News
Applications for PhD Studentships Invited
There are two full, three year PhD studentships available on a competitive basis to UKEU students. The closing date for applications is 31st March 2010. Research projects outlines and application details
[04/03/2010]
Reading students win Poster awards at HYDRA Young Researchers event.
Penny Johnes recently chaired the second Biennial Young Researchers Poster Workshop, 16 December 2009 at University College London. Attila Lazar won the prize for best presentation for his poster on Modelling fixed plant and algal dynamics in rivers, and both Chris Yates and Sarah Halliday won a commendation for the clarity and visual presentation of their posters on Characterising Dissolved Organic Matter Flux in UK Freshwaters: Sources, Transport and Delivery (Yates) and Developing Novel Technologies for Water Quality Monitoring and Modelling (Halliday).
[02/03/2010]
Penny Johnes invited to serve as NERC Pool Chair
Penny Johnes has been invited to join the NERC Peer Review College as one of the 15 Pool Chairs. These are new roles, created following a review of the Peer Review College, and have been created to ensure continuity and standardisation of the reviewing process between panels. Appointments are by invitation and based on nominations by past and present members of the NERC Peer Review College. Penny will be serving in this role from 1 November 2009 for an initial period of 3 years.
Penny Johnes was also invited to join the Expert Panel advising the Natural Environment Research Council on gaps in the science base at a meeting on Land-surface discipline-based process science, December 2009.
[02/03/2010]
Reading MA Student Wins Prestigious RAI Master's Dissertation Prize
Congratulations to Elena Martelli (MA Archaeology 2008-9) whose dissertation 'Clay Saccarii (porters) from Roman Ostia: a study on commerce, social identity and cult' was awarded this year's Royal Archaeological Institute Master's Dissertation Prize.
[25/02/2010]
March 11 Research Seminar Change: Richard Bradley to speak on Scottish Henges
John McNabb's research seminar originally schedule for March 11, has to be postponed. Instead, Prof Richard Bradley will speak on 'Stages and Screens. Rethinking Scottish Henges'. Thurs, 11 March, 5pm in the Sorby Room - Wine Reception in the Archaeology Foyer thereafter. All Welcome
[25/02/2010]
The Institute for Environmental Protection and Research Funding Success
Geoff Griffiths is part of a team (with Alterra, Wageningen; CAER CAS, Reading) awarded a grant by the Joint Research Centre, Ispra for a project entitled 'Thematic study providing a critical review of the biophysical criteria for identifying areas with natural handicaps to agriculture'. The Reading component will identify and suggest ways to map the environmental benefits accruing from upland 'Less Favoured Areas' across Europe. Read about Ispra
[10/02/2010]
Easter meeting of the BSSS and SEESOIL to be hosted at Reading
The annual meeting of the British Society of Soil Science and South East Soil Discussion Group will take place at Reading on the 7th to 9th of April this year. Papers are invited within the broad theme of land remediation and reclamation - restoration areas, addressing remediation drivers, risk assessment, technical and feasibilitysuitability. Papers covering environmental, economic and social sustainability aspects would also be very welcomed. Selected papers from the meeting will be put forward for publication in a special issue of Soil Use and Management.
Deadline for registration and submission of abstracts is 15th February 2010. Full details are given on the flyer (PDF 692Kb)
[04/02/2010]
Star Carr Research Seminar Postponed
We regret that Dr Nicky Milner's research seminar on Star Carr (scheduled for 18 February) will have to be rescheduled. We will announce a new date as soon as possible.
[26/01/2010]
Research Funding Success
A consortium led by ADAS Consulting, including staff from SHES, together with others from CEH, BGS, the University of Bristol, Queen Mary College London, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust and Entec Ltd have recently won funding under a joint Defra, Environment Agency and WAG initiative for a 5 year research programme on the Hampshire Avon Demonstration Test Catchment (DTC).
The University of Reading is a joint contractor and Professor Penny Johnes is one of the Principle Investigators. Drs Steve Robinson and Andrew Wade are also involved in the programme, which will run until March 2014 at a total cost (for the Hampshire Avon DTC) of approximately £2.3M. Full Details
[26/01/2010]
A History of the World in 100 Objects: Rob Hosfield to speak at the BM
Dr Rob Hosfield is giving a gallery talk at the British Museum, as part of their A History of the World in 100 Objects event series.
The title of Rob's talk is The first artefacts: how material culture made us human and the event under the theme What makes us human will take place on Thursday, 28 January between 6.30 and 8.30 pm in the galleries of the British Museum Click here to find out more
[19/01/2010]
Research Seminar 21 Jan: The Neolithic of the Irish Sea
This week's research seminar will be given by Dr Vicki Cummings (University of Central Lancashire) who will speak on The Neolithic of the Irish Sea: recent work in Kintyre.
Thurs 21 January 2010 at 5pm in the Sorby Room (Geoscience Building), followed by a wine reception in the foyer of the Archaeology Department. All Welcome Click here for upcoming research seminars in Archaeology
[18/01/2010]
Department Welcomes Professor Alison Wylie
We are very pleased to welcome Professor Alison Wylie from the University of Washington (Seattle) who will spend the next 6 months in the Department as Leverhulme Visiting Professor.
Alison is a distinguished philosopher of the social and historical sciences, specifically archaeology, and feminist philosophy of science. Apart from contributing to teaching on archaeological theory, she will be convening a series of case-based seminars on evidential reasoning in Archaeology. Click here to learn more about Alison Wylie's work
[15/01/2010]
Roberta Gilchrist to deliver Medieval Studies Lecture 2009-10 at the University of Oxford
Professor Roberta Gilchrist will deliver the Medieval Studies Lecture 2009-10 at the University of Oxford.
The lecture will take place on Monday, February 15th 'The Archaeology of Heirlooms: Memory, Materiality and the Medieval Household', at 5.15 in the Examinations School of Oxford University. Linked to this event, she will also deliver a seminar in Oxford's Medieval Church and Culture seminar: Tuesday, February 16th 'Ancient things in medieval graves: heirlooms or occult objects', at 5.15 in the Garrard Room, Harris Manchester College.
[15/01/2010]
Queens Anniversary Prize for Higher Education 2009
The University of Reading has been awarded the Queens Anniversary Prize 2009 in recognition of the excellence of the Universitys department of archaeology, which, uniquely within the study of archaeology, combines ground-breaking research, enterprise and teaching. Read More...
[19/11/2009]
Geographical Paper No 189 published
The latest Geographical Paper entitled Sustainable Livelihood Approach: A critical analysis of theory and practice is now available on the Geography web site. The paper was written by Stephen Morse, Nora McNamara and Moses Acholo. See all Geographical Papers
[10/11/2009]
Possible new project in Kazakhstan
Visiting Research Fellow Heinrich Harke has been to Kazakhstan to explore possibilities for a new project.
Colleagues at Korkyt Ata University in Kyzylorda (western Kazakhstan) had expressed an interest in an international collaborative project based on the site of Dzhankent. This is a planned town of the 9th 10th centuries AD just east of the Aral Sea, in the old delta region of the Syr-Darya river. Read More...
[05/11/2009]
Reflections: 50 Years of Medieval Archaeology, 1957-2007
Three members of staff from the Archaeology Department have contributed papers to a major volume which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Society for Medieval Archaeology (established in 1957).
Three members of staff from the Archaeology Department have contributed papers to a major volume which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Society for Medieval Archaeology (established in 1957), presenting reflections on the history, development and future prospects of the discipline. Grenville Astill reviews the archaeology of medieval towns; Gundula Mueldner assesses the application of stable isotope analysis to bones from medieval sites; and Roberta Gilchrist addresses the role of social theory in the development of medieval archaeology. The volume will be launched on the 7th December. Click here for futher information on the volume
[04/11/2009]
Achievement-Prize Success for Archaeology Students
As in the previous year, Archaeology students did very well in the Universitys Achievement-Prize round. The Prize rewards students from across the University who are in the top 5 of their year following their Part 1 and Part 2 results. In 2009, four of our students have been awarded £1,000 each in recognition of their great performance. Congratulations Find out more about the University of Reading Achievement Prizes and other sources of undergraduate funding
[20/10/2009]
Entrance Scholarships for Archaeology Students
Congratulations to four of our new Part 1 students who won Entrance Scholarships worth £2,000 each, on account of their excellent A-Level results (or equivalent). If you are thinking of applying to Reading to study Archaeology, see if you, too, could be eligible for an Entrance Scholarship: Check here
[20/10/2009]
Department Welcomes New Lecturer in Roman Mediterranean Archaeology
We are very pleased to welcome Dr Anna Boozer, who has recently joined us from the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University. Anna specialises in Roman Mediterranean Archaeology with an emphasis on Roman Egypt. She adds to Reading's already strong research and teaching profile in the Archaeology of the Roman Empire.
[20/10/2009]
Roberta Gilchrist to address University Womens Club (London).
Professor Roberta Gilchrist will deliver the annual Sybil Campbell Lecture on 29th October at the University Women's Club (London) on the topic 'Medieval women and the care of the family: the archaeology of life, death and magic'. Roberta, who is currently on study-leave following the award of a prestigious Leverhulme Trust Major Research Fellowship, has also been elected Visiting Fellow at St Cross College, Oxford for 2009-10.
[20/10/2009]
The Lower Palaeolithic of Britain: New Fieldwork in Dorset
In collaboration with Southampton University (Dr John McNabb), Dr Rob Hosfield has been conducting new excavations this summer at the Lower Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age) site of Corfe Mullen, Dorset1. We are currently awaiting the results of OSL sampling, which we hope will provide dates for the important artefact-bearing deposits at the site.1
1McNabb, J. Hosfield, R.T. 2009. Re-investigations of Lower Palaeolithic archaeology and deposits at Corfe Mullen. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History Archaeological Society 130: 195201
[20/10/2009]
Reading Archaeologists Explore Diversity in Roman Winchester
The Reading-based Diaspora Communities in Roman Britain project was featured in NERCs Planet Earth online last month. Reading archaeologists Hella Eckardt, Mary Lewis and Gundula Muldner, together with colleagues at Oxford Archaeology and the British Geological Survey, undertook isotope analysis of human tooth enamel to explore the geographical origin of individuals buried at the Late Roman Lankhills cemetery in modern Winchester. Their results showed considerable diversity in the population of Venta Belgarum, with some individuals coming from as far afield as central and southern Europe. Read the whole story here
[20/10/2009]
Earliest Humans in Hampshire and Dorset: a new PhD Project
The Department has recently received funding from the AHRC to research, in collaboration with the British Museum and Queen Mary (University of London), the earliest evidence for humans in the Solent River landscapes of Hampshire and Dorset. The PhD research is supervised by Dr Rob Hosfield, Nick Ashton (British Museum), and Dr Simon Lewis (Queen Mary).
[20/10/2009]
Geography Seminar - 13th October
The first of the Autumn term Geography seminars takes place on the 13th October.
The speaker will be Dr. Justin Spinney, of the University of Surrey. The title of the presentation is Moving Spaces: Urban Cycling and the Sensory Construction of Place. All are welcome See the flyer
[06/10/2009]
Academy of the Social Sciences Award
Dr Sophie Bowlby has been given the award of Academician of the Academy of the Social Sciences has for her contribution to the Social Sciences. September 30th 2009 Read about Sophie
[06/10/2009]
New Members of Staff
We are pleased to welcome Dr Anna Boozer, Lecturer in Roman Mediterranean Archaeology, and Anne-Mari Karjalainen, Isotope Ration Mass Spec Technician, to the school.
[20/08/2009]
New Member of staff
Dr Raquel Garcia Gonzalez has joined us to work with Anne Verhoef as a post doctoral research assistant
[19/08/2009]
Professor Penny Johnes co-authors a report highlighting the issues around subsidising chemical fertilizers.
In a paper published in the journal Science, an international team of experts argue that the reluctance of many policymakers to accept the economic, environmental, and social costs of subsidized fertilizer is understandable, but that inadequate inputs in many areas of the world are causing low productivity, land degradation, and rural poverty.
Synthetic fertilizers have dramatically increased food production worldwide but the unintended costs to the environment and human health have been substantial. In intensively farmed regions, nitrogen runoff from farms has contaminated surface waters and groundwater and helped create massive dead zones in coastal areas. Read More...
[18/08/2009]
Silchester in the Guardian
The Silchester dig was also featured in the Guardian - including a fine photo gallery Read the Guardian article.
[05/08/2009]
Silchester dig covered by the BBC
The Iron Age discoveries made at Silchester have led to the site being featured on the BBC South Today programme and Radio 4's PM. Read the article.
[05/08/2009]
Reading Professor elected to British Academy
Professor Martin Bell of Reading's Archaeology Department has been elected a Fellow of the British Academy. The Department of Archaeology is the only academic Department in the UK to boast five FBAs
[21/07/2009]
Grant awarded
Chris Collins has been awarded funds by the HEIF for further development of an invitro gastrointestinal extraction test.
[14/07/2009]
Student makes the news with the MoD
Third year Reading student Chantel Summerfield has been featured in 'Estatement' the magazine for the Defence Estates.
For her dissertation, Chantel has been carrying out a survey of 'arborglyphs'in the Salisbury Plain training area. These are carvings made on trees by soldiers in the first and second world wars. Over 250 were recorded and, in one case, Chantel was able to identify the person who created it and, by using genealogical records, has traced his subsequent history.
[14/07/2009]
Funding award
Dr Nick Branch has been awarded a second grant from the Irish Heritage Council to enable him to investigate the relationship between human activities and climate change in the wetlands of Ireland
[09/07/2009]
Lecturer is a hit with students
Archaeology students voted for Dr Rob Hosfield as the member of staff whom they felt had made the greatest impact on their studies and their student experience at Reading. He gained the Student Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Science. He received his award from the Vice-Chancellor at the degree congregation last Friday, amidst much cheering from his appreciative students.
[09/07/2009]
Major recognition of professors work
Our Visiting Professor, Warwick Rodwell, was awarded the OBE in the recent Queens Birthday Honours for services to ecclesiastical archaeology
[09/07/2009]
Gordon Conference in Catchment Science
Professor Penny Johnes and Professor Keith Eshleman from the University of Maryland, Appalachian Laboratory are co-chairing the prestigious Gordon Conference on Catchment Science in Andover, New Hampshire in July.
The conference will be focussing on thresholds, tipping points and non-linearity: integrated catchment science for the 21st century. The project fund will be administered by the University of Maryland.
[30/06/2009]
European Geosciences Union presentation
Research student Chiara Medici gave a paper entitled Application and Results of a New Nitrogen Model in a Mediterranean Forested Catchment, Fuirosos, Catalonia at the European Geosciences Union, General Assembly, in April.
Chiara is registered for her PhD at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia and is working on Modelling hydrological and nitrogen dynamics in Mediterranean systems, including the linkages between the riparian zone and the stream, and including lakes. She worked in the Department until April 2009 as an ad-hoc PhD student with Andrew Wade.
[03/06/2009]
Non-Governmental Public Action (NGPA) ESRC presentation
Professor Steve Morse gave a paper and chaired a session at the final conference of the Non-Governmental Public Action (NGPA) ESRC research programme in January. Steve presented a paper entitled Partnership in Catholic Church aid chains; can we be good and powerful at the same time
[03/06/2009]
Policy Use of Indicators Workshop
Professor Steve Morse attended an EU POINT (Policy Use of Indicators) meeting at the European Commission (Brussels) and University Libre de Bruxelles in late 2008. One of the aims of the meeting was to begin planning the various stakeholder workshops (Denmark, UK, Malta, Finland, Slovakia, Belgium).
A new participatory methodology has been developed by Steve Morse and Simon Bell (Open University) called Triple-Task. In the first quarter of 2009 Steve Morse and Simon Bell applied the new methodology for three participatory workshops on factors which influence Sustainable Development use in Malta and Slovakia. Participants (approximately 20 in each workshop) included senior civil servants, academics, students, environmental NGOs and consultants.
[26/05/2009]
European Nitrogen Assessment workshop
Professor Penny Johnes is continuing her work on the European Nitrogen Assessment, funded under the ESF NiNE programme and has been invited to contribute to the 4th workshop in Gothenburg, in May where she is co-authoring the chapter on Water Quality Challenges from a European N Perspective.
Penny is co-author on 3 earlier chapters developed at the ENA 2 and 3 workshops in Edinburgh and Paris in 2008 and at the UNECE Task Force for Reactive N meeting at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in April 2009. The European Nitrogen Assessment will be published as a research text by Cambridge University Press in 2010.
[26/05/2009]
Expert Panel membership
Professor Penny Johnes has been invited to join the UNECE Task Force on Reactive Nitrogen Expert Panel on Nitrogen Budgets, funded under the Convention on Long-Range Transport of Atmospheric Pollutants (CLRTAP) and attended the second meeting of the panel on Garmisch-Partenkirchen in April, where the focus was on Revision of the Gothenburg Protocol on mitigation of ammonia emissions from agriculture. Meeting attendees included expert science advisors from Europe and N America, policy makers and senior civil servants from the EU.
[26/05/2009]
Cost 869 presentation
Professor Penny Johnes gave an invited paper on Nutrient Management for Ecological Benefit at Barton Broad and Bosherston Lily Pools, UK: achievements, costs and long term sustainability issues, at the COST 869 meeting on Ecological Response to System Manipulation, May, Keszthely, Hungary.
The workshop was attended by scientists from 14 European countries and a linked policy paper is in preparation, co-authored by Professor Penny Johnes, Dr Wim Chardon (WUR, Netherlands), Dr Ken Irvine (Trinity College Dublin) and Dr Petri Ekholm (SYKE, Finland). Read about Cost869
[26/05/2009]
UKWIR award
Dr Nicola Flynn, Geoff Warren and Professor Penny Johnes have started work on a UKWIR (UK Water Industry Research) funded programme on Validation of Operational Guidelines for the Sustainable Application of Phosphorus in Biosolids to Agricultural Soils - Phase 2.
The project is being led by Paul Withers, from ADAS. The objectives of the project are to build on recommendations identified in Phase 1, and provide a robust scientific basis for the development of sustainable operational guidelines for recycling of biosolids to agricultural land that will have a minimum impact on the freshwater environment. The project started January and will end in June.
[26/05/2009]
Seminar day on Young Carers in Refugee and Asylum Seeking Families
Dr Ruth Evans facilitated a well attended workshop with Magda Conway, Childrens HIV Association, entitled Children Caring for a Parent or Relative with HIV in Refugee Families at a seminar day on Young Carers in Refugee and Asylum Seeking Families, for health and social care professionals and researchers, organised by The Childrens Society, March 2009, London.
[26/05/2009]
RGS-IBG Social and Cultural Geographies Group presentation
Dr Sophie Bowlby gave an invited paper on The Future for Social Geography at the RGS-IBG Social and Cultural Geographies Group International Conference, in January, Brighton.
[26/05/2009]
University Working Group on Major Global Issues
Professor Steve Morse has been invited to sit on a University Working Group to look at the provision of Part 1 University-wide modules focused around major global issues. Sustainable Development is seen as a possible theme for such a university-wide module. The first meeting of the working group will take place in May.
[26/05/2009]
Expert Review
Professor Penny Johnes has been asked to review the work of the Foresight Land Use Futures Project, headed by Professor John Beddington, the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser and Head of the Government Office for Science.
The project is sponsored by Barroness Kay Andrews OBE, Parliamentary UnderSecretary of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government and Huw Irranca-Davies, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Defra.
[26/05/2009]
Rural Geography Group Meeting.
Geography PhD students Phoebe Foy-Phillips and Cheryl Nosworthy co-hosted a meeting of the RGS-IBG Rural Geography Group in April on Engaging with Methodological Realities in Rural Space - an interdisciplinary postgraduate workshop to explore emerging methodologies. The keynote speaker was Professor Jo Little from the University of Exeter.
[26/05/2009]
International research programme development
Professor Penny Johnes has been invited to help develop a new international research programme, A Global Nitrogen Assessment, the first scoping meeting was held at the ICSU SCOPE offices in Paris, in April.
The meeting was attended by representatives from SCOPE, the IGBP (International Global Biological Programme), UN Environment Programme, the Executive Director of SCOPE, the EU Environment Directorate Climate Change Environmental Risks, International Fertiliser Industry, FAO, UNESCO, and international representatives from the ICSU-SCOPE and IGBP funded International Nitrogen Initiative.
[26/05/2009]
Hydrology and Ecology presentation
Attila Lazar gave a paper titled Modelling fixed plant and algal dynamics in short- and long-retention time rivers at HydroEco2009, the 2nd International Multidisciplinary Conference on Hydrology and Ecology held at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna in April.
[26/05/2009]
Royal Statistical Society event
Research student Jennifer Lannon is the inaugural section chair of the new Young Statisticians Section (YSS) of the Royal Statistical Society. Jennifer organised a launch event in January 2009 which attracted around 100 career-young statisticians and key academics and practitioners in the field of statistics
[26/05/2009]
Wetland Development Toolkit
Kirsten Wright has developed a novel web-based toolkit for use by planners, conservation professionals and anyone interested in the processes and key factors to consider when creating wetlands. This was developed as part of her research into assessment of wetland regeneration potential on brownfield land, undertaken under her EPSRC funded PhD programme. The site contains a Planning Tool, Design and Management Tool, and Post-creation and Monitoring Tool, and is eliciting considerable interest from environmental management professionals in government agencies and consultancies. Visit the site
[26/05/2009]
Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative Meetings
Dr Maria Shahgedanova has been invited to join the organizing committee for the International Summer School for the Young Scientists on the Northern Eurasia Mountain Ecosystems and The High Elevations NEESPI Science workshop both of which will take place in a Central Asian state of Kyrgyzsrtan in September 2009.
Maria will be one of the key lecturers at the summer school and will give a key note presentation at the NEESPI High Elevation workshop. Both meetings are organized by the Northern Eurasia Earth Science Partnership Initiative (NEESPI) and sponsored by NOAA, NASA and NATO.
[26/05/2009]
Conference presentation
Dr Steve Musson gave an invited paper at the conference Unmaking England organized by the Universities of Salford and Manchester on 14th January 2009.
[26/05/2009]
Fieldwork Trip
Dr Maria Shahgedanova has recently returned from a fieldwork excursion with her coworkers from the Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Science, April 2009. Their work was funded under the National Geographic funded project on Climate and Glacier Change in the Polar Urals.
[26/05/2009]
Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting
Dr Louise Holt acted as Discussion Leader at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, 22nd 27th March 2009 as part of the session on Disability in Education: Geographies of Inclusion and Exclusion.
[26/05/2009]
Teaching in Finland
Dr Steve Gurney has been invited to contribute to a Geography Postgraduate School Intensive Course being run at the Kevo Research Station, northern Finland in September 2009 by the University of Turku, Finland
[26/05/2009]
Project Funding
Dr Ruth Evans was awarded a Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) Jasmin Leila Award of £3000 for a research project entitled Young People Caring for their Siblings in Child and Youth Headed Households: Participatory Feedback and Dissemination of Pilot Research in Tanzania and Uganda, April 2009.
This will enable her to disseminate the findings of SHES funded pilot research with young people caring for their siblings through participatory workshops with research participants in Tanzania and Uganda in August to September 2009
[26/05/2009]
The Credit Crunch and the Irish Economy
Professor Steve Morse attended a meeting of the Development Committee of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary in Dublin (February 2009). High on the agenda was the impact of the credit crunch on the Irish Economy and how it is impacting upon aid budgets
[26/05/2009]
Geography in the Media
Dr Steve Musson was interviewed on BBC Radio Berkshire about council tax rises in the Thames Valley area on the 25th February 2009.
[26/05/2009]
Expert Panel Appointment
Professor Penny Johnes has been appointed a National Audit Office Expert Panel on Environment Agency monitoring of diffuse pollution in England and Wales.
The other panel members include Professor Alan Jenkins, CEH Science Director (Water), Justin Taberham, Director of Policy, Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, Dr Bob Ferrier, Head of the Catchment Management Group, Macaulay Land Use Research Institute, and Rob Cunningham, Head of Water Policy at RSPB and Chair, Water Working Group, Wildlife Countryside Link.
[26/05/2009]
Expert Referee
Dr Steve Gurney has recently acted as a specialist referee for a multinational multidisciplinary research bid to the European Science Foundation on Antarctic Peninsula Permafrost Research.
[26/05/2009]
International Workshop investigating Climate and Glacier change
Dr Maria Shahgedanova conducted a final workshop on 21st 23rd of January on her two EU INTAS projects investigating Climate and Glacier Change in the Caucasus Mountains and the Mountains of Siberia.
The meeting was held at the University of Reading, and twelve participants from Germany, Austria, Russia, and Georgia attended as well as members of staff and postgraduates from Geography. This was a very productive meeting where a large number of publications resulting from the projects were agreed and new research proposals discussed. Read More...
[26/05/2009]
WWF award
A visiting research student from Algeria has won a scholarship from the Worldwide Fund for Nature to visit the Department of Geography from October 2009 for 12 months to work on a project titled An Inventory and Assessment of Ecosystem Goods and Services for Algerian Mediterranean Forests with Dr Geoff Griffiths
[26/05/2009]
Visiting Scientist
Geography would also like to welcome Dr Kit Rutherford, Principal Scientist in the Catchment Processes Group, National Institute of Water Atmospheric Research, New Zealand, who will be visiting the department at the end of June 2009 to discuss research interests with Professor Penny Johnes and Professor Paul Whitehead, en route to the Gordon Research Conference on Catchment Science taking place in July 2009, New Hampshire, USA.
Dr Rutherford will give a seminar as part of the joint Physcial Geography and Soil Science seminar series. The details will be announced shortly.
[26/05/2009]
Visiting Research Fellow
We would like to welcome Dr Nedham AlShafei, a Visiting Research Fellow, to the Geography. Dr Nedham is on sabbatical from the College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, and will be working with Steve Morse on Industrialisation and Sustainability in the Gulf.
[26/05/2009]
Research Fellow
Monica Vazquez has joined Chris Collins' environmental pollution research group as a Dorothy Hodgkin fellow and will continue the development of an in vitro gastrointestinal extraction test for the measurement of soil pollutant bioaccessibility.
[21/05/2009]
Visiting Researcher
Dr Mubarak Abdallah from the Institute of desertification and desert cultivation studies, University of Khartoum, Sudan spent one of the wettest and coldest winters for some years in Reading investigating the effects of saline water on soils and plants in association with Stephen Nortcliff.
[21/05/2009]
Soil Science welcomes a new member of staff
Jessica Princivalle has joined us in the role of Molecular Biology Technician and will work with Liz Shaw's soil microbiology research group. Jessica previously worked in the pharmaceuticals industry.
[21/05/2009]
Glastonbury Abbey funded studentship
Funded PhD Studentship available: the AHRC has awarded a Collaborative Doctoral Award to Professor Roberta Gilchrist and the Trustees of Glastonbury Abbey. A 3 year studentship is available from October 2009 on the topic Presenting the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey: monks, myths and multivocality. Closing date Monday 15th June 2009 Read More...
[22/04/2009]
Research Grant Awarded
Andy Wade and Richard Skeffington have had success with their project application to EPSRC: 'Novel technologies for in situ environmental monitoring: linking sensor development to improved pollutant transport models'.
The project came top of the responsive mode applications to the engineering systems panel. The project will be a collaborative effort by Reading, University of Hull, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and the Environment Agency and will run for 3 years from summer 2009. An associated studentship is available. Read More...
[22/04/2009]
New publications Prehistoric Archaeology:
Image and Audience: Rethinking Prehistoric Art by Richard Bradley (2009)
Leo Webley has recently published Iron Age Households: Structure and Practice, Jutland Archaeological Society Publications (2008) as well as Borderlands: The Archaeology of the Addenbrooke's Environs, South Cambridge, with Evans, C. and Mackay, D.
[25/03/2009]
UROP Placement awards
A total of 5 placements have been awarded to projects within the school. Students can apply to assist with the research for 6 weeks over the summer break and receive a bursary. Read about the 5 placements available
[24/03/2009]
More new publications
Eckardt, Hella. 2008. Styling the body in Late Iron Age and Roman Britain A contextual approach to toilet instruments. Monographies Instrumentum 36. Monique Mergoil.
Jenkins, Emma. 2009. Unwanted Inhabitants The Microfauna from Catalhoyuk and Pinarbasi. VDM Verlag.
[24/03/2009]
Latest Geographical Paper published
The latest paper: SocioEconomic Variations in Water Consumption, Household Management Strategies and Satisfactions in Greater Amman, Jordan: the Results of a Quantitative Household Survey, by Khadija Darmame and Robert B. Potter, has been added to the Geography web site. See all Geographical Papers.
[19/03/2009]
Lyminge Excavations 2009
2009 excavations open for enrollment. Please complete the online application form and send in payment to secure a place on the excavations. Read More about this project and download the form
[17/03/2009]
Lyminge
Interim report on the 2008 excavations by the University of Reading at the AngloSaxon monastery of Lyminge, Kent, are now available online. Read the report
[04/03/2009]
Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) grant awarded
Anne Verhoef has been awarded over £400,000 as part of a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) grant to investigate the Mitigation potential of horizontal ground coupled heat pumps (GCHPs) for current and future climatic conditions: UK environmental modelling studies. Coinvestigators and collaborating partners include NCASClimate, University of Nottingham, the British Geological Survey, CEHWallingford and EarthEnergy. Read more about this project
[04/03/2009]
Environmental Science degrees are now accredited by the Institution of Environmental Sciences
Our BSc Environmental Science and BSc Environmental Science with Professional Experience courses have been accredited by the Institution of Environmental Sciences.
This means that students on these courses, qualify for free student membership of the Institute which brings with it various benefits such as the ability to use StMIEnvSc up to the end of the calendar year in which you graduate, signalling your professional commitment, to potential employers, and accelerated qualification towards Chartered Status at the start of your career as an Environmental Science professional. Read about student membership of the IES
[04/03/2009]
Funding success
Dr Nick Branch has been awarded a grant of £39.6k by the Irish Heritage Council for an Examination of the relationship between climate change and human activities in wetland Ireland. Read about this project
[04/03/2009]
Award for Silchester website
The Silchester excavation has won the BAJR (British Archaeological Jobs Resource) award for the clean, easy to use design, the wealth of information available. The additional information is constantly changing, tapping into web 2.o and allowing the user to feel that this is a dynamic website, such as the well written blogs, images and finds gallery. The Virtual Environments for Research in Archaeology section is a welcome addition, informing people of a new direction in technology and archaeology, and inclusive of researchers and professionals as well as the public, who are well catered for on the site. Read about the BAJR award
[04/03/2009]
Major funding for Glastonbury
Professor Roberta Gilchrist has been awarded £339,641 by the AHRC for a 40 month project: the Glastonbury Abbey Archaeological Archive Project. The project will commence in June 2009 and will analyze the results of thirtyfour seasons of excavations from 19041979 that hitherto have never been published, plus undertake a geophysical survey of the full precinct. Read about the Glastonbury Excavations
[04/03/2009]