MSc/MPhil in Nature, Society and Environmental Governance students were asked to research a topic of their choice, within the broad remit of the Governance, Politics and Policy theme, and to create a video accompanied by a blog which further outlined the topic. Watch the winning video and read the accompanying blog.

While Arctic tundra greening and browning have received increasing attention over the past decade, one comparatively understudied area is the role of sea ice dynamics and decline as drivers of terrestrial vegetation change and the ecological consequences. A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, reveals two important insights that will have important implications for tundra productivity and vegetation-climate feedback. Read in full.

Congratulations to Ed Sandford whose dissertation, "Insights from an investigation into phases of accumulation and lateral migration of a linear dune, Northeast United Arab Emirates", has received a special commendation in the Quaternary Research Association's annual dissertation prize.

Associate Professor in Quantitative Social Science Methods

Hundreds of millions of tons of dust are blown off the Sahara desert each year. This dust interferes with the climate system and is capable of both cooling and heating the atmosphere depending on its height, size, shape and colour. It also interacts with cloud formation and weather systems like tropical cyclones. Being able to represent the location and quantity of dust in models is really important as these are the tools we use to make weather forecasts and climate projections.

A new study, published this week in BioScience, considers the future of ecology, where technical advancement toward a multidimensional science will continue to fundamentally shift the way we view, explore, and conceptualize the natural world.

"EvoFlood: The evolution of global flood hazard and risk" is a new £3.7m project that aims to revolutionise our understanding of flood risk. The project, involving the University of Oxford and led by the University of Hull and the University of Southampton, represents a collaborative endeavour of 9 UK universities, as well as multiple national and international end-user organisations.

In honour of International Women's Day 2021 SoGE celebrates 100 years of Women At Oxford by profiling 18 inspiring women and sharing their insights on what's next for the higher education sector.

New research led by Dr Lisa Wedding, published this week in Global Environmental Change, investigates the carbon-capturing potential of habitats along the California coast and details pathways incorporating blue carbon habitats into climate change policy.

Dr Amber Murrey is pleased to announce the launch of a new online postgraduate course, Decolonising Research Methodologies. The course is a collaborative project between Oxford and UNISA and is open to PhD/DPhil students in the social sciences at Oxford and universities in Africa. The course is free for all enrolled students and there are funds available to subsidise the costs of internet data/devices. Application deadline: 16 April