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13/12/2012: Two MSc programmes on water at King’s College London: Applications now open
The Department of Geography, King’s College London is currently accepting applications for two MSc programmes on water. For students wishing training across natural and social sciences, the MSc Water: Science and Governance programme offers an exciting learning environment informed by cutting edge research. For students interested in vocational training, the MSc Aquatic Resources Management programme offers hands-on, field and laboratory learning experiences. For any queries, contact Dr. Naho Mirumachi or Dr. Michael Chadwick: ku.ca.lck|ihcamurim.ohan#ku.ca.lck|ihcamurim.ohan; ku.ca.lck|kciwdahc.leahcim#ku.ca.lck|kciwdahc.leahcim
MSc Water: Science and Governance is a one year taught programme that explores the environmental, socio-economic and political aspects of water allocation and management. Drawing on the university’s leading reputation in water research, students are equipped with advanced interdisciplinary training to tackle the contemporary challenges of diverse water environments around the world.
The Department of Geography has a critical mass of nine staff devoted to research on multi-disciplinary aspects of water resources and their governance. Students will benefit from lectures and seminars informed by cutting-edge research, including those by 2008 Stockholm Water Prize laureate, Professor Tony Allan. The breadth of expertise and international experience of staff will provide unique dissertation opportunities.
London is a hub for international water policy discussions and academia, and the programme takes full advantage of the location. Compulsory and optional modules feature guest sessions with leading scientists and professionals, allowing for exchange of ideas between the research and practitioner communities. The city also offers excellent opportunities for professional networking. Upon graduation, students have developed careers in governmental agencies, utility companies, environmental consultancies and NGOs, or have continued their research career with a PhD. The programme is available part-time and mature students are particularly encouraged to apply.
More details of the programme, including student testimonials, are available on the website: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/geography/study/masters/watersg/index.aspx
Application details: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/prospectus/graduate/water-science-and-governance/details
For any queries, contact Dr. Naho Mirumachi, programme director: ku.ca.lck|ihcamurim.ohan#ku.ca.lck|ihcamurim.ohan
MSc Aquatic Resources Management is a long-established MSc taught by Environmental Scientists drawn from the Department of Geography and the School of Medicine, King’s College London and from the University Marine Biological Station at Millport, Scotland. The one year programme aims to produce scientists of the highest calibre capable of addressing priority water resource issues needing interdisciplinary solutions.
The programme aims to provide in-depth fundamental and applied training in freshwater, estuarine and marine resources and their management. A key feature of this programme is the industrial project placement dissertation, which runs from mid June. The university has extensive links with a very wide range of agencies and organisations handling current aquatic resource management and research issues in the UK and overseas. This enables us, with careful counselling, to provide placements that match individual career aspirations and experience. Some examples of past project placements include:
• The impact of the Water Framework Directive on sediment management in transitional and coastal environments. (DEFRA)
• Performance and cost benefit analysis of different coagulants used at Thames Water Utilities Limited. (Thames Water Utilities Ltd)
• An analysis of the Marine Stewardships Council’s risked-based framework assessment process. (Marine Stewardship Council)
• The impacts of acidification on the freshwater ecology of the upper Tywi and Teifi catchments, with consideration to their remediation using limestone sand
(Environment Agency)
• An assessment of barriers to fish passage in the Upper River Lea. (Environment Agency)
• Gaining Perspective, Marine Spatial Planning in the OSPAR Convention Maritime Area.
(The OSPAR Commission)
• An Assessment of the management and status of European Eel populations in the South-East River Basin District, UK. (Zoological Society London)
• A study of long term invertebrate responses to hydrological variations and the impact of ground water abstraction. (Veolia Water Central Ltd)
• Water Framework Directive compliance assessments: the state of play today.
(Black and Veatch)
• A GIS based management tool to support decision making for the Buccoo Reef Marine Park, Tobago. (ABP Marine Environmental Research)
• Geographic information systems and the spatial epidemiology of urinary schistosomiasis on Unguja Island, Zanzibar. (Natural History Museum)
This vocational programme has a strong record in placing students in relevant careers, and over the last five years over 90% of graduates have gone on to work in fields directly related to aquatic resource management: Environment Agency and government departments (38%), consultancy (25%), university research (15%), water utilities (11%), aquatic-related NGOs (6%) and research organisations (5%).
More details of the programme are available on the websites: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/geography/study/masters/arm/index.aspx and http://www.kcl.ac.uk/prospectus/graduate/aquatic-resource-management
For any queries, contact Dr. Michael Chadwick, programme director: ku.ca.lck|kciwdahc.leahcim#ku.ca.lck|kciwdahc.leahcim
28/03/2012: MSc Environmental Science: Integrated Management of Freshwater Environments @ School of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London
This programme provides in-depth fundamental and applied training in the science and management of freshwater environments from uplands and hillslopes through floodplain and river networks to estuaries, to produce scientists able to use the knowledge and skills acquired to enter direct employment or research for a higher degree in the broad field of freshwater environments and their management.
The programme aims to produce scientists of the highest calibre capable of addressing priority freshwater resource and sustainable management issues needing interdisciplinary solutions.
PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS:
- Taught by experts in the School of Geography and the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, with contributions from industry practitioners.
- Compulsory field course located at our research site on the dynamic, near-natural Tagliamento River in Italy.
- Research on heavily impacted sites in the south east of England using our research sites and research data (e.g. www.urbanriversurvey.org)
- Laboratory-based aspects programme are taught within the Centre for Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments (CATE) with access to ‘state of the art’ analytical facilities developed from an initial investment by SRIF of £3 million.
- The programme has an advisory board comprising members with experience in water resource management in both the public and private sector (including government agencies and environmental consultancy).
- Contact with practitioners from public and private sector organisations through guest lectures, seminars and the independent research project.
- Opportunities for undertaking independent research project in collaboration with an industrial partner organisation. Examples from previous projects: Atkins Global, Wessex Water, Environment Agency.
- Development of transferable skills: report writing, problem solving, IT and data handling, verbal communication, presentation skills
- Development of appropriate core and specialist scientific and technical knowledge and skills to support a career in the water industry or in freshwater science research.
Field site on Tagliamento River, Italy
For direct employment in water management, the programme emphasises the information needs for policy and decision making and provides for a close interface with scientists active in this area through visiting lecturers, industrial visits and project placements within the water industry.
For PhD aspirants, the range of internal and visiting expert contributors provide an awareness of current and emerging issues and there is opportunity to develop further research skills through an individual research project rather than an industrial placement.
For further information please see our website:
http://www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/admissions/masters/programmes/integratedmanagement/index.html
23/03/2012: Two MSc programmes on water at King’s College London: Applications now open
The Department of Geography, King’s College London is currently accepting applications for two MSc programmes on water. For students wishing training across natural and social sciences, the MSc Water: Science and Governance programme offers an exciting learning environment informed by cutting edge research. For students interested in vocational training, the MSc Aquatic Resources Management programme offers hands-on, field and laboratory learning experiences. See below for details:
MSc Water: Science and Governance is a one year taught programme provides a unique opportunity to engage in both social and environmental science perspectives on water, drawing on the university’s leading reputation in water research.
The programme explores the socio-economic, political and environmental aspects of water allocation and management, equipping students with an advanced understanding of the contemporary challenges of diverse water environments around the world. The Department of Geography has a strong teaching team with a range of international experience and multi-disciplinary expertise, feeding cutting-edge research into lectures and seminars. Students will have a chance to participate in lectures by the 2008 Stockholm Water Prize laureate, Professor Tony Allan.
London is a hub for international water policy discussions and academia, and the programme takes full advantage of the location. Compulsory and optional modules feature guest sessions with leading scientists and professionals, allowing for exchange of ideas between the research and practitioner communities. The city also offers excellent opportunities for professional networking. Upon graduation, students have developed careers in governmental departments, utility companies, environmental consultancies and NGOs, or have continued their research career with a PhD. The programme is available part-time and mature students are particularly encouraged to apply.
More details of the programme are available on the website: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/prospectus/graduate/water-science-and-governance/details
For any queries, contact Dr. Naho Mirumachi, programme convenor: ku.ca.lck|ihcamurim.ohan#ku.ca.lck|ihcamurim.ohan
MSc Aquatic Resources Management is a long-established MSc taught by Environmental Scientists drawn from the Department of Geography and the School of Medicine, King’s College London and from the University Marine Biological Station at Millport, Scotland. The one year programme aims to produce scientists of the highest calibre capable of addressing priority water resource issues needing interdisciplinary solutions.
The programme aims to provide in-depth fundamental and applied training in freshwater, estuarine and marine resources and their management. A key feature of this programme is the industrial project placement dissertation, which runs from mid June. The university has extensive links with a very wide range of agencies and organisations handling current aquatic resource management and research issues in the UK and overseas. This enables us, with careful counselling, to provide placements that match individual career aspirations and experience. Some examples of past project placements include:
• The impact of the Water Framework Directive on sediment management in transitional and coastal environments. (DEFRA)
• Performance and cost benefit analysis of different coagulants used at Thames Water Utilities Limited. (Thames Water Utilities Ltd)
• An analysis of the Marine Stewardships Council’s risked-based framework assessment process. (Marine Stewardship Council)
• The impacts of acidification on the freshwater ecology of the upper Tywi and Teifi catchments, with consideration to their remediation using limestone sand
(Environment Agency)
• An assessment of barriers to fish passage in the Upper River Lea. (Environment Agency)
• Gaining Perspective, Marine Spatial Planning in the OSPAR Convention Maritime Area.
(The OSPAR Commission)
• An Assessment of the management and status of European Eel populations in the South-East River Basin District, UK. (Zoological Society London)
• A study of long term invertebrate responses to hydrological variations and the impact of ground water abstraction. (Veolia Water Central Ltd)
• Water Framework Directive compliance assessments: the state of play today.
(Black and Veatch)
• A GIS based management tool to support decision making for the Buccoo Reef Marine Park, Tobago. (ABP Marine Environmental Research)
• Geographis information systems and the spatial epidemiology of urinary schistosomiasis on Unguja Island, Zanzibar. (Natural History Museum)
This vocational programme has a strong record in placing students in relevant careers, and over the last five years over 90% of graduates have gone on to work in fields directly related to aquatic resource management: Environment Agency and government departments (38%), consultancy (25%), university research (15%), water utilities (11%), aquatic-related NGOs (6%) and research organisations (5%).
More details of the programme are available on the website: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/prospectus/graduate/aquatic-resource-management
For any queries, contact Dr. Michael Chadwick, programme convenor: ku.ca.lck|kciwdahc.leahcim#ku.ca.lck|kciwdahc.leahcim
08/03/2012: Better Thames website launched
The Better Thames network website and database is now live at http://better-thames-network.westminster.ac.uk
The Better Thames Network is a NERC funded project, administered by the University of Westminster, devised to support the E.A. and local stakeholders implement the Water Framework Directive (WFD) targets for water quality in the Thames River Basin District. Its primary objective is to develop and support an interconnected community of scientists and stakeholders who can make a scientific contribution to, or have a role in, implementation of the Thames River Basin Management Plan. A number of key activities of the Network underpin this primary objective:
• In conjunction with the E.A. and local stakeholders, identify knowledge gaps which can make an effective contribution to achieving “good ecological status” within the Thames River Basin District.
• Map the research community around the Thames River Basin District in order to ascertain which scientists may be able to contribute to the resolution of these knowledge gaps.
• Run a series of workshops to address specific knowledge gaps.
• Develop a web-portal with a searchable database to allow local stakeholders to identify expertise and scientists to identify research project partners.
• Establish networking community (forum) on the web portal where stakeholders may post questions or requests for collaboration and scientists may search for research project partners.
25/05/11: Call for contributions
Contributions are invited for a book based on the Advances in River Science 2011 workshop. See riverscience.wikidot.com/workshop-volume for futher details.
11/05/11: Advances in River Science 2011
Over 70 academics, consultants, public and third sector workers from around the world met at Swansea University in April for the inaugural Advances in River Science workshop. The UK Flood Risk Management Research Consortium-sponsored event was directed towards advancing integrated river and flood risk management, focusing on the role of sediment, habitats and morphology in increasingly complex, dynamic and natural-human hybrid river environments. The workshop aimed to demonstrate best practice from around the world in a series of key themed areas, and to provide a forum for early-career researchers and practitioners to discuss ideas and approaches with established international leaders in their respective fields.
After being welcomed to Swansea on the Monday morning by Ian Cluckie (Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Science and Engineering and Chair of the Flood Risk Management Research Consortium), delegates watched keynote presentations by a diverse range of speakers including David Maidment (Texas at Austin), Robert Gurney (Reading), David Gilvear (Stirling), Paul Bates (Bristol), Nigel Wright (Leeds), Gary Brierley (Auckland), Angela Gurnell (Queen Mary) and Colin Thorne (Nottingham). The day closed with a lively series of short poster presentations and a welcome drinks reception.
The next day consisted of science presentations related to the workshop’s key themes of “Virtual catchments and data”, “River and catchment appraisal, typology and reconnaissance”, “Altered morphodynamics” and “Challenges to integrated management”. The sessions were expertly chaired and responded to by Heye Bogena (Forschungszentrum Jülich), John Nestler (Iowa), Hervé Piegay (CNRS/ENS-Lyon) and Maminul Sarker (CEGIS).
These were followed on Wednesday by a field trip to the nearby Taff catchment. Delegates enjoyed the glorious sunshine and scenery of the Brecon Beacons while debating methods of assessing catchment-scale sediment dynamics and other local river management issues. The day closed with a meal back at Swansea University that included a fitting tribute to the late Stan Schumm by Nick Clifford (King’s College) and an excellent after-dinner speech by Geoff Petts (Westminster).
The workshop closed with presentations from representatives of various stakeholder and practitioner groups including SEPA, the River Restoration Centre, industrial consultants and Living With Environmental Change, and an excellent plenary session designed to draw out the key outcomes of the meeting and research challenges for the future.
Presentations and posters from the workshop are available to view online at riverscience.wikidot.com/workshop
10/02/11: MSc Integrated Management of Freshwater Environments (School of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London)
This programme – taught by experts in the School of Geography and the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, with contributions from industry practitioners - aims to provide in-depth fundamental and applied training in the science and management of freshwater environments from uplands and hillslopes through floodplain and river networks to estuaries, and to produce scientists able to use the knowledge and skills acquired to enter direct employment or research for a higher degree in the broad field of freshwater environments and their management.
The programme is taught within the Centre for Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments (CATE) with access to ‘state of the art’ analytical facilities developed from an initial investment by SRIF of £3 million. The programme aims to produce scientists of the highest calibre capable of addressing priority freshwater resource and sustainable management issues needing interdisciplinary solutions.
For direct employment in water management, the programme emphasises the information needs for policy and decision making and provides for a close interface with scientists active in this area through visiting lecturers, industrial visits and project placements within the water industry.
For PhD aspirants, the range of internal and visiting expert contributors provide an awareness of current and emerging issues and there is opportunity to develop further research skills through an individual research project rather than an industrial placement.
Core modules:
- Aquatic Systems: Hydrological, Hydrochemical and Geomorphological Processes
- Aquatic Ecosystems: Structure and Function
- Catchment Hydrology: Managing Water Resources and Hydrological Extremes
- Hydrogeomorphology: River and Floodplain Appraisal and Management
- Biogeochemistry: Carbon, Nutrients and Pollutants in Aquatic Systems
- Data Analysis
- Field and Laboratory Methods for Freshwater Environmental Science
Optional modules:
- Desk Study
- Streams and Rivers
- Lakes and Ponds
For further information and brochure please visit:
http://www.geog.qmul.ac.uk/admissions/masters/programmes/integratedmanagement/index.html
For programme queries please contact the Programme Convenor:
Professor Angela Gurnell (ku.ca.lumq|llenrug.m.a#ku.ca.lumq|llenrug.m.a)
13/01/2011: SMART: European PhD opportunities in River Science
Call for applications for 11 PhD fellowships for interdisciplinary research in River Science
Deadline for applications: January 31, 2011.
SMART is a 3-year Joint PhD programme offered in the framework of the Erasmus Mundus action by the University of Trento (Italy), Queen Mary, University of London (UK) and the Free University of Berlin (Germany), together with 12 associate partners in 8 different countries and 4 continents, encompassing research centres, private companies and governmental agencies. Research is multidisciplinary and based at a principal institution with mandatory mobility to a second Consortium partner and one Associate partner. It focuses on the core areas of natural and engineering sciences relevant to the sustainable management of river systems from their headwaters to estuaries, including moprhodynamics, hydrology, biogeochemistry, geomorphology, biology and ecology. Admission is on a selective basis; the best candidates will be assigned attractive EU fellowships. Successful completion of the PhD programme will result in award of a joint or double Doctoral Degree in River Science.
For any further information concerning the programme, application and selection procedure please visit: www.riverscience.eu
25/11/2010: British Science Association Festival 2011
Nick Clifford has accepted an invitation to become President of the British Science Association Geography Section for a year from 2010-11. The 2011 British Science Association Festival will take place at the University of Bradford 10-15 September 2011, where Jocelyn Bell Burnell has chosen Exploring new worlds as her overarching theme and giving her own presidential address entitled 'Science and culture: science as culture'.
Geography’s contribution is planned along the following lines: 'Exploring new worlds. Changing technologies of environmental observation, and models of environment – society interaction: new frontiers in geographical exploration and the geographical imagination'.
See the British Association for Science website for further details, or contact Nick Clifford if you would like to participate.