Geography research highlights
For the further information about our Geography research, please see the Geography research webpages.
- A team of UK scientists led by Dr Karen Anderson have developed a new technique for monitoring the condition of peatlands. The team has used a combination of images captured from Earth and space to measure spatial patterning in peatland surfaces as an indicator of their condition. This new method could help monitor the damage that is being done to peatlands through human activity.
- A geographer from the Cornwall Campus, has written the first full-length book on the history of science in Cornwall. Dr Simon Naylor, originally from Camborne, has spent the last 10 years researching the history of Cornish science during the 19th century. His book, Regionalising Science: Placing Knowledges in Victorian England draws together the historic activities of all the major scientific societies in the county, including the Royal Institution of Cornwall, the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall and the Royal Polytechnic Society of Cornwall.
- Geography academic Dr Luiz Aragao has been awarded a NERC urgency grant of £65,000 to investigate the impacts of forest fires on carbon stocks during the 2010 drought in Amazonia. Dr Aragao, who is a remote-sensing expert, has been reviewing Brazilian data from ground stations and satellites and comparing it to the drought in 2005.
- Melting mountain glaciers are contributing to sea-level rise faster than at any time in the last 350 years, according to new research published in Nature Geoscience. A research team from Exeter, Aberystwyth University and Stockholm University undertook a survey of the 270 largest outlet glaciers of the South and North Patagonian Icefields of South America. Associate Professor Stephan Harrison said the results show that recent estimates of rates of glacier contribution to sea-level rise are well above the long-term average.
