How have plants adapted over centuries or millennia to survive and recover from human interference? David Moreno-Mateos and his team are analysing tree species in Brazil’s Amazon Rainforest to find out, and to help inform and improve future restoration practice.
News
Why ‘de-extinct’ dire wolves are a Trojan horse to hide humanity’s destruction of nature
In a thought-provoking feature for The Conversation, Dr Rich Grenyer, Associate Professor in Biodiversity and Biogeography, examines the ethical and ecological concerns surrounding de-extinction, arguing that the allure of reviving species like dire wolves risks diverting attention from the ongoing human-driven destruction of the natural world.
SoGE academics' accomplishments recognised with professorial titles
Two academic members at the School of Geography and the Environment (SoGE) have been awarded the title of Professor by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, in recognition of their outstanding contributions to their fields of research, teaching and academic service. Congratulations to Louise Slater, Professor of Hydroclimatology, and Christian Brand, Professor of Transport, Energy and Climate Change, on this richly deserved achievement.
NEWS
The transition from MSc to MBA for a Pershing Square scholar
My first degree, Water Science, Policy and Management, had a cohort of 26 people. Our 'Launch' was a three-day trip to Dorset where we learned about the influence of chalk aquifers on water chemistry, climbed up the cliffs of the Jurassic Coast and slept in dorms in youth hostels. There was no way to come out of the trip without knowing every person individually. From that trip on, we were bonded as a cohort. Recent MSc in WSPM graduate, Kate French, writes for the Said Business School blog.
IN THE MEDIA
Wind and solar power could significantly exceed Britain's energy needs
Britain's energy needs could be met entirely by wind and solar, according to a policy brief published by Oxford's Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment.
IN THE MEDIA
Thinking Care-fully with Method Workshop: Facing the Discomfort in Research
Researchers face ethical dilemmas in every step of the research process, often unforeseen despite our best efforts of anticipation in the research design. Many complex ethical questions arise from the best intentions of producing inclusive and responsible research while avoiding harm to participants and researchers. These questions become more salient with the emergence of diverse creative and innovative research methods in the field, such as 'go-along', visual, and digital methods. Responding to the ethical and practical challenges in qualitative research, Dr Jennie Middleton, Dr Rosalie Warnock, and Professor Gillian Rose convened a two-part workshop on Thinking Care-fully with Method at SoGE in May.
NEWS
Remembering Dr Karen Bakker
The School of Geography and the Environment is very saddened to hear of the passing of Dr Karen Bakker in August. Karen was a Rhodes Scholar at SoGE, graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in 1999, before she moved to the University of British Columbia.
IN THE MEDIA
'My home city was destroyed by war but I will not lose hope' - how modern warfare turns neighbourhoods into battlefields
"It has been almost 12 years since I left my city. And I have never been able to return. Homs, the place I was born and grew up, has been destroyed and I, like many others, have been left in exile: left to remember how beautiful it once was. What can a person do when their home - that place within them that carries so much meaning - has effectively been murdered?" Dr Ammar Azzouz, Research Fellow at the School of Geography and the Environment, writes for The Conversation.
IN THE MEDIA
Alumni Stories: 'A career in sports journalism is an exciting life but not a lazy or easy life.'
Jen O'Neill (Keble, 1993), Editor of Women's Football Magazine She Kicks gives tips for a career in sports journalism in an article on the Oxford Alumni website.
IN THE MEDIA
New book unveils the connections between the built environment, the creation and destruction of 'home', and war in Syria
Dr Ammar Azzouz, a British-Syrian architect and British Academy Research Fellow in the School of Geography and Environment, is author of the new book 'Domicide: Architecture, War and the Destruction of Home in Syria'.
NEWS
Extreme weather events are exactly the time to talk about climate change - here's why
Josh Ettinger, a doctoral researcher in SoGE, is exploring how extreme weather events may affect the way the public feels, thinks and acts on climate change. In an article in The Conversation he explores how to talk about recent extreme weather events and climate change with people and how to shift their existing concerns about climate change into action.
IN THE MEDIA
Just Four Films. BBC-Oxford social sciences join forces to turn four great ideas into fantastic new films
Two projects from SoGE - 'How the humble bean can help the world' from ECI's future of food platform TABLE, and 'How to keep cool (without heating the planet)' led by Dr Radhika Khosla in the SSEE - are among four projects turned into engaging short films in collaboration with BBC Ideas.
IN THE MEDIA
