The School of Geography is part of the Faculty of Environment at The University of Leeds based in the UK.

History

University of Leeds (4th May 2010) 039 (brighter)

The University of Leeds was one of the earliest British universities to establish a school of geography 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. The School of Geography is now spread over the Garstang Building, the Irene Manton Building, and the LC Miall Building, all in close neighbourhood in the southern part of the main campus. A celebrated historical geographer,

Robin Butlin Robin Alan Butlin (born 1938) is emeritus professor of geography, and visiting research fellow, based in the School of Geography, University of Leeds, School of Geography at the University of Leeds. Robin was a professor of historical geography a ...

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 Danny Dorling (born 16 January 1968) is a British social geographer. Since 2013, he has been Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography of the School of Geography and the Environment of the University of Oxford. He is also a visiting professor ...

and

Stan Openshaw Stan Openshaw (10 August, 1946 – 19 May, 2022) was a 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 t ...

; Martine Croxall and Piers Sellers. Other notable people are still based there albeit in an emeritus capacity including

, Mike Kirkby and Phil Rees.

Teaching

One of the larger geography departments in the UK, with over 600 single honours undergraduate students, 55 masters students and 60 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 Studies 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.

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, it was ranked in the top six geography departments in the UK and awarded an 'Excellent' grading by

HEFCE The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engla ...

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 ecology, paleogeography, and global scale modelling research. * The Centre for Spatial Analysis and Policy (CSAP) research cluster is active in

retail geography Retail geography, or geography of retailing, 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 as a result of the use of geographic information sy ...

geodemographics Geodemography is the study of people based on where they live.; it links the sciences of demography, the study of human population dynamics, and geography, the study of the locational and spatial variation of both physical and human phenomena on Ear ...

, demographic modelling,

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...

, 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 Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

, consumption,

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

and

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

research * The Citizenship and Belonging research cluster is active in citizenship,

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

, and

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

research On-going research is examining major world cities and some of the remotest places on earth including the Arctic and

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

and within the depths of the tropical rainforest. Water@leeds is a multimillion-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

lives on in the school with the flame carried by those members of the

Centre for Computational Geography The Centre for Computational Geography (CCG) 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 mo ...

(CCG) - an inter-disciplinary university research centre concerned with the development and application of tools for analysis, visualisation and modelling geographical

systems A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...

. 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 Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

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 A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

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 and research staff, 60 research postgraduate students and a team of professional support staff in 2011. The current Head of School is Robert M. Vanderbeck. Previous incumbents include David Bell, Gill Valentine, Adrian McDonald, Graham Clarke, John Stillwell, Phil Rees, Mike Kirkby and Alan Wilson.

Alumni

Alumni include: Piers Sellers, NASA astronaut; Simon Rix, bassist of Leeds-based band the Kaiser Chiefs; Jon Hammond, gold, silver and bronze medal winner in the men's 50m shooting at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

in Delhi, Martine Croxall, BBC journalist and presenter and the Most Reverend Alan Harper, Archbishop of Armagh (appointed an OBE for services to conservation). The School keeps in touch with alumni through the Alumni Newsletter, Facebook and the School of Geography website. Graduates are known to have gone on to find positions in the following areas: environmental management, management and consultancy, GIS, government and NGOs, financial services and further study.

References

External links

School of Geography website
{{DEFAULTSORT:School Of Geography, University Of Leeds University of Leeds Geography departments in the United Kingdom