School of Geography, University of Leeds
Encyclopedia
The School of Geography is part of the Faculty of Environment at The University of Leeds based in the UK. It is a teaching and research organisation that disseminates information and curates knowledge on diverse geographical topics.
in 1919. Various types of geography, including commercial geography, had been taught at the Yorkshire College (which preceded the University of Leeds) and in the university economics
department before 1919. This reflects an earlier and broader European interest in the use of geographical knowledge as an aid to national and international trade. The early, inter-war years were characterized by small numbers of staff and honours students, very few research students, and limited resources and range of topics covered. The school has generally expanded over the years and in 2011 has about 70 members of academic staff and a large number of research students studying a broad spectrum of geographical topics.
A celebrated historical geographer, Robin Butlin
has developed a history of the school and presented this twice at anniversary celebrations. Hopefully some of this material will become linked here in due course. (Unfortunately neither of these presentations were video recorded.)
In the recent past the school was the hub of a major glaciology
research group headed by Tavi Murray
now based at the University of Swansea.
Various notable people have worked or studied in the school including: Danny Dorling
and Stan Openshaw
; Martine Croxall
and Piers Sellers
. Other notable people are still based there albeit in an emeritus capacity including Robin Butlin
, Mike Kirkby
and Phil Rees
.
and the School of Earth and Environment. A range of geography elective modules are available for students from any discipline undertaking courses at Leeds.
It offers a number of MA, MSc and MRes courses, including both vocationally orientated and research-focused courses. Many of these courses are also available as Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) or Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) courses and are also available under the part-time study scheme. In addition to face-to-face taught programmes, the GIS programme is available as a flexible, part-time, on-line distance learning programme in which students can structure their study around other commitments.
PhD research at the school attracts students from around the world. The postgraduate research community is broadly divided among the five research clusters. Each of these maintain a list of topics they are interested in supervising. In addition to those listed, the school welcomes applications from prospective students that detail their own ideas for research in a proposal form.
In the 2008 RAE exercise
, it was ranked in the top six geography departments in the UK and awarded an 'Excellent' grading by HEFCE for the quality of its teaching, which is research-led. 70% of its research activity was judged to be 'internationally leading' or 'internationally excellent'.
It currently has five research clusters about which the school administration and teaching is organised:
On-going research is examining major world cities and some of the remotest places on earth including the Arctic
and Antarctic
and within the depths of the tropical rainforest
.
LIVEDIFFERENCE was awarded €2.2 million in 2010 by the European Research Council
to research ‘Living with difference in Europe: making communities out of strangers in an era of super-mobility and super-diversity.
Water@leeds is a multi-million-pound university centre led by Joseph Holden.
Global alliances of forest researchers in South America (RAINFOR) and in Africa (AfriTRON) are led by Oliver Phillips and Simon Lewis.
The spirit of Stan Openshaw
lives on in the school with the flame carried by those members of the Centre for Computational Geography
(CCG) - an inter-disciplinary university research centre concerned with the development and application of tools for analysis, visualisation
and modelling geographical systems. Set up with £8 thousand in 1993, the CCG sustains itself via collaboration on a diverse range of research projects and is directed by Andy Evans.
Facilities at the school include a suite of teaching and research laboratories dedicated to soil
, water
and pollen
research. There are field equipment stores, cold rooms and DEFRA approved soil rooms. For work in the field, the school has a 110 Land Rover Defender and a Skoda 4x4 estate vehicle. To support their GIS and computing activities they have a 24-hour cluster with provision for 25 students. The school has a range or audio visual equipment available to hire.
and Alan Wilson.
, NASA astronaut, Simon Rix
, bassist of Leeds based band the Kaiser Chiefs
, Jon Hammond, who won a gold in the men's 50m shooting at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
in Delhi, Martine Croxall
, BBC News Reader and the most Reverend Alan Harper
, Archbishop of Armagh (awarded an OBE for services to conservation).
For many years attempts have been made to keep in touch with alumni through an Alumni Newsletter. In 2011 a Facebook 'University of Leeds Geography Alumni' group has been set up to help develop the network of alumni. There is also an alumni page on the School of Geography web site.
Graduates are known to have gone on to find positions in the following areas:
Environmental management
Management and consultancy
Using GIS
Government and NGOs
Financial
Further study and training
History
The University of Leeds was one of the earliest British universities to establish a school of geographyGeography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
in 1919. Various types of geography, including commercial geography, had been taught at the Yorkshire College (which preceded the University of Leeds) and in the university economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
department before 1919. This reflects an earlier and broader European interest in the use of geographical knowledge as an aid to national and international trade. The early, inter-war years were characterized by small numbers of staff and honours students, very few research students, and limited resources and range of topics covered. The school has generally expanded over the years and in 2011 has about 70 members of academic staff and a large number of research students studying a broad spectrum of geographical topics.
A celebrated historical geographer, Robin Butlin
Robin Butlin
Robin Butlin is emeritus professor of geography, and visiting research fellow, based in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds. Robin was a professor of historical geography and started work at Leeds in 1998 as a visiting professor of geography after working as principal and professor...
has developed a history of the school and presented this twice at anniversary celebrations. Hopefully some of this material will become linked here in due course. (Unfortunately neither of these presentations were video recorded.)
In the recent past the school was the hub of a major glaciology
Glaciology
Glaciology Glaciology Glaciology (from Middle French dialect (Franco-Provençal): glace, "ice"; or Latin: glacies, "frost, ice"; and Greek: λόγος, logos, "speech" lit...
research group headed by Tavi Murray
Tavi Murray
Tavi Murray is a glaciologist, one of only 8 women to have won the Polar Medal.-Education:After school in Twickenham Murray gained a First Class Honours degree in Physics and Computer Science from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth...
now based at the University of Swansea.
Various notable people have worked or studied in the school including: Danny Dorling
Danny Dorling
Daniel Dorling, frequently referred to as Danny Dorling, is Professor of Human Geography at the University of Sheffield. He is also a Professor at University of Canterbury and in the Department of Social Medicine of the University of Bristol.-Biography:...
and Stan Openshaw
Stan Openshaw
Stan Openshaw is a retired British geographer. His last post was professor of human geography based in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds. After eighteen years at Newcastle University, including three years as professor of quantitative geography, he moved to work in Leeds in 1992...
; Martine Croxall
Martine Croxall
Martine Sarah Croxall is an English journalist and television news presenter.-Education:Croxall was educated at St Margaret's, Church of England Primary School in the village of Stoke Golding, Leicestershire. The school is situated near to the exact place where King Henry VII was crowned...
and Piers Sellers
Piers Sellers
Piers John Sellers OBE is a British-born Anglo-American meteorologist and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three space shuttle missions....
. Other notable people are still based there albeit in an emeritus capacity including Robin Butlin
Robin Butlin
Robin Butlin is emeritus professor of geography, and visiting research fellow, based in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds. Robin was a professor of historical geography and started work at Leeds in 1998 as a visiting professor of geography after working as principal and professor...
, Mike Kirkby
Mike Kirkby
Mike Kirkby is a British geographer and emeritus professor of physical geography based at the University of Leeds.Mike became a professor of physical geography at the University of Leeds in 1973 and was Head of Department for the School of Geography for three terms, from 1978 to 1981, from 1984 to...
and Phil Rees
Phil Rees (academic)
Professor Phillip Howell Rees FRGS, FBA, CBE is a British population geographer and demographer. He is currently Emeritus Professor of Population Geography at the University of Leeds.-Biography:...
.
Teaching
One of the larger geography departments in the UK, with over 600 single honours undergraduate students, 70 masters students and 50 research postgraduate students in 2011. It offers a range of BA and BSc undergraduate programmes some offered in conjunction with other university departments, including, the Institute for Transport Studiesand the School of Earth and Environment. A range of geography elective modules are available for students from any discipline undertaking courses at Leeds.
It offers a number of MA, MSc and MRes courses, including both vocationally orientated and research-focused courses. Many of these courses are also available as Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) or Postgraduate Certificate (PGCert) courses and are also available under the part-time study scheme. In addition to face-to-face taught programmes, the GIS programme is available as a flexible, part-time, on-line distance learning programme in which students can structure their study around other commitments.
PhD research at the school attracts students from around the world. The postgraduate research community is broadly divided among the five research clusters. Each of these maintain a list of topics they are interested in supervising. In addition to those listed, the school welcomes applications from prospective students that detail their own ideas for research in a proposal form.
Research
Its aim is to be at the forefront of research, helping to tackle major social, political and environmental challenges associated with global change.In the 2008 RAE exercise
Research Assessment Exercise
The Research Assessment Exercise is an exercise undertaken approximately every 5 years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British higher education institutions...
, it was ranked in the top six geography departments in the UK and awarded an 'Excellent' grading by HEFCE for the quality of its teaching, which is research-led. 70% of its research activity was judged to be 'internationally leading' or 'internationally excellent'.
It currently has five research clusters about which the school administration and teaching is organised:
- The Ecology and Global Change research cluster is active in tropical ecologyTropical ecologyTropical ecology is the relationship between plants and animals in a tropical environment , these mean the area between tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn. Day and night last here approximately 12 hours. Characteristic for tropical zone is at least one day of right angle sun shining. High...
, paleogeography, and global scale modelling research. - The Centre for Spatial Analysis and Policy (CSAP) research cluster is active in retail geographyRetail geographyRetail Geography is the study of where to place retail stores based on where their customers are. The use of retail geography has grown significantly in the past decade due to the use of geographic information systems .-See also:*Marketing geography...
, geodemographics, demographic modellingDemographyDemography is the statistical study of human population. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic human population, that is, one that changes over time or space...
, wildernessWildernessWilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...
, and city and regional planning research. - The River Basin Processes and Management research cluster is active in peatland, uplands, stream ecology, and glacial outburst flood research.
- The Cities and Social Justice research cluster is active in neoliberal, consumption, sustainabilitySustainabilitySustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
and activismActivismActivism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
research - The Citizenship and Belonging research cluster is active in citizenshipCitizenshipCitizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
, diasporaDiasporaA diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
, ethnicity, and sexualityHuman sexualityHuman sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
research
On-going research is examining major world cities and some of the remotest places on earth including the Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
and Antarctic
Antarctic
The Antarctic is the region around the Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica and the ice shelves, waters and island territories in the Southern Ocean situated south of the Antarctic Convergence...
and within the depths of the tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforest
A tropical rainforest is an ecosystem type that occurs roughly within the latitudes 28 degrees north or south of the equator . This ecosystem experiences high average temperatures and a significant amount of rainfall...
.
LIVEDIFFERENCE was awarded €2.2 million in 2010 by the European Research Council
European Research Council
The European Research Council is the independent body that funds investigator-driven frontier research in the European Union . It is part of the Seventh Research Framework Programme ....
to research ‘Living with difference in Europe: making communities out of strangers in an era of super-mobility and super-diversity.
Water@leeds is a multi-million-pound university centre led by Joseph Holden.
Global alliances of forest researchers in South America (RAINFOR) and in Africa (AfriTRON) are led by Oliver Phillips and Simon Lewis.
The spirit of Stan Openshaw
Stan Openshaw
Stan Openshaw is a retired British geographer. His last post was professor of human geography based in the School of Geography at the University of Leeds. After eighteen years at Newcastle University, including three years as professor of quantitative geography, he moved to work in Leeds in 1992...
lives on in the school with the flame carried by those members of the Centre for Computational Geography
Centre for Computational Geography
The Centre for Computational Geography is an inter-disciplinary research centre based at the University of Leeds. The CCG was founded in 1993 by Stan Openshaw and Phil Rees, and builds on over 40 years experience in spatial analysis and modelling within the School of Geography...
(CCG) - an inter-disciplinary university research centre concerned with the development and application of tools for analysis, visualisation
Information visualization
Information visualization is the interdisciplinary study of "the visual representation of large-scale collections of non-numerical information, such as files and lines of code in software systems, library and bibliographic databases, networks of relations on the internet, and so forth".- Overview...
and modelling geographical systems. Set up with £8 thousand in 1993, the CCG sustains itself via collaboration on a diverse range of research projects and is directed by Andy Evans.
Facilities at the school include a suite of teaching and research laboratories dedicated to soil
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
, water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
and pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
research. There are field equipment stores, cold rooms and DEFRA approved soil rooms. For work in the field, the school has a 110 Land Rover Defender and a Skoda 4x4 estate vehicle. To support their GIS and computing activities they have a 24-hour cluster with provision for 25 students. The school has a range or audio visual equipment available to hire.
Staff
There are around 70 academic staff and a team of professional support staff in 2011. The current Head of School is Gill Valentine who took up post in August 2010. Gill succeeded Adrian Bailey. Previous incumbents include Adrian McDonald, Graham Clarke, John Stillwell, Mike KirkbyMike Kirkby
Mike Kirkby is a British geographer and emeritus professor of physical geography based at the University of Leeds.Mike became a professor of physical geography at the University of Leeds in 1973 and was Head of Department for the School of Geography for three terms, from 1978 to 1981, from 1984 to...
and Alan Wilson.
Alumni
Alumni include: Piers SellersPiers Sellers
Piers John Sellers OBE is a British-born Anglo-American meteorologist and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of three space shuttle missions....
, NASA astronaut, Simon Rix
Simon Rix
James Simon Rix is the bass player for popular British band Kaiser Chiefs and is famous for his large curly hair which has led to the nickname 'Jesus' by fans and 'curlywand' amongst friends.. He went to school at St...
, bassist of Leeds based band the Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs
Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 1996. They were named after the South African football club Kaizer Chiefs....
, Jon Hammond, who won a gold in the men's 50m shooting at the 2010 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
in Delhi, Martine Croxall
Martine Croxall
Martine Sarah Croxall is an English journalist and television news presenter.-Education:Croxall was educated at St Margaret's, Church of England Primary School in the village of Stoke Golding, Leicestershire. The school is situated near to the exact place where King Henry VII was crowned...
, BBC News Reader and the most Reverend Alan Harper
Alan Harper (archbishop)
Alan Edwin Thomas Harper, OBE is the Church of Ireland's Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland. He assumed office on 2 February 2007 and was ceremonially enthroned on 16 March 2007. He is the first English-born Irish primate since the Disestablishment of the Church of Ireland in 1869...
, Archbishop of Armagh (awarded an OBE for services to conservation).
For many years attempts have been made to keep in touch with alumni through an Alumni Newsletter. In 2011 a Facebook 'University of Leeds Geography Alumni' group has been set up to help develop the network of alumni. There is also an alumni page on the School of Geography web site.
Graduates are known to have gone on to find positions in the following areas:
Environmental management
- Conservation
- Land and water management
- Public utilities
Management and consultancy
- Transport planning and consultancy
- Graduate training schemes in multinational companies
- IT and business consultancy
Using GIS
- Retail planning
- Direct marketing
- GIS companies
Government and NGOs
- Local government administration
- Civil service (police, armed forces)
- Regional and overseas development
Financial
- Banking
- Insurance
- Financial services
Further study and training
- Vocational Masters
- PhD study
- Teacher training / conversion courses