GEOGRAPHICAL ASSOCIATION
BERKHAMSTED BRANCH PROGRAMME 2015–16
Wednesday 16September 2015, 7pm Centenary Theatre, Berkhamsted School
Laura Hanson:Where on Earth are we?
Laura Hansonis GIS (Geographical Information Systems) Teaching Support Officer at Newcastle University’s School of Civil engineering and Geosciences. Her exciting presentation will introduce the world of surveying, satellite imagery, GIS and GPS, showcasing the technical aspects of Geography. Students will learn how these leading-edge technologies relate to real-life concepts they are familiar with, such as smart phone technology and Google maps, and shows that there are other University options available to Geography enthusiasts!Laura will explain how GIS is increasingly being utilised in industries ranging from specialist land, air and offshore mapping companies, civil engineering, local government and oil exploration.
Thursday19November 2015, 7pm Centenary Theatre, Berkhamsted School
Professor Martyn Tranter: Biological darkening of the Greenland Ice Sheet - sea level rise to quicken?
Martyn Tranter isProfessor of Polar Biogeochemistry at the University of Bristol’s School of Geographical Sciences. Martyn is project leader of a major new study into factors that are influencing the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet.Global warming alone is not enough to account for the increasingly rapid melting of Greenland’s ice sheet. Other factors are darkening the ice sheet surface, which results in greater rates of melting. The collaborative research project will investigate how microbes thrive on melting snow and ice surfaces, and darken the ice sheet surface as a consequence. Biological and physical changes at the ice surface affect its reflectivity, or ‘albedo’, which is now recognised as a key determinant of melt rates on Greenland’s ice sheet, under any future climate. Understanding these changes is critical because of their impact on meltwater production, which contributes to predicted sea level rise over the coming decades. Martyn has spent many field seasons in the Arctic and Antarctic. In 2011 he received the Polar Medal ‘for extreme human endeavour against the appalling weather and conditions that exist in the Arctic and Antarctic’.
Tuesday 19 January 2016, 7pm Centenary Theatre, Berkhamsted School
Dr Benjamin Hennig:Visualisations of the Anthropocene – investigating humanity’s impact on the Earth
Ben Hennig joined Oxford University’s School of Geography and the Environment in September 2013 as a senior research fellow. He works on spatial data analysis and geovisualisation. His research interests include social and spatial inequalities, humanity's impact on Earth, global sustainability and new concepts for the visualisation of these issues.Ben was educated at the Universities of Cologne and Bonn and the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research. After working as a research assistant and departmental lecturer in human and urban geography at the Urban and Social Geography Working Group of the Department of Geography, University of Cologne (Germany) he joined the Social and Spatial Inequalities Research Group at the University of Sheffield (UK) in 2008 where he completed his PhD in 2011 as part of the Worldmapper project with research on visualising the social dimensions of our planet. He then worked as a research assistant and then as a senior research fellow at the Department of Geography in Sheffield before he joined the University of Oxford.Further information about his work can be found on his personal website:
All lectures are held in the Centenary Theatre of Berkhamsted School (Kings Campus), Kings Road, Berkhamsted, HP4 3BG. Entry is free.