SoGE DPhil student Camila Ramos, based in the TSU, has been named as one of 2026's Remarkable Voices in Transport by the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI).
News
Aissa Discovers All Rhodes Lead to Oxford
Aissa Dearing, student writer and alumna of Oriel College, examines whether statues distort the memory and legacy of those commemorated and how places are experienced through the eyes of a geographer. She is a current DPhil in the School of Geography and the Environment.
The UK is surprisingly short of water – but more reservoirs aren’t the answer
Despite its rainy reputation, the UK’s public water supplies are often threatened by drought and water scarcity. Shouldn’t the country do a better job of capturing and using all its rain? Dr Kevin Grecksch, Departmental Lecturer and Course Director MSc in Water Science, Policy and Management, and Dr Kirsty Holstead, Wageningen University, explore the options in an article for The Conversation.
Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award (ILESLA) doctoral training programme deadline - 29 January
The University of Oxford, in partnership with five leading institutions, has launched the Interdisciplinary Life and Environmental Science Landscape Award (ILESLA). This ambitious doctoral training programme will prepare a new generation of creative, collaborative, and entrepreneurial researchers who are equipped to meet the complex, cross-disciplinary challenges the world faces.
Logged tropical forests are still valuable for biodiversity, study finds
A research team led by the University of Oxford, including Prof Yadvinder Malhi, has carried out the most comprehensive assessment to date of how logging and conversion to oil palm plantations affect tropical forest ecosystems. The results demonstrate that these have significantly different and cumulative environmental impacts - and that logged forests should not be immediately ‘written off’ for conversion to oil palm plantations. The findings have been published in Science.
Oxford-led project awarded £2 million to revolutionise clean hydropower energy
A new project led by Louise Slater, Professor of Hydroclimatology, aims to transform the optimisation of hydropower systems in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia to ensure sustainable and equitable energy access. The Smart Hydropower Solutions (SMART-HS) project has been awarded over £2 million through UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Ayrton Challenge Programme.
Associate Professorship in Physical Geography (Biodiversity and Climate Change) in association with St Anne’s College
The School of Geography and the Environment, in association with St Anne’s College, invites applications for a full-time Associate Professorship in Physical Geography, with a focus on biodiversity and climate change. The position is available from 1 September 2025, or at an earlier or later date by negotiation, and will be held in conjunction with a Tutorial Fellowship at St Anne’s College.
I wept and wept as I watched the Syrian regime fall. At last, I have a home again
There will be perilous days to come and the future is uncertain, but around the world we Syrians are celebrating - Dr Ammar Azzouz writes for The Guardian.
Climate change doubles frequency of concurrent drought and heatwave events in low-income regions
A study published in Communications Earth & Environment, led by Dr Boen Zhang, Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the School of Geography and the Environment, has revealed that human-induced climate change has significantly increased the frequency of compound drought and heatwave events in low-income regions. These simultaneous extreme weather phenomena, which amplify risks to ecosystems, agriculture, and human health, are occurring twice as often as they did in the late-20th century. Alarmingly, the acceleration of these events is disproportionately affecting low-income regions, underscoring the urgent need for equitable climate action.
Syrians are torn between fear and hope as the frontlines rapidly shift
The lightning-fast capture, by Syrian rebels, of large swaths of northern Syria, including the war-torn country’s second-largest city, Aleppo, and the strategically important city of Hama further south, is a body blow for the regime of Bashar al-Assad - Dr Ammar Azzouz writes for The Conversation.
Dr Kevin Grecksch receives seed funding from The British Academy in partnership with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Dr Kevin Grecksch and Dr Stefan Knauß, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, have received seed funding from The British Academy in partnership with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to explore creative interventions for social and environmental crises.