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BioLink: Below-ground biodiversity and ecosystem function in European Forests, 4th-7th November 2014, Reading

Martin Lukac will lead a new EU COST Action on “Linking below-ground biodiversity and ecosystem function in European forests (BioLink)”.  

The first meeting will be in Reading from 4th-7th November 21014, and aims to establish a vibrant community of scientists interested in the role of soil biodiversity in ecosystem service provision, particularly in tree dominated systems. PhD students and early stage researchers who wish to establish contacts with experts throughout Europe are welcome to submit a poster abstract. Funding is available to support students.

Please get in touch with Martin if you are interested in attending (m.lukac@reading.ac.uk).

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New report out today looks at growing cashews in Ghana and the effects on local people, food security and poverty alleviation

The work was led by Dr Ruth Evans, Department of Geography and Environmental Science in collaboration with Dr. Simon Mariwah and Dr. Barima Antwi, Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Cape Coast, Ghana (funded by IIF and SHES, University of Reading).

For more information, check out the summary or full report and take a look at the video produced about the project.

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Professor Mike Goodman publishes two new books on food networks & transgressions

Professor Mike Goodman has had two new books published on alternative food networks and food transgressions – click the links to read more.

“Farmers’ markets, veggie boxes, local foods, organic products and Fair Trade goods – how have these once novel, “alternative” foods, and the people and networks supporting them, become increasingly familiar features of everyday consumption? Are the visions of “alternative worlds” built on ethics of sustainability, social justice, animal welfare and the aesthetic values of local food cultures and traditional crafts still credible now that these foods crowd supermarket shelves and other “mainstream” shopping outlets?”

Mike’s work examines questions such as:

“What constitutes ‘alternative’ food politics specifically and food politics more generally when organic and other ‘quality’ foods have become mainstreamed?

What has been the contribution so far of an ‘alternative food movement’ and its potential to leverage further progressive change and/or make further inroads into conventional systems?

What are the empirical and theoretical bases for understanding the established and growing ‘transgressions’ between conventional and alternative food networks?”

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Dr Hilary Geoghegan Opens RGS’s Mid-Term Postgraduate Conference

Around 80 postgraduate students are gathering in Loughborough today to kick-off a two-day conference, in which they will test new ideas and strengthen their theories.

The Mid-Term Conference, organised each year by the Society’s Postgraduate Forum, gives budding researchers the opportunity to present papers in a supportive environment.

Our very own Dr Hilary Geoghegan opened the conference with some wise words to the students in attendance. “We are all part of the discipline of geography,” she said. “Find and hold on to your passion for geography, engage with others within and beyond academia, be enthusiastic about your research and think creatively about what it is to be an early-career geographer in the 21st century.”

Click here to read more details.

Follow the conference on Twitter using the hashtag #PGFmidterm.

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New PhD Studentship in Land Surface Hydrology

A four year award studentship is available at the Department of Geography and Environmental Science. The title of the project is “Representing Uncertainty in Land Surface Hydrology for Seasonal Forecasting“.This PhD is part of a wider research project led by the University of Reading and funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC):  IMPETUS: Improving Predictions of Drought for User Decision-Making. The application deadline is 15th May 2014. For more information about the studentship, please follow this link.

 

 

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Global Floods Working group

Dr Liz Stephens and Dr Hannah Cloke were invited to attend a workshop 4-5 March. Liz presented her work on GloFAS and Hannah presented her Flooding From Intense Rainfall SINATRA project (). 

The 4th workshop of the Global Flood Working Group, hosted at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in the UK,  gathered around 90 scientists, practitioners and users to kick off the Global Flood Partnership (GFP). GFP is a unique international forum aimed at developing global flood observational and modelling infrastructure, leveraging on existing initiatives, for better predicting and managing flood disaster impacts and flood risk.

It has wide buy-in from international organisations, including the European Commission, World Meteorological Organisation, UNISDR, World Bank, World Food Program, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, as it is complementary with existing efforts and has the  specific goal of bridging the gap between science and operational/policy needs. In fact, within the coming months the GFP will be delivering daily information on upcoming and ongoing floods to a wide range of different end users including the European Emergency Response Coordination Centre, the World Food Program, national services and private industry. From the scientific point of view, it is the only forum where the meteorological, hydrological, remote sensing and disaster management communities meet to discuss floods at global level, and is attended by top scientists from Europe, America, Asia and Africa.

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New PhD Opportunity

University of Reading Co-Funded PhD available

Supervised by Dr Joanna Clark, Dr Liz Shaw, Prof Chris Evans (CEH), Dr Rob Griffiths (CEH).

Project based at CEH Bangor for Year 1 and 2, working on an established field experiment, and University of Reading for Year 3 for controlled laboratory experiments.

Closing date for applications: 14th March 2014

Open to EU applicants.