Geography research

We offer a vibrant, dynamic and supportive research community, increasingly focused on the four research clusters listed below. All staff are equally valued, supported and encouraged, which can be seen in the breadth and depth of our publications and research grants. Researchers and MPhil/PhD students funded from numerous sources are also a growing part of our community.

Facilities for research range from internal seedcorn funding to software licences for ArcGIS and other important analytical tools, our own dedicated palaeoecology laboratory and shared laboratory space with the School of Natural Sciences.

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Study for an MPhil/PhD

Congratulations: outstanding REF2021 result

78% internationally excellent or world-leading outputs. 62.5% internationally excellent for environment.

Research clusters

Cities, Housing and Home Research Cluster

Our research focuses on cities, housing and home in the global South and North.

International Development and Social Justice research cluster

Our research investigates the dynamics between social justice and international development.

Environment, landscape and climate change research cluster

We explore our changing environments and climates at different scales, to understand the past and plan for the future.

Geo-analytics and Modelling Group

We use quantitative and computational methods to investigate social and natural phenomena, including urban dynamics, crime, and coastal erosion.

Recent FUNDED RESEARCH

BLUE coast

We aim to improve our understanding of processes controlling the dynamics of our coastal systems.

A long-term perspective on insect armageddon

We aim to use information stored in lake sediment records to better understand the recent decline in insects.

Reconstructing the past #NAJAFSEA

Was the Najaf Sea in Iraq larger in the past? When and what was it like?

Sunrise

How do long-term patterns in climate-related hazards impact climate resilience in island communities in Scotland, Mauritius and Fiji?

Learning Cultures in rural West Africa (DEVI)

Our project wants to understand the local epistemologies and pedagogies of childhood education and make these visible to school educators and policymakers.

Improving teaching and learning in English-medium schools in Ethiopia (TEMARI)

Our project will investigate the capacity of translanguaging resources to improve students' learning outcomes after transitioning to English-medium schools in the Amhara region.

Home-City Spaces of Care

This project seeks to understand and document experiences and strategies of urban homemaking and networks of care with people seeking asylum and refugees in London.

OUR PLACE IN THE WORLD

We seek to engage with and learn from stakeholders in various fields in order to co-produce knowledge that will bring about change. We are particularly committed to addressing issues of social justice and environmental sustainability, for example in our REF2021 impact case studies addressing the experiences of diaspora communities of Chilean political prisoners and understanding coastal sediment transport in the context of adapting to future climate change. Our aim is to both influence policy and benefit people at the grassroots, being involved in processes of change at a local level.

Key partners that we have worked with in the past year are the World Bank, the International Union for Nature Conservation, the Ordnance Survey, the Environment Agency, the Arts Council England, the Association of Independent Museums, the Norfolk and Suffolk Coastal Partnership East, Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), the Greater London Authority (GLA) and SmartWater Technologies (SWT). We have also worked with various NGOs such as the refugee supper club, Stories & Supper, youth theatre Immediate Theatre, Eurodad (European Network on Debt and Development) Vidyanagar Nature Club in Gujarat, HelpAge International (HAI), Age International (AI), the Haringey Fairness Commission, Plan International and the Bretton Woods Project.