News
February 2013
Housing providers need a new 'entrepreneurial' spirit
Tuesday 05 February 2013
Research by the University of St Andrews and a group of international practitioners says radical thinking is needed to shape a new, entrepreneurial and thriving rental housing sector. The current crisis is crushing the housing hopes of many poorer and younger households and holding back community renewal while, according to the study, the drive for 21st century homes is being hampered by 20th century housing thinking.
December 2012
Whatever Happened to the Guillemots?
Friday 14 December 2012
St Andrews undergraduate Sustainable Development students got more than they bargained for attending the SD2001 module field trip at West Sands beach.
PhD Studentships
Friday 07 December 2012
6 fully and partly funded PhD studentships available starting September 2013. The deadline for expressions of interest is 18 January 2013.
DGSD students win RWE npower 'Future Leaders' challenge
Tuesday 04 December 2012
A team of students from St Andrews University have won the RWE npower 'Future Leaders' Challenge.
Geography undergraduates attend the RGS Explore weekend
Tuesday 04 December 2012
The RGS Explore weekend is the annual expedition fieldwork and planning weekend organised by the Geography Outdoors team at the Royal Geographical Society in London.
November 2012
Registration open for ESRC seminar series - The Big Society, Localism and Housing Policy
Thursday 29 November 2012
The seminar is convened by Professor John Flint and Dr Ed Ferrari from the University of Sheffield and is the first of three events in the Economic and Social Research Council-funded seminar series The Big Society, Localism and Housing Policy led by Dr Kim McKee of the University of St Andrews.
Centre for Population Change (CPC) to contribute to ESRCs Future of Scotland Project
Monday 19 November 2012
As part of the ESRC's Future of Scotland Project, CPC have been successful in bidding for additional funding for a new programme of work that is directly relevant to the overall Future of Scotland Project's aims.
Chair of Foraminiferal Group announced
Thursday 15 November 2012
Dr William Austin (Reader in Physical Geography) has recently been appointed as Chair of the Foraminiferal Group.
Mud, mud, glorious mud!
Thursday 01 November 2012
Final year geographers (GG4224) visited a local saltmarsh on the Eden Estuary as part of a new advanced topic in Physical Geography: A field-based introduction to reconstructing sea-level change.
October 2012
PhD studentship in GeoInformatics and Housing research
Wednesday 31 October 2012
The Centre for GeoInformatics is looking for a PhD student to work on development of new analysis and/or visualisation methods for long-term Scottish housing data.
Dr Tim Stojanovic appointed Vice-Chair of the Royal Geographical Society Coastal and Marine Research Group.
Monday 29 October 2012
Dr Tim Stojanovic, Lecturer in Geography and Sustainable Development, has been appointed Vice-Chair of the Royal Geographical Society Coastal and Marine Research Group.
First Year Geography Field Class - Dundee
Monday 29 October 2012
The first year geographers (GG1001) took their second field class of the semester to Dundee on Saturday 13th of October.
First Year Geography Field Class - Arthur's Seat
Tuesday 02 October 2012
First year students taking GG1001 - the Physical Geography Field Class - enjoyed the sunshine this past weekend as they visited the Hill of Tarvit in Fife and Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh.
Death of Professor Neil Smith, 1954-2012
Monday 01 October 2012
Neil Smith, Distinguished Professor of Geography and Anthropology and founding Director of the Center for Place, Culture and Politics at the City University of New York (CUNY) and a graduate of St Andrews University, died in New York on 29 September 2012.
European Funding: Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM)
Monday 01 October 2012
Dr William Austin (Reader in Physical Geography) has been awarded funding support via the European COST* action INTIMATE (Integrating Ice Core, Marine and Terrestrial Records) network for a new project: "A quantitative Sea Surface Temperature reconstruction of the GS-9 to GI-8 abrupt warming transition in the North Atlantic".
September 2012
St Andrews researchers in the Baltic Sea
Friday 28 September 2012
Dr William Austin (Reader in Physical Geography) and Dr David McCarthy (Research and Teaching Fellow in Physical Geography) recently joined a research cruise to the Baltic Sea abord the Swedish Research Vessel Skagerak, accompanying colleagues from the University of Lund, Sweden (Dr Helena Filipsson) and the University of Bremen, Germany (Dr Jeroen Groeneveld).
Dr Austin collaborating with researchers at UNIS in Svalbard
Monday 24 September 2012
Dr Austin has been collaborating with researchers at UNIS, notably Dr Riko Noormets, to unravel the marine climate history of the high Arctic and the north Svalbard margin in particular.
Geography graduate Charlotte Owen wins Most Enterprising Environmental Student
Friday 21 September 2012
Geography graduate Charlotte Owen, who spent the summer working for James Donaldson and Sons in Leven, was announced Most Enterprising Environmental Student 2011.
August 2012
ESRC Seminar Series Website Launched by the Centre for Housing Research
Friday 24 August 2012
The Centre for Housing Research at the University of St Andrews has launched the website for its new seminar series: "The Big Society, Localism and Housing Policy".
July 2012
CPC Event on Innovative Perspectives on Population Mobility
Wednesday 11 July 2012
The Centre for Population Change in partnership with the RGS-IGB Population Geography Research Group hosted a successful event 2-3rd July on 'Innovative Perspectives on Population mobility'.
CHR Researchers Organise Sessions at RGS-IGB Conference
Tuesday 10 July 2012
Drs Darja Reuschke and David McCollum, research fellows based within the St Andrew's Centre for Housing Research, organised two sessions on spatial and job mobility at the RGS-IBG conference in Edinburgh 3-5 July 2012.
Reuschke Presents Paper at ENHR Conference
Tuesday 10 July 2012
Dr Reuschke presented the paper "Housing equity, mortgage crisis and entrepreneurship in the UK" at the annual international conference of the European Network for Housing Research (ENHR).
Present Government housing policies leave families exposed and vulnerable according to new St Andrew's study
Friday 06 July 2012
The problems with gaps in housing wealth faced by property owners, first time buyers and renters was outlined by academics at the launch of a major new research project on Tuesday 3 July 2012 in Edinburgh. The £0.7m project, led by Dr Beverley Searle of the Universitys Centre for Housing Research (CHR), will investigate the growing gaps in housing wealth and their consequences for the social and economic wellbeing of families in Britain.
June 2012
Population Space and Place climbs journal rankings
Friday 29 June 2012
Population Space and Place, a journal co-edited by Geography and Sustainable Developments Head of Department, Professor Allan Findlay, has been ranked third in demography according to the latest ISI impact factor data
EPSRC Workshop run by the Centre for Geoinformatics
Friday 06 July 2012
On Wednesday 27th June the newly established Centre for Geoinformatics at the University of St Andrews organised a workshop entitled "GeoInformatics: extending ICT research across academic disciplines", sponsored by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
Housing Experts Call for Radical Shift in Affordable Housing Policy
Friday 06 July 2012
A working party of international experts, organised by the University of St Andrews, is calling for a radical shift in the ways in which providers of social and affordable housing for rent are financed, organised and involved in housing policies. Delegates from Scotland, England, Australia, Norway and Canada have been involved in a two-year programme of knowledge exchange led by the University's Centre for Housing Research (CHR).
May 2012
Dr William Austin rejoins the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Peer Review College
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Dr William Austin (Reader in Physical Geography) is to rejoin the NERC Peer Review College in July 2012.
Heinrich Events: Land, Ice and Ocean
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Dr William Austin (Reader in Physical Geography) is to give the opening keynote lecture at a meeting on Heinrich Events at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton in June 2012.
Dr Ioan Fazey contributes to workshop on Climate Sensitivity on Decadal to Century Timescales: Implications for Civilization
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Dr Ioan Fazey (Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Development) was invited and contributed to the 5 day workshop with 20 other world renowned ecological, climatological, and social science/humanities experts to discuss Climate sensitivity on decadal to century timescales: implications for civilization, hosted by the Aspen Global Change Institute in Colorado.
Dr Ioan Fazey secures funding as Co-I on the National Ecosystem Assessment
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Dr Ioan Fazey (Senior Lecturer in Sustaiable Development) has been successful as a Co-I in securing funding for a project with researchers from Aberdeen (Dr Mark Reed and Jasper Kenter) and elsewhere on the National Ecosystem Assessment: Shared, cultural and plural values with £200K funded jointly by from DEFRA/NERC/EHRC/AHRC.
Housing in Hard Times: special issue edited by McKee and Muir
Monday 28 May 2012
A new special issue on the theme of Housing in Hard Times: marginality, inequality and class, has been published (online early) by the journal Housing Theory and Society.
Mind the (Housing) Wealth Gap Project Website Launches
Thursday 24 May 2012
The Mind the (Housing) Wealth Gap project, a 3 year research programme funded by the Leverhulme Foundation to investigate inter-generational justice and housing wealth, has launched its website.
Phoebe Mottram, undergraduate student awarded Henrietta Hutton Research Grant and Norman Kemp Travel Scholarship
Monday 21 May 2012
Congratulations to Phoebe Mottram, a third year BSc student in the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, who has been awarded the Royal Geographical Societys Henrietta Hutton Research Grant and the University of St Andrews Norman Kemp Travel Scholarship to support her undergraduate dissertation research.
Ivan Delev, MSc student awarded a research grant from the Eaga Charitable Trust
Wednesday 16 May 2012
Congratulations to Ivan Delev, an MSc student in the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, who has been awarded a research grant from the Eaga Charitable Trust to conduct his research entitled: "Fuel poverty and the re-emergence of wood as a sustainable source of energy in Fife, Scotland and beyond."
McCauley invited to join pan-academic expert Nuclear Consulting Group (NCG)
Wednesday 09 May 2012
The NCG group comprises many leading academics and experts. It is collectively concerned at the current ambition of the planned new-build Nuclear Renaissance in Britain.
McKee leads cross-national discussion on The Big Society, Localism & Housing Policy
Wednesday 09 May 2012
Dr Kim McKee of the Centre for Housing Research, St Andrews, together with prominent academics from leading UK Universities, has secured funding for a series of seminars to explore the impact of the coalition governments localism agenda on housing policy across the UK.
Should a Sustainable Green Future include Nuclear?
Tuesday 08 May 2012
Dr McCauley begins a five year EPSRC [EP/I035390/1] sponsored project (2012-2017) to explore the Future of Nuclear Power with a presentation in Liverpool on Wednesday 9th May.
Celebrating undergraduate success: SD dissertation conference
Thursday 03 May 2012
On Friday 27th April, the Sustainable Development final year undergraduate students presented their dissertations at this years conference.
McKee interviewed by Inside Housing
Thursday 03 May 2012
Dr Kim McKee was interviewed by Inside Housing about her recent research on Housing Associations and the Big Society, which focused on the role of community-controlled housing associations as anchor organisations.
Laura Obermuller wins the Dudley Stamp Memorial Award and The Slawson Award
Tuesday 01 May 2012
Congratulations to Laura Obermuller, a PhD student in the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, who has won the the Dudley Stamp Memorial Award and The Slawson Award for 2012.
April 2012
McKee and Searle take up key roles in the Housing Studies Association
Thursday 03 May 2012
Drs Kim McKee and Beverley Searle from the Centre for Housing Research, St Andrews have been appointed to key roles within the Housing Studies Association (a UK Learned Society). Whilst Kim will be taking up the post of Secretary, Beverley will become the associations new Treasurer.
Big Society has much to learn from Scotlands Community Housing Sector
Friday 27 April 2012
In recent years, politicians across the UK have talked of helping communities to help themselves. Scotland already has a rich and diverse voluntary sector, together with a strong policy record on community ownership. In Housing Associations and the Big Society: Lessons from Scotlands community housing sector, Dr Kim McKee suggests there is much the rest of the UK can learn from this experience.
Simatele contributes to new book on Climate Change, Assets and Food Security
Friday 27 April 2012
Focusing on how increasing urbanisation and growing poverty levels impact upon climate change, asset accumulation and food security in Southern Africa.
Michael Musgrave wins Frederick Soddy Award
Wednesday 25 April 2012
Congratulations to Michael Musgrave, a PhD student in the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, who has won the 2012 Frederick Soddy Trust award, administered by the Royal Geographical Society.
McKee Contributes to New Book on Social Justice and Social Policy in Scotland
Sunday 22 April 2012
Policy Press has published a new book: Social Justice and Social Policy in Scotland. Edited by Dr Gerry Mooney and Prof. Gill Scott it offers a critical assessment of social policy in Scotland, a decade after the introduction of devolution.
Spatial, sectoral and temporal trends in A8 migration to the UK 2004-2011: evidence from the Worker Registration Scheme
Thursday 12 April 2012
The Best of Scottish Science 2012
Tuesday 10 April 2012
St Andrews researchers were represented by three of the seven exhibits selected for the Best of Scottish Science 2012 Exhibition at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh over the Easter vacation part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival.
Dr Emilia Ferraro Awarded British Academy grant
Tuesday 10 April 2012
Dr Emilia Ferraro has been awarded a British Academy small grant for explorative research that links money to bodiliness, the senses, and aesthetic visualities.
March 2012
Balcraig Foundation bursary awarded to Ezekiel Conteh (MSc Sustainable Development)
Thursday 22 March 2012
Congratulations to Ezekiel Conteh, who has been awarded a Balcraig Foundation bursary of £715 by the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development to enable him to carry out his dissertation project.
What does money have to do with aesthetics, the body and the Church?
Monday 19 March 2012
Dr Emilia Ferraro has been awarded a Carnegie Trust grant for an exploratory research into the aesthetic qualities of money as bodily ornaments.
NERC PhD Studentship Opportunities - deadline 12 March 2012
Monday 30 January 2012
The deadline for fully funded NERC PhD studentships for UK citizens in Physical Geography, Sustainable Development and Earth Sciences is 12 March 2012.
DGSD Honours Careers Event
Tuesday 13 March 2012
The department hosted a very successful careers event for Senior Honours students in Geography & Sustainable Development on Friday 9th March. Organised by Drs Louise Reid and Kim McKee in partnership with the Universitys Career Service, the event encouraged students to think about how to sell their degree-specific and transferable skills to future employers.
International Climate Change Project Funded
Thursday 08 March 2012
Congratulations to Jo Brendryen (University of Bergen, Norway) and partners (including Dr Bill Austin, Head of Department) who have recently secured funding (NOK 1m) for a new three-year project.
February 2012
Dr Kim McKee Invited to Roundtable Event at the JRF
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Dr Kim McKee was an invited participant to a roundtable event with Prof. Diane Coyle in York, organised by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on the 28th February.
New paper calls for a social avalanche of human behaviour towards more sustainable activities
Wednesday 29 February 2012
A new paper has been published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment that It demands changes in human behaviour for sustainability. Authors include Dr Ioan Fazey from the Department of Sustainable Development, and others from Germany, USA and Australia.
Tammy Davies awarded $4600 by The Lubee Bat Conservancy
Friday 24 February 2012
The Lubee Bat Conservancy has awarded $4600 to Tammy Davies, a PhD student based at the School to work in the Solomon Islands.
McKee delivers invited seminar at the University of Bristol
Wednesday 22 February 2012
Dr Kim McKee delivered an invited seminar presentation to the School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol on 21st February.
Centre for Housing Research Event: Challenges in Housing Scotland's People
Friday 17 February 2012
The Centre for Housing Research sponsored a one day roundtable event on February 3 to seek consensus on the housing issues that need urgent attention in Scotland.
Phones for Forests
Monday 13 February 2012
A new and innovative program, Phones for Forests, which aims to recycle old mobile phones for field data collection in African forests, has been implemented by researchers in the Department of Geography and Sustainable development.
The Best of Scottish Science 2012
Thursday 09 February 2012
Dr William Austin (Head of Department) and Ms Keziah Stott (SAGES PhD student), working in collaboration with Dr Robert Wilson (Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography), have been invited to present an exhibit: "Arctica islandica: The longest-lived animal on Earth" at the Best of Scottish Science exhibition at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh from 1-4 April, 2012.
January 2012
Burns Supper, School of Geography & Geoscience
Friday 17 February 2012
A gathering of school staff and postgraduate students, kindly organised by the students (and cooking the neeps, tatties and haggis) so thanks to them!
Professor Colin Hunter appointed to Research Councils Think Tank on Lifelong Health & Wellbeing
Friday 13 January 2012
Professor Colin Hunter, Professor of Sustainable Development & Geography, has been invited to join an MRC-led Think Tank on promoting physical activity in older adults. Outcomes from the Think Tank will inform specifications for future funding calls under the cross-Research Council Lifelong Health & Wellbeing Programme.
Tammy Davies awarded £6000 by The Rufford Small Grants Foundation
Friday 13 January 2012
The Rufford Small Grants Foundation has awarded £6000 to Tammy Davies, a PhD student based at the School, to conduct her innovative work in the Solomon Islands.
Dr Danny Simatele appointed as patron and international trustee for "Spin-farming Association in Sierra Leone"
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Dr Danny Simatele has been appointed as patron and international trustee for "Spin-farming Association in Sierra Leone".
Dr Gregory Borne elected to editorial board of Sociological Research Online
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Dr Gregory Borne has been elected to the editorial board of the Journal 'Sociological Research Online' a Sage publicatons Journal. Dr Borne joins a distinguished international editorial board where he will serve for three years.
St Andrews Professor Invited to Participate in Expert Group
Friday 06 January 2012
Prof. Allan Findlay has been invited to participate in the UK Higher Education Student Mobility Expert Group established by David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science.
December 2011
Sustainable Development Buckhaven Fieldtrip
Wednesday 11 January 2012
Dr Gregory Borne and third year sustainable development students visited the community of Buckhaven on the East Coast of Fife.
Duncan Maclennan to advise on new strategy to boost Scotlands cities
Friday 23 December 2011
Professor Duncan Maclennan, of the Centre for Housing Research at the University of St Andrews, will be advising the government on how to make the cities perform better.
Dan Clayton on Commemorating Saigon, 11 December 1961: a date on the dark side of history
Thursday 15 December 2011
US helicopters and their crews arrived in Saigon on December 11 1961, ostensibly to take South Vietnamese troops deep into the jungle to wage what US advisors deemed to be a new kind of war: guerrilla warfare. Many see this event as the start of the Vietnam War.
November 2011
Department Welcomes New Professors
Friday 06 January 2012
Three new Professors: Doug Benn (Physical Geography), Allan Findlay (Human Geography) and Stewart Fotheringham (Human Geography), were inducted at the recent St Andrews day university graduation ceremony on the 30th November.
Professor Allan Findlay delivers breakfast briefing on Climate Change & Migration
Friday 06 January 2012
On November 11th, Professor Allan Findlay delivered a breakfast briefing to civil servants and politicians at the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fund on the question "How will climate change impact on migration?"
ESPRC Funding for Knowledge Exchange Work
Tuesday 29 November 2011
An inter-discplinary team from the department of Geography & Sustainable Development has been successful in securing ESPRC funding for knowledge exchange work on Community energy transformation routes: developing visions and enabling decisions (CERT).
Dr Kim McKee in Inside Housing
Thursday 24 November 2011
Dr Kim McKee was interviewed for an Inside Housing article on proposed reforms to social housing regulation in Scotland.
Professor Colin Ballantyne addresses the First Scottish Geodiversity Forum
Monday 21 November 2011
On November 19th, Colin Ballantyne delivered an invited keynote address to the First Scottish Geodiversity Forum entitled Rock and Ice: geodiversity at landscape scale in Scotland.
Outreach work on dendrochronology
Saturday 19 November 2011
Dr Rob Wilson, delivered an invited presentation on Lurking Logs in Lochs: tree-rings, climate and the Northern Cairngorms at the Rothiemurchus Estate, Aviemore on the 18th November.
Dr Gregory Borne awarded membership of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors
Wednesday 16 November 2011
Dr Gregory Borne has been awarded membership of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)
Improving cell-sized thermometers: A new culturing initiative at the Scottish Oceans Institute (SOI), St Andrews
Wednesday 16 November 2011
An international team from Sweden, Germany and the UK are joining forces to address a significant challenge in palaeoclimate research: the need to both understand and reduce the uncertainty associated with palaeotemperature reconstructions.
St Andrews students reach final of npower Future Leaders Challenge
Tuesday 15 November 2011
Three students within the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development and a student in the School of Management have taken St Andrews to the finals of the npower Future Leaders Challenge for a third consecutive year.
McKee presents at Scottish Housing Conference
Friday 11 November 2011
Dr Kim McKee was an invited speaker at a workshop on Community Regeneration in Tough Times, at the annual conference of the Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations, which was held in the Radisson Hotel, Glasgow on November 11th.
October 2011
Human Geography fieldtrip to Dundee
Monday 31 October 2011
On Saturday 22nd October, first year geography students participated in a Human Geography fieldtrip to Dundee.
Dr William Austin appointed to MAREMAP
Monday 31 October 2011
Dr William Austin (Head of Department) has been appointed to the academic advisory board of MAREMAP.
Sustainable Development students visit Whitelee wind farm
Monday 31 October 2011
Third year sustainable development students visited Whitelee wind farm, the largest wind farm in Europe.
Carnegie Award for McKee
Thursday 20 October 2011
Dr Kim McKee has been awarded a Carnegie Small Grant for the project: "Community Based Housing Associations in Scotland: the epitome of the big society?"
September 2011
Professor Graeme Whittington retires from Emeritus Chair in Geography
Friday 02 September 2011
Graeme Whittington, who joined the Department of Geography at St Andrews in 1959, has retired from Emeritus Professorship after 52 years of service.
Wellcome Trust's Scottish Health Informatics Programme training workshop & inter-disciplinary Conference
Friday 02 September 2011
The Department of Geography and Sustainable Development organised and hosted two events in September for the Scottish Health Informatics Programme (SHIP) - the major Wellcome Trust funded investment in Scottish health informatics.
St Andrews researchers in the Arctic Ocean
Thursday 01 September 2011
William Austin (Head of Department) and Marion Kuhs (NERC PhD student) are currently aboard the Norwegian research vessel Helmer Hanssen returning from the north Svalbard margin, where they collected seabed samples up to 81°40'N.
Environmental Placement Programme Awards
Thursday 01 September 2011
Charlotte Owen, who graduated with a 2.1 MA Honours degree in Geography in June 2011, has won the final of the EPP awards in Edinburgh.
August 2011
Nuffield Science Bursary Project 2011: Calum Winter (Bell Baxter High School, Fife)
Wednesday 03 August 2011
Calum Winter, currently in his sixth year at Bell Baxter High School (Cupar, Fife), recently completed a successful Nuffield Science Bursary Project in the School of Geography and Geosciences, working alongside Dr William Austin (Head of Department) and Dr Robert Wilson (Senior Lecturer).
New research award on housing wealth & intergenerational justice
Tuesday 02 August 2011
The Centre for Housing Research has been awarded £0.7m in grant funding from the Leverhulme Trust.
July 2011
Carnegie Trust Award
Monday 25 July 2011
Holly Deary, a PhD student in the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development under the supervision of Dr Charles Warren, has been given an award by the Carnegie Trust for her project Return of the Wild: Evaluating the concepts and practice of rewilding in Scotland.
June 2011
Death of Dr Kay MacIver
Wednesday 15 June 2011
Dr Kay MacIver, a former Head of Geography, died on 15 June 2011 aged 90.
Spragge Conservation Scholarship
Monday 13 June 2011
Holly Deary, a PhD student in the Department of Geography and Sustainable Development under the supervision of Dr Charles Warren, has been awarded the 2011 2012 Spragge Conservation Scholarship.
GWSF response to Scottish Government's Regeneration Discussion Document
Saturday 11 June 2011
Glasgow and West of Scotland Forum of Housing Associations (GWSF) have launched their response to the Scottish Government's Regeneration Discussion Document: 'Building a Sustainable Future'.