Cases in which body is found decomposed have been steadily increasing since 1980, researchers say. Growing numbers of people in England and Wales are being found so long after they have died that their body has decomposed, in a shocking trend linked to austerity and social isolation. A new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine by a team of researchers including Prof Danny Dorling has been featured in The Guardian.
News
Rising numbers of people found long after death in England and Wales - study
Cases in which body is found decomposed have been steadily increasing since 1980, researchers say. Growing numbers of people in England and Wales are being found so long after they have died that their body has decomposed, in a shocking trend linked to austerity and social isolation. A new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine by a team of researchers including Prof Danny Dorling has been featured in The Guardian.

The Blenheim-Oxford Partnership: Partnering on high-tech heritage restoration
Blenheim Palace and the University of Oxford are partnering on a data-led approach to restoring the three-hundred-year-old building. Built to celebrate the Duke of Marlborough's 1704 victory at the Battle of Blenheim, the eponymous Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire requires a major programme of restoration work. However, rather than just replacing individual stones that have failed, the Built Heritage Team at the Palace want to find out precisely why certain stones crack or flake, and others do not. To delve deeper into how the building performs, and so that it can prioritise where restoration budget is efficiently spent, the team has partnered with experts at the University of Oxford.

IMF and University of Oxford launch 'PortWatch' Platform to monitor and simulate trade disruptions
The IMF in collaboration with University of Oxford researchers has launched 'PortWatch', a new online portal a platform to monitor and simulate trade disruptions due to climate extremes and other shocks.

Emeritus Professor Robert Whittaker the recipient of the Alfred Russel Wallace Award 2023
Professor Robert Whittaker, Emeritus Fellow at St Edmund Hall and Emeritus Professor of Biogeography, has been announced as the 2023 recipient of the International Biogeography Society's biennial award for a lifetime of outstanding contributions by an eminent scholar in Biogeography.

Andreas Malm at SoGE
A year ago, on November 9th 2022, the Economy and Society Research cluster, in partnership with the Faculty of Philosophy, hosted Andreas Malm, climate activist, to speak on eco-sabotage and on his latest research on the politics of overshoot.

Oxford-led consortium wins £18 million in renewed funding for doctoral studentships
A consortium led by the University of Oxford has won over £18 million in expanded funding for doctoral and masters-to-doctoral studentships in the social sciences. The funding, awarded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), will support the recommissioned Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) which includes the School of Geography and the Environment.

BBC Countryfile investigates at Oxford's Wytham Woods
BBC's Countryfile visited scientists from Oxford's Environmental Change Institute (ECI), at the University-owned Wytham Woods, to learn about the threat of ash dieback and the work at the site of special scientific interest - known as one of the most researched woodlands in the world.

New training centre will bridge the gap between environmental science and AI to address global environmental challenges
Backed by over £15 million funding, the University of Oxford is establishing a new Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) that will combine the university's strengths in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, Big Data, and environmental sciences. Over an initial eight years, The UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in AI for the Environment (The Intelligent Earth Centre) - whose leadership team includes Prof Louise Slater, Professor of Hydroclimatology at SoGE - will train almost 100 PhD students to develop and apply cutting-edge AI technologies to tackle urgent environmental crises.

Child poverty: Could Wales cut rates by copying Scotland?
Introducing a weekly child payment system for poor families would be "transformational", according to Wales' children's commissioner. Prof Danny Dorling provides expert analysis in a recent BBC News article, discussing how the Scottish system has had a substantial effect on child poverty.

The ins and outs of writing an MSc Dissertation at SoGE
Writing a capstone dissertation is one of the most significant and (hopefully) rewarding aspects of completing a master's course here at SoGE. It's a daunting and almost mythical assignment that has both excited and terrified cohorts of MSc students for generations. Because the dissertation is arguably the most important aspect of a SoGE master's degree, many incoming graduate students will arrive with many pressing questions about what exactly writing a dissertation at Oxford is like. Emma Schneck, current MSc student, provides a brief guide on what to expect.
