeds. The recruitment
process took a year, with a really intense
period of vetting. I was delighted when I turned
up on my first day and learned of my first job in
the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO), in
the Conflict Department’s Peacekeeping Team.
I’m still in this position, although my tour comes
to an end in May 2012 when I can either take
up an overseas posting or another London-
based role.
My job has a great deal of responsibility
attached to it. I lead on UK policy for three UN
peacekeeping missions (in Western Sahara,
Timor-Leste and Kashmir). I also co-manage
the UK’s £450m budget for UN peacekeeping
(1/3 of the FCO’s budget!) and work on building
strategic alliances and partnerships on UN
peacekeeping issues. I accompanied my head
of department to Pretoria in September 2011 to
further develop our relationship with the South
Africans on a range of conflict issues. They are
an increasingly important partner for us on a
whole range of issues in Africa.
However, my most interesting trip with the FCO
so far was visiting the UN peacekeeping
mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in
October last year. The mission was set up in
1991 to monitor a ceasefire between Morocco
and the Frente Polisario - a Sahrawi
independence group. I spent two days with the
peacekeeping mission: mostly meetings and
briefings on the first day; but on the second day
I had the opportunity to visit two team sites.
One on the Moroccan-occupied side of the
Berm (a sand wall which acts as a separation
Travelling onthe TransiberianExpress
17
barrier between the two sides) in Smara, the
other in Mehaires on the Polisario-controlled
side.
The trip not only made me more aware of the
vastness of Western Sahara, but also the
hardships UN troops go through in order to
keep the peace in some of the most remote
and harsh regions of the world. I’m hoping to
use my trip to help shape the UK’s approach to
the mission’s mandate renewal at the UN in
April - which will include drafting text for the UN
Resolution passed by the Security Council.
I thoroughly enjoy my job at the FCO and am
looking forward to what will hopefully be a long
and fruitful career. Looking back however, my
experiences in China, my interest in domestic
politics and my desire to work for the FCO are
all thanks to the fantastic time I had at Leeds
studying Geography. It broadened my horizons
and allowed me to get where I am today! I also
wouldn’t have met my beautiful wife - who I met
whilst living in China!
Craig with the Western Sahara UNpeacekeeping mission
Craig meetingDavid Cameron
18
Friday 1 July 2011 was a fantastic afternoon
of sharing tales and getting up to date with youall. After half a lifetime apart it is amazing quitehow quickly we once again reverted to type i.e.,afternoon drinking, talking about how greatgeography is and moaning that the kids of todayhave no idea what hard work is.
I must admit that there was some trepidation in this return journey -
would the Leeds of today live up to my rose tinted view of the past?
Whilst the buildings in the University, and indeed in the centre of town,
have changed the atmosphere remained as I remembered and
cherished it. More to the point each and every one of those in
attendance lived up to my memories - both students and staff. I
managed to spend a few hours on Saturday walking the old haunts of
Devonshire, the Hyde Park Picture House, Woodhouse Moor etc.,
before catching the train back home, happy days! The only
disappointment of the day was the fact the Old Bar was closed for
renovation - surely Martyn that should have been your first
consideration when arranging the date...
Thanks to one and all who arranged the get together
and to everyone who made the effort to come back
and celebrate a key part of all of our lives - it felt like
21 hours rather than 21 years since I had last seen
the majority of you (other than the grey hair, few extra
pounds etc...)! I look forward to our next get together.
Jonathan Fairhurst
Meeting up with old friends ... Class of 1990 visit old haunts
Thank you very much forhosting the Class of 1990last Friday - we all had awonderful afternoonback in the School ofGeography.
I think it has whetted ourappetite so we may notleave it another 21 yearsbefore we come backagain.
Martine Croxall
“
“
D ĂƌƟŶĞ��ƌŽdžĂůůTerence Paul
Simon Breasley
Billy Wheeler Claie Gill
Andy Taylor
19
Meeting up with old friends ...Class of 1990 visit old haunts!
On behalf of the class of1990, I would like to thankthe geography staff for their support and turningup on a Friday afternoonon the last day of term. In1990 I never would havethought I would bechatting with Mike Kirkbyover a glass ofwine 21years later!
Martyn Pilley
Really great to see everyone again and revisitLeeds, the University and the GeographyDepartment after all these years!
Pete Hindmarsh
“ “
“
“
Pete Hindmarsch
Jonathan Fairurst Simon Breasley
�ŚĂƌůŽƩ Ğ�̂ ƚĞǁ Ăƌƚ
Emma Bull
20
Meeting up with old friends ... Let’s Party like it’sReunions are often nerve-inducing affairs.
Fear of the unknown, not living up to
others’ (or indeed, our own) expectations,
digging up old tales lost to the years that
have passed, and those awkward “sorry,
who are you?” moments have all served as
personal reasons for me not attending
various events over the years.
Take John Cusack’s character, Martin Blank, in
the 1997 movie Grosse Pointe Blank. Blank, a
contract hitman (a career path somewhat
encouraged by his disaffection toward his
hometown, and the folk who live therein),
reluctantly accepts an invitation to attend his
ten-year High School reunion. Once back in
town, he’s reunited with his once-scorned high
school sweetheart whom he’s never quite got
over, and faces the dilemma of what to tell his
old classmates what he now does for a living.
Not really my idea of an enjoyable evening out.
OK, so perhaps it’s a tad melodramatic to be
making comparisons to the reunion at Grosse
Pointe, but the thought of reuniting hasn’t really
appealed over the years. Sure, back in 1999
when we graduated from the School of
Geography, there were many promises to ‘keep
in touch’. But remember folks, this was right
back at the dawn of the digital age, we hadn’t
been using email for long (I can still remember
the lectures on how to use search engines and
email) and very few of us had mobile phones
as undergraduates. The world wasn’t nearly as
connected as it is today. Even now, in the age
of social networking, it’s been years since I’ve
seen my closest coursemates, bar the odd
photo on Facebook.
In the first couple of years following graduation
there were meet-ups with close friends, but
over time contact waned, folks moved on and
as the 10th anniversary of our graduation came
and went in 2009, the prospect of a ‘reunion’-
proper seemed very unlikely.
Then, in late Spring this year I happened to be
working in the same building as one of my
fellow long-lost Geographers, Dmitri Wychrij. I
don’t recall the exact details, but the idea of
organising a reunion was mooted. I flippantly
agreed it was a good idea (well, it was ‘about
time’) but deep down thought it might just go
away, if I forgot about it. Not so …
It wasn’t long before I received a Facebook
message from Dmitri, suggesting a couple of
possible dates. This really wasn’t going to go
away. Dusting off my Geography Yearbook, I
promptly set about tracking down all those that
we were no longer personally in contact with.
Legitimate facebook stalking at its best.
Suddenly, those Grosse Pointe-inspired nerves
were no longer there – this was actually quite
exciting. “What if we manage to get everyone
back together? How cool would that be?”
One by one, I found and messaged the vast
majority of those who had contributed to the
Yearbook. Now, sit back and wait for the
replies to come in. Some did reply, others
didn’t. A few yes’s, mostly nos. Perhaps we’d
left it too late – should’ve organised something
sooner, kept everyone interested. I was bitterly
disappointed. “Shouldn’t have even bothered”.
Having said that, the process of finding these
long lost souls and reconnecting, albeit
virtually, was rather cathartic in itself. An online
reunion, of sorts. It was great to see old faces
again, amidst their post-University lives, and as
the day of our now mini-meet approached it
didn’t really matter that attendance on the day
would be even poorer than many of the
lectures.
I was first to arrive at our meeting place of
choice: The Original Oak in Headingley (where
else?). While sipping from my first pint, the
nerves set in again: most of those who would
be attending I hadn’t seen at all since
graduation. “What would we talk about?” While
I’ve stayed in Leeds since University, others
would be coming from further afield. “Would it
be worth their effort?”
I soon discovered that the nerves would be
short-lived (perhaps that was the beer?). One
by one, familiar faces from years-past started
to appear in the Oak’s beer garden. Tim
John Cusackin Grosse Pointe Blank
In the garden of the OriginalOak in Headingley
21
Meeting up with old friends ... Let’s Party like it’s (class of) 1999!Newman, Dmitri, Charlie Webber. So far, so
bald. At least the four of us had something in
common, 12 years on.
The conversation was flowing faster than the
booze. At the end of the day, these guys
weren’t my closest pals at Uni, but we were
exchanging stories and recalling events from
our days together at a rate of knots.
Then more; Robin Hiley, and Claire Brown
(incidentally, Clare’s the only one of us to have
put her degree to use, and is now a geography
teacher. Clearly, she was paying attention
during lectures!). Next up, Cat Robertson and
Lizzie Fox– still inseparable after all these
years.
The conversation and laughter continued as
the sun drew in, and the afternoon became
colder. Still, we sat in that beer garden retelling
tales of field trip tomfoolery, and updating each
other on what we are all up to these days.
Finally, our last – and arguably most
distinguished – invitee arrived; Prof Graham
Clarke. Graham was Head of School in our
final year, and we were all looking forward to
catching up with him. Graham hasn’t changed
much over the years. Granted, his hair is a lot
whiter these days, but he’s still got his razor-
sharp wit, and he could still drink me under the
table today, as he could back in 1999.
Graham was on top form, and before long, our
little gathering was getting on so well that it felt
like we’d never been apart. Photos, beer and
chat galore – my nerves had been completely
misguided! The finer details of what happened
next will remain a closely guarded secret
amongst those in attendance, but let’s just say
it involved our old Yearbook, a red pen, and
some very candid ‘regrading’ of each and every
entry.
As the good times continued and dusk settled
in, a brief, obligatory, visit was made to the
SkyRack before we jumped on the Number 16
and headed into town for a spot of karaoke and
a Chinese buffet, Graham still in tow, to end the
night in style.
Our small, but perfectly-formed reunion had
been a total success! A great night out,
catching up with old friends – we really should
have made the effort sooner. As we clambered
into our respective taxis at the end of the
evening we all agreed that 12 more years was
far too long to wait, and that we should plan a
further meet-up for 2012.
And with that, we’re back where we started. To
all of you from the Class of 1999 – we’re
planning to get together again on Saturday, 23
June 2012 in Leeds. So, if you want to know
exactly what was scribed in your Yearbook,
forget any nerves or trepidation you might
have, and get in touch. We’ll be looking forward
to seeing more of you on our post-graduate
‘field trip’ next year!
brianjonfletcher@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/brianjonfletcher
Graham Clarke with theyear book - but where’sthe red pen?
Montpellier field class in1999 singing competitionin full flow!
If you would like organise a reunion but have lost touch with many ofyour former classmates, drop me a line and I can put you in contact withothers from your year group: Tessa Grant, t.j.grant@leeds.ac.uk
22
Alumni Q & AEmily Ledder, BAGeography 1998
I work for Natural England, which is an
Executive Non-departmental Public Body
responsible to the Secretary of State for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The
purpose of Natural England is to protect
and improve England’s natural
environment and encourage people to
enjoy and get involved in their
surroundings. My role sits within the part
of the organisation working with farmers
and land managers in agri-environments
schemes. These schemes provide
funding to deliver good stewardship of
land and management which improves
the quality of the environment. I am also
the Natural England’s hedgerow specialist
and champion this habitat both internally
and externally.
Fondest memories of timespent at UoL?
Hanging out with housemates in the parlour
of the 4th Floor, Dobree House, Charles
Morris, celebrating the end of exams sat
outside the Union in the sunshine with a
Snakey-B, playing hilarious games of racket
ball, geography fieldtrips.
Favourite courses/modules?
It’s quite hard to cast my memory back so
far! I think I remember really enjoying
glaciology and things to do with rivers
best. Probably easier to remember my least
favourite.......soil science and meteorology.
Too scientific for me!
Typical night out as a UoLstudent?
Students Union, Ritzy’s, CocSoc.
Fellow graduates youremain in contact with?
Since graduating I have kept in touch
sporadically with Emily Cronin (nee Ray) and
Rosemary Slack, plus a handful of other ex
University of Leeds graduates.
Most embarrassing momentas a student?
It was probably so embarrassing I have
erased it from my memory!
Has a geography degreebeen useful in your careerchoice?
Different elements of my degree have been a
thread throughout my career to date, ranging
from understanding maps and cartography to
the science of soils and geomorphology.
If you could bringsomething extinct back tolife what would it be?
The Baiji River Dolphin
If you were a kangaroo,what would you carry inyour pouch?
My Sprocker Spaniel, Spindle.
What is your favouriteholiday destination?
The mountain regions of the UK, especially if
they have a dusting of snow.
23
Alumni Q & ARebecca ChurchillBA Geography 1990
Hospital Director—SpireSouthampton Hospital
Fondest memories of timespent at UoL?
Too many to recall - keeps me smiling.
Favourite courses/modules?
I loved the natural resources and
environmental risk courses as I found them
thought provoking and topical (e.g. was BSE
a risk to humans?). It also got me a job on a
coalmine in central Queensland when I
travelled around Austalia after my degree - I
blagged my way into doing a risk study after
polluted water was pumped over the highwall
and the rain dried up so it wasn't washed
away and diluted and the cattle for 100 miles
started to get sick. My work prevented the
graziers making a claim against the mine.
Has a geography degreebeen useful in your careerchoice?
Yes, it gives you a broad range of skills
which have stood me in good stead
throughout my career. I have to say though,
even today it does still raise some eyebrows
and cries of incredulity in interviews!
Typical night out as a UoLstudent?
Lots of snakebite and a curry!
Fellow graduates youremain in contact with?
Not all Geography students though - Martine,
Karen, Paul, Tony, Simon, Lindsey and Scott
(you all know who you are!).
Most embarrassing momentas a student?
Singing a Geography Rhapsody to Queen's
Bohemian Rhapsody at the Geog Soc review
dressed in gowns, stockings and
suspenders! Thanks for making me relive it!!!
Which living person do youmost admire and why?
My friend who is a single parent and is
battling breast cancer. She has remained
positive and happy the entire time (a year
and a half so far). She has not complained or
felt sorry for herself once. It is humbling.
If you could bringsomething extinct back tolife, what would it be?
The Javan Tiger or a Female Pinta Tortoise
for Lonesome George so he wouldn't be
lonesome any more!
If you were a kangaroo,what would you carry withyou in your pouch?
Wine and Chocolate (for emergencies of
course).
What is your favouriteholiday destination?
Anything with wide open spaces (Australia,
South Africa, Antarctica) and the Galapagos!
If you’d like to complete a Q & A drop me an email:geo-alumni@leeds.ac.uk
24
The write stuffStudents in the Faculty of Environment arehoning their writing skills with expert adviceand help from Livi Michael, a professionalauthor and member of the Royal Literary Fund
Livi is the second author to be appointed in the
faculty under an RLF Fellowship scheme which
is run in partnership with British universities
and colleges. The scheme funds and places
professional writers in institutions for a two-year
period, during which they offer writing support
and advice to undergraduates.
“We were keen to offer writing support within
the faculty and the RLF scheme seemed like
an ideal solution,” says Pro-Dean for Learning
and Teaching Martin Purvis. “We applied in
2008 and were lucky enough to get our first
fellow – Paul Sayer – almost immediately. That
proved so successful that, when Paul’s time
with us was over, we jumped at the chance to
host Livi’s fellowship.
“Livi is with us two days a week. Students
consult with her on a voluntary basis,
sometimes responding to a tutor’s
recommendation. They book in for hour long
slots during which they can discuss particular
problems. Last year, Livi delivered just over
200 consultations in total and held
surgeries in the Schools of Geography and
Earth and Environment. Although the service
is confidential, we’ve received feedback that
students really value the help that a
professional author like Livi can provide.” Livi,
too, is enthusiastic about the Fellowship,
saying: “It’s a fabulous scheme, and one of the
best ways of employing a writer’s ability to help
people understand the features that
make a good piece of writing. Often it’s not the
fact that students haven’t been working hard,
instead they’ve almost been doing too much
and they’re drowning in a sea of information! I
talk to them about things like note taking, how
to frame an argument and sentence
construction. Although I’ve no specialist
environmental knowledge, I can see clearly
how essay structure and writing style can be
improved.
“Personally, it’s given me the freedom and
income to work on my next novel. The scheme
is a great initiative and I’d love to see more
disciplines and more universities take on RLF
Fellows to help their students.”
The RLF’s Director of Education Steve Cook
says: “When the Fellowships began in 1999 it
was more common for English departments to
host Fellows. Over the years we’ve got better
at broadening the base and now we’re
delighted that around a third of
Fellows are working mainly with science,
business or social science students. Leeds is a
flagship post in this respect. “For our Fellows,
working on campus is a refreshing change from
the normally reclusive life of a professional
writer: they love the variety of students they
encounter and feel that they have something
unique to offer in return. Students are generally
appreciative of the help they get and kind
enough to tell the Fellows what improvements
they see in their work. That makes for excellent
job satisfaction!
“We trust that University staff see the Fellow as
an ally in the overall enterprise of helping
students get the best possible marks and
learning experience. We provide added value
to what the University already offers. And the
wonderful thing is that it’s all paid for by the
independent charitable income of the RLF,
thanks to bequests made by authors such as
Somerset Maugham and A.A. Milne.”
More information visit www.rlf.org.uk/ and
www.livimichael.com/
How do I get back in touch with peoplefrom my course?
If you have lost touch with friends from your coursethe first place to look for them is on the on-linenetworking database at www.alumni.leeds.ac.uk. Ifthe people that you are looking for are not on thedatabase you can email Tessa Grant att.j.grant@leeds.ac.uk. If we have contact details forthe person concerned, we will contact them and askthem to get in touch with you.
Finding Lost Friends
Why not get your picture on our next front cover?We’d love to hear your news