February - March 2017 /geog_news Contents Newsletter Congratulations �������������������������������������������� 2 Staff ������������������������������������������������������������� 2 Welcome to the Department��������������������������������������� 2 Year 3 Social �������������������������������������������������� 2 Almeria Fieldwork ������������������������������������������ 3 Amsterdam Trip ��������������������������������������������� 4 Berlin Fieldwork ��������������������������������������������� 5 Placement Opportunities as a PhD������������������ 6 Equalities and diversity ����������������������������������� 7 International Women’s Day ����������������������������������������� 7 International Women’s Day Meeting ��������������������������� 8 One Day Without Us ��������������������������������������������������� 8 Race Equality Charter�������������������������������������������������� 8 Staff protocol for reporting equalities-related issues in Geography ���������������������������������������������������� 9 Geography graduate to take on 3,100 mile trek across the USA ���������������������������������������� 9 Research News��������������������������������������������� 10 Protest Camps in International Context �������������������� 10 Leicester researchers involved in project to address Malaysia’s environmental challenges ������������ 11 GLOBBIOMASS Meeting ������������������������������������������ 11 Recent Publications �������������������������������������� 11 Top Tweets ��������������������������������������������������� 12 February ������������������������������������������������������������������ 12 March ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 12
Top Tweets ��������������������������������������������������� 12
February ������������������������������������������������������������������ 12
March ���������������������������������������������������������������������� 12
the category “Best International Impact”� This nomination recognises the important work that Sue is undertaking in SE Asia on tropical peat swamps or areas that were once tropical peat swamps�
• SuePage and CarolineUpton have been notified of the award of a further GCRF grant funded through BBSRC� The project titled ‘SUSTAINPEAT - Overcoming barriers to sustainable livelihoods and environments in smallholder agricultural systems on tropical peatland’
• PhD candidate ClaraRivasAlonso has given birth to a gorgeous baby boy, Basile Aras Leturcq Rivas, in Abu Dhabi on 27 Jan 2017� Both are doing very well and Clara and Gabriel are ecstatic about the arrival, and are hoping to see everyone in the department at some point this year, when sleep will hopefully be more than an unattainable dream!
• KevinTansey has been awarded a grant through Innovate UK to develop through the micro-hydropower GIS system in certain African countries� This project should tie in well with other research activities we have in places like Kenya and Nigeria�
• NickTate has been invited to join the editorial board for the International Journal of Geographical Information Science� Nick will be able to offer suggestions and provide input into the journal content�
• CatherineTraynorhas successfully defended her PhD thesis on ‘Mapping Neutrality: Critical Geographies of the Hague’ with minor corrections� Catherine’s supervisors were originally Peter Kraftl and Jenny Pickerill, BenColes took over this role after staff departures�
• HelenaWhite has successfully defended her PhD thesis on ‘Establishing the Chronostratigraphy and Miocene-Pliocene Palaeoenvironmental History of the Fazzan Basin, Libyan Sahara’ with minor corrections� Helena’s supervisors are SueMcLaren and ArnoudBoom�
Congratulations • KirstenBarretthas been promoted from Lecturer to
Associate Professor, well done Kirsten!
•Hartmut Boesch, Harjinder Sembhi and co-investigators including HeikoBalzter in CLCR & John Remedios in NCEO have won a British Council/DST-UKIERI with India entitled “Towards an integrated approach for assessing the impact of climatic stresses on agriculture and the exchange of greenhouse gas on the Indo-Gangetic Plain”
• CLCRhas been awarded a British Council Researcher Links Grant with Kenya� The grant funds a workshop on “Strengthening Food Security through Integrated Earth Observations & Ecological Assessments of Ecosystem Services in Kenya”�Our main partners in Nairobi are Dr� Faith Karanja and Prof� John Kyalo Kiema from the Department of Geospatial and Space Technology at University of Nairobi: http://geospatial�uonbi�ac�ke/�
• UsmanIsyaku has successfully defended his PhD thesis on ‘Beyond Policy Design: REDD+ Implementation and Institutional Complexities of Environmental Governance in Cross River State, Nigeria’ with corrections� Usman’s supervisors are CarolineUpton and MartinPhillips�
• LorettaLeeshas been invited to speak about global gentrification by the Friends of le Monde Diplomatique at a ‘Cafe Diplos’ talk held in Farringdon on Monday 12 June�
• ClareMadge has been promoted by the University to a Personal Chair� This is a fantastic personal achievement for Clare and also for the Department, Clare is one of the longest serving members of staff in the University who has made a tremendous contribution to the Institution� Her Professorship will commence on 1st August 2017, well done Professor Madge!
• SuePage has been the selected as a finalist for the Research Impact Awards and nominated as one of three finalists in
Year 3 SocialWe would like to invite all year 3 students to an end of teaching/pre-exams social in the study area on Tuesday 9 May 2017 at 1�00pm� There will be an abundance of pizzas of all flavours and soft drinks available� Notices will be posted and reminders sent nearer the event� We hope you can make it!
Staff Welcome to the Department• ThomasCodd, Technical Project Assistant - 16/03/2017
• ValentinLouis, Research Associate (EASOS) - 13/03/2017
Almeria FieldworkAlmeria Fieldwork, February 18 2017
Department of Geography
Amsterdam TripIn February, 40 undergraduates went to Amsterdam with the UoL Geography Society for a long weekend� After travelling over night on Thursday, we had Friday and Saturday to explore Amsterdam!
As well as a bar crawl as a group we also visited a range of atttractions in the city, including the Anne Frank Museum, Bols Museum, IAMSTERDAM sign, hired bikes and generally explored the exciting and interesting city that Amsterdam is!
Here are some photos from the trip� We as a society want to thank the department for their support in this trip and the members that came!
TimWestby
Department of Geography
Berlin FieldworkBerlin Fieldwork, 21 March 2017
Department of Geography
Placement Opportunities as a PhDAs a CENTA student (Central England NERC Training Alliance), I have been offered a wide range of training opportunities throughout my PhD, all of which are helping me develop both my research and employability skills sets� One of the training opportunities offered by CENTA is a funded work placement, which provides students with the opportunity to gain work experience outside of academia� During February, I had the opportunity to take part in a 12 day work placement in the Naivasha basin, Kenya, where I worked alongside Dr Nic Pacini (University of Calabria, Italy), Ron Griffiths (a Canadian taxonomist) and representatives of the Naivasha Basin Sustainability Initiative (NBSI)�
The River Gilgil is a small river which drains part of the East African Rift Valley, and flows into the northern end of Lake Naivasha� We were collecting insect samples from different habitats within the River Gilgil as part of a qualitative study on macro-invertebrate composition� Once we had collected samples, we took them back to the lab and had to sort and identify them� It amazed me how quickly people could identify which species an insect was when it was only a few millimetres long� I tried my hand at identification, but generally didn’t have much luck� They don’t normally have a geographer working in the research team, so they took full advantage of having me there, getting me to conduct geomorphological surveys of some of the reaches we were studying� We had to do a bit of thinking outside the box when it came to channel slope surveys because we didn’t have much equipment available� We constructed an improvised levelling kit out of a camera mounted on a tripod with a river gauge as a makeshift ranging pole�
One of the highlights of the placement for me was an overnight sampling trip to one of the upstream sites on the Gilgil� We arrived at the river late afternoon to set up light traps and nets which would catch flying insects throughout the night� The
insects we were sampling from the river were largely larvae and nymphs, which grow into land-based flying insects� By sampling overnight with light traps and nets, we were able to collect samples of the adult stages of the insects� We used special LEDs which are said to be most successful at attracting insects� Although we set up a tent, we didn’t spend much time in there as we had to regularly collect samples from the light traps� We also had to keep watch on the equipment in case any inquisitive locals came down to the river� As we were in the middle of nowhere, there was absolutely no light pollution� There was also not a cloud in the sky so the night sky was fantastic! We were all a bit delirious by the time morning came, but the sleep deprivation was definitely worth it�
As well as doing lots of field and lab work, I did get a bit of a chance to explore some of the local area� Being in the Rift Valley, the scenery was absolutely spectacular� On our rest day, I decided to climb Mount Longonot volcano (yes, I know, not exactly restful)� From the top, there were panoramic views expanding across the rift valley� There was also plenty of wildlife to see during the trip� We were staying at a farm on the shores of Lake Naivasha, meaning we were living in a wildlife haven� Zebras, wildebeest and water buck could be found roaming the lake shore at sunrise and sunset, and a group of hippos in the lake could often be heard grunting from camp! There was also a lot of bird life on the lake, including the majestic Fish Eagle, kingfishers and the Southern fiscal bird� One night, I was woken up in the early hours of the morning by a commotion outside my caravan window� I looked outside to see two zebra and a hippo grazing on the grass… certainly not something you see every day in the UK! When out in the field, we were also lucky enough to see giraffes, antelopes, warthogs, baboons, impalas and much more; I hadn’t realised work would become a safari!
RosalindeNicholls
Department of Geography
Equalities and diversityInternational Women’s DayAs part of International Women’s Day on Wednesday 8 March, the department took a photo of as many of the females as we could gather on the main steps from the Departments of Geography and Geology to take a photo� It was fantastic to gather together a much larger group than a few years ago and thanks go to Adam Cox for the photography� There was also a request for staff & PhD students to campaign via @LeicesterGeog Twitter to give recognition to the women (geographers and beyond) that have inspired them, a small selection of the results are included below� Thank you to everyone for supporting this activity (especially Gavin Brown!)
Department of Geography
Equalities and DiversityInternational Women’s Day MeetingOn International Women’s day, Geography welcomed a group of multidisciplinary students and staff at the University of Leicester to have an honest conversation about what International Women’s day means to them�
Shortly after this discussion began, the room transformed into a safe space to open up about students’ experience manoeuvring academic spaces� From minority students’ perspective it was rewarding to learn about everyday experiences of what can often seem to be “exclusionary” locations; and the labels attached to women of colour who struggle to conform to the cultural expectations within academic institutions� Women
1 Day Without Us Geography group photo
shared their discontent and frustration with labels such as “angry” Black/Asian women�
In addition, we discussed how our identities determine our daily experiences which are also governed by intersectional experiences of race, class, gender and sexuality, in order to raise awareness of the multiple identities that people embody�
The students identified a necessity for inclusion in departments across the university� This is therefore the first of what we hope will develop into regular meetings with staff and students�
One Day Without UsA ‘1 Day Without Us’ campaign event was held on the University Campus on Monday 20 February to highlight the contribution which migrant workers make to the University, Leicester and the UK� Migrants from across the UK were tweeting and sharing images and statuses about themselves at 11�20am and 1�00pm using #1DayWithoutUs� Posts included selfies taken by migrants at the University with accompanying statuses that highlighted the many accomplishments of our staff and students from overseas� A group of Geography staff and Postgraduate students that were able to be there on the day turned out to support the recognition of migrant workers�
Department of Geography
Race Equality CharterOn Thursday 23 March HeikoBalzterattended a consultation day with Claire Herbert from the Equality Challenge Unit on the Race Equality Charter, to which the university recently signed up� Over the next 2-3 years, the university will prepare an action plan to promote race equality for Bronze Award accreditation by ECU� The aim of the charter is to make tangible progress towards racial equality in the Higher Education sector, where at UK level BME staff are underrepresented and BME students achieve lower average grades than their white colleagues� Once the charter will be launched at Leicester, a series of consultations, focus groups and working groups will be held in order to assess the status quo and develop ideas for positive actions�
Equalities and DiversityStaff protocol for reporting equalities-related issues in Geography1� We welcome and value discussions regarding gender equality/equalities issues, regardless of their gravity� When discussions begin earlier it is much easier to avoid more serious problems�
2� We will always keep these discussions confidential unless you have given explicit permission to share details� The only reason we would share something is if it were serious enough to need reporting to law enforcement officials�
3� We will ask what specific problems you have had or observed, and how you think they can be resolved� When warranted, we can attempt to provide guidance and support for you to reflect on the issue and determine the best course of action, or recommend you to University counselling and wellbeing for additional support� We will respect your final decision and opinion�
4� According to an agreed plan, we will seek to resolve the issue through a number of possible means, including:
- A meeting with a mediator (provided by counselling and wellbeing) and the person about whom the complaint is made�
- Addressing the problem without the direct participation of the person who has made the complaint�
- The creation of an action plan for those who are repeatedly the subject of complaint, possibly to include individual training, mentoring, counselling and other support services�
- Changing work accommodation or work space to reduce possibilities for interactions between the person who has made the complaint and the person about whom the complaint was made�
5� Post-resolution, we will follow up with the person who has made the complaint to verify that the problem has been resolved� Even if we can’t provide the solution that is requested, we believe it’s important that we respond to persistent concerns and try to resolve them where possible�
Two amateur hikers from our University are daring to take on a gruelling walk across the diverse landscape of the United States, documenting the extraordinary environments that they travel through�
Aiming to tackle the 3,100 mile Continental Divide Trail, Engineering student Joel Strickland and Geography graduate JoeBoot will travel through five states, twenty-five national forests and three national parks in their journey from the Mexican border to the Canadian border� A trip that would
normally take six months, they aim to complete it in five months at an average of 20 miles a day�
They hope to raise £5000 for the University of Leicester’s Widening Participation programme, inspiring young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to raise their educational aspirations, and MQ, who help fund ground-breaking mental health research� They set out from the UK on 28 March, starting their journey on 1 April�
Read full article on the University website
Geography graduate to take on 3,100 mile trek across the USA
Protest Camps in International ContextGavinBrown has edited a new book about protest camps, which was published in March� Protest Camps in International Context: spaces, infrastructures, and media of resistance is published by Policy Press� The book draws together an international collection of authors and case studies to examine how the practice of protest camping has spread over the last decade�
From anti-austerity protests in the squares of Spanish towns and cities, to camps in North America asserting indigenous sovereignty in the face of extractive industries, the protest camp tactic has been deployed in multiple ways� Since the pro-democracy gatherings of the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement in 2011, protest camps have been prominent in many recent expressions of contentious politics, covering a diverse range of demands for social change� Gavin’s new book presents international and interdisciplinary case studies from five continents and is the first collection to focus on protest camps as a unique organisational form that transcends the context and histories of specific social movements�
Drawing on the expertise and influence of Gavin and his co-editors (Anna Feigenbaum of Bournemouth University, Fabian Frenzel of the School of Business at the University of Leicester, and Patrick McCurdy from the University of Ottawa) the book brings together architects, media and communications scholars, scholars of organisational studies, political scientists, and sociologists, in addition to geographers� Whether they are erected in a park in Istanbul of a street in Mexico city, the significance of political encampments rests in their position as distinctive spaces, where people come together to imagine alternative ways of organising society and the world� The
interdisciplinary natures of this collection helps examine and understand the multiple different ways in which protest camps are assembled, take form, occupy space, function, and communicate their political message�
Protest Camps in International Context has benefitted from two small grants from the department’s erstwhile Human Geography Research Fund� An initial grant in 2011/12 helped fund a research workshop held in Leicester through which Gavin, his co-editors, and their collaborators first explored a common research agenda� A further grant brought together many of the contributors to this book for a weekend writing retreat in Nottingham, which helped cohere the structure of the collection, and draw out the connections between the contributions� In addition to Gavin’s editorial contributions, the book also contains a chapter by Adam Barker, a former PhD student and teaching fellow in Geography�
One of the key contributions of Protest Camps in International Context is an exploration of the links and similarities between contentious protest camps and other forms of informal settlement and encampments� Unlike other forms of political protest, as a result of their long-term, emplaced nature, protest camps are forced to address questions of shelter, sustenance, and sanitation� These questions of social reproduction highlight the continuities between protest camps, refugee camps, and homeless tent cities� In this context, Gavin Brown and Fabian Frenzel are currently working to bring together an interdisciplinary network of researchers at the University of Leicester who are interested in all aspects of these various types of camps�
Further information about Protest Camps in International Context: spaces, infrastructures, and media of resistance can be found at: http://policypress�co�uk/protest-camps-in-international-context
Research NewsLeicester researchers involved in project to address Malaysia’s environmental challengesResearchers from our University are part of a team delivering an Earth and Sea Observation System (EASOS) for Malaysia in order to address some of the country’s major environmental challenges�
Under the UK Space Agency’s International Partnership Programme (IPP), the Satellite Applications Catapult is leading the team, working with the National Defence University of Malaysia and other government agencies in the country�
Read full article on the University website
GLOBBIOMASS user meeting group photo
GLOBBIOMASS MeetingPedroRodriguez-Veiga and HeikoBalzter attended the GLOBBIOMASS user meeting in Helsinki from 31 January to 2 February� They presented their work on mapping forest biomass in Mexico from satellite data and its uncertainty, and coordinated the task 5 on the five regional case studies�
Recent PublicationsArellano, P�, Tansey,K., Balzter,H. and Boyd, D� (2017): Field spectroscopy and radiative transfer modelling to assess impacts of petroleum pollution on biophysical and biochemical parameters of the Amazon rainforest� Environmental Earth Sciences�
Barnes,C., Balzter,H., Barrett,K., Eddy, J�, Milner, S� and Suarez, J� (2017): Individual Tree Crown Delineation from Airborne LiDAR for Diseased Larch Forest Stands, Remote Sensing
Hamad,R., Balzter,H. and Kolo, K� (2017): Multi-criteria Assessment of Land Cover Changes Dynamics in Halgurd Sakran National Park (HSNP), Kurdistan Region of Iraq, using Remote Sensing and GIS� Land�
Cook,S., M Peacock, C�D� Evans, S.E.Page, M.J.Whelan, V� Gauci, Lip Khoon Kho, Quantifying tropical peatland dissolved organic carbon (DOC) using a UV-visible spectroscopy, Water Research (2017), doi: 10�1016/j�watres�2017�02�059�
Garcia,M., Saatchi, S�S�, Ferraz, A�, Silva, C�A�, Ustin, S�, Koltunov, A� and Balzter,H. (2017): Impact of data model and point density on aboveground forest biomass estimation from airborne LiDAR, CBAM-D-16-00038, Carbon Balance and Management 12:4, doi: 10�1186/s13021-017-0073-1, http://cbmjournal�springeropen�com/articles/10�1186/s13021-017-0073-1
Madge,C(2017) Creative intimacy: Using creative practice to express intimate worlds� In Donovan C and Moss P (eds) Researching Intimate Acts� Ashgate�
O’CONNOR H and Madge,C (2016) Online interviewing� In Fielding N Lee R and Blank G (eds) The Sage Handbook of Online Research Methods� Sage� London� pp� 271-289�
