The Department of

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

is one of the constituent departments of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and is located on the Downing Site. The department is consistently rated amongst the best Geography departments in the world, in rankings tables.

History

There is a long tradition of geography at Cambridge stretching back to the first University Lecturer in Geography, Henry Guillemard, appointed in 1888 which was funded by the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

, which was keen to promote the teaching of Geography at Oxford and Cambridge. Teaching was initially for a special examination leading to a diploma in geography. The Geographical

Tripos TRIPOS (''TRIvial Portable Operating System'') is a computer operating system. Development started in 1976 at the Computer Laboratory of Cambridge University and it was headed by Dr. Martin Richards. The first version appeared in January 1978 a ...

- the examination for a B.A. degree - was established in 1919. In 1931 the first professor was appointed and in 1933 the department moved into its own accommodation. That building, which now constitutes the eastern end of the department, was considerably extended in the 1930s, with the construction of new lecture theatres and laboratories. In the 1980s, the building was further extended with the addition of a top floor to provide a new laboratory for computing, remote sensing and geographical information systems. In 1999 the department expanded again, to occupy two floors in an adjacent building where new laboratories, seminar rooms and offices are housed. Since then, the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure (CAMPOP) has been integrated into the teaching and research activities of the Department (2001), and the

Scott Polar Research Institute The Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) is a centre for research into the polar regions and glaciology worldwide. It is a sub-department of the Department of Geography in the University of Cambridge, located on Lensfield Road in the south ...

became a sub-department in 2002. Today, the Department has 35 academic staff including ten professors and four readers.

Research

Research in the department is organised in the following thematic research groups: * Vital Geographies * Infrastructural Geographies * Geographies of Knowledge * Biogeography and Biogeomorphology * Climate and Environmental Dynamics * Glaciology and Glacial Geology

Notable alumni and staff

The department has produced a range of notable alumni, including

David Harvey David William Harvey (born 31 October 1935) is a British-American academic best known for Marxist analyses that focus on urban geography as well as the economy more broadly. He is a Distinguished Professor of anthropology and geography at t ...

, the world's most cited academic geographer, and winner of the Lauréat Prix International de Géographie Vautrin Lud. Other notable alumni and staff include: File:Richard Chorley.jpg, File:Frank Debenham.jpg, File:Sir Peter Hall.jpg, File:David Harvey2.jpg, File:James Mann Wordie - c. 1914.jpg, * Bill Adams * Dawn Airey *

Ash Amin Ash Amin, (born 31 October 1955) is a British academic known for his writing on urban and regional development, contemporary cultural change, progressive politics, and the collaborative economy. He holds the 1931 chair at the Department of G ...

* John Barrett * Anthony Bebbington * Piers Blaikie * William Maurice Brown *

Paul Brummell Paul Brummell (born 28 August 1965) is a British diplomat and travel writer. Early life Brummell was educated at St Albans School before reading geography at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. He entered the Foreign and Commonwealth Office ...

* Sylvia Chant *

Richard Chorley Richard John Chorley (4 September 1927 – 12 May 2002) was an English geographer, and Professor of Geography at Cambridge University, known as leading figure in quantitative geography in the late 20th century, who played an instrumental role in ...

* Miles Clark * Roger Clarke * Mark Cleary * John Terence Coppock * Bernie Cotton * Kevin R. Cox *

Philip Cox Philip Sutton Cox is an Australian architect. He is the founding partner of Cox Architecture, one of the largest architectural practices in Australia. His work has won him multiple awards, the first being in 1963, one year after graduat ...

* Mike Crang * Gabriel Crouch *

Frank Debenham Frank Debenham, Order of the British Empire, OBE (26 December 1883 – 23 November 1965) was Emeritus Professor of Geography at the Department of Geography, Cambridge, Department of Geography, Cambridge University and first director of the Scot ...

Hugh Dennis Peter Hugh Dennis (born 13 February 1962) is an English comedian, presenter, actor, Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist and writer. He was a panellist in every episode of the comedy show ''Mock the Week'' (2005–2022) and is one half ...

* Robin Donkin * Julian A. Dowdeswell * George Freeman * Phil Gibbard * Andrew Goudie *

Derek Gregory Derek Gregory (born 1 March 1951) is a British academic and world-renowned geographer who is currently Peter Wall Distinguished Professor and Professor of Geography at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He formerly held positions ...

* A. T. (Dick) Grove * Jean Grove *

Peter Haggett Peter Haggett CBE (24 January 1933 – 9 February 2025) was a British geographer and academic, Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Fellow in Urban and Regional Geography at the School of Geographical Sciences, University of Bristol. Life ...

* Peter Hall * John Heap * Michael Heffernan * Bronwyn Hill *

Mike Hulme Michael Hulme (born 23 July 1960) is Professor of Human Geography in the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge, and also a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge. He was formerly professor of Climate and Culture at King's Colleg ...

Mike Kirkby Michael J Kirkby (born 6 May 1937) is a British geographer and Emeritus Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Leeds. Kirkby was educated at the University of Cambridge from which he holds the degrees of Bachelor of Arts, BA and Doct ...

* William Vaughan Lewis * Hal Lister * Sylvia Law *

Huw Lewis-Jones Huw Lewis-Jones (born 2 May 1980) is a British historian, editor, broadcaster and art director. Formerly a historian and Curator of Art at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lewis-Jones left Cambridge in June 2010 to pur ...

* Linda McDowell * Paul Madden * Gordon Manley * Ron Martin * Ann Mather * Michael Mortimore *

John Noble John Noble (born 20 August 1948) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his roles as Denethor in ''The Lord of the Rings'' film trilogy (2001–2003), and Dr. Walter Bishop in the Fox science fiction series '' Fringe'' (2008–2013). ...

* James Oldfield * Joe Painter * Chris Philo * Luke Piper * Matthew Price * Sarah A. Radcliffe * Phil Rees * Chris Robinson *

John Rymill John Riddoch Rymill (13 March 1905 – 7 September 1968) was an Australian polar explorer, who had the rare second clasp added to his Polar Medal. Early life Rymill was born at Penola, South Australia, the second son of Robert Rymill (7 J ...

* Susan J. Smith * Oskar Spate * Alfred Steers * Ken Sykora * Sam Toy *

Piers Vitebsky Piers Vitebsky is an anthropologist who was Head of Anthropology and Russian Northern Studies and Assistant Director of Research at the Scott Polar Research Institute of the University of Cambridge in England. Education Vitebsky studied his und ...

* Andrew Warren * George T. Whitesides *

David Wilshire David Wilshire (16 September 1943 – 31 October 2023) was a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Spelthorne in Surrey from 1987 to 2010. Wilshire was considered to be to the righ ...

Charles W. J. Withers Charles William John Withers, (born 6 December 1954) is a British historical geographer and academic. He has been the Geographer Royal for Scotland since 2015, and held the Ogilvie Chair of Geography at the University of Edinburgh from 1994 to 2 ...

James Wordie Sir James Mann Wordie CBE FRS FRSGS LLD (26 April 1889 – 16 January 1962) was a Scottish polar explorer and geologist. Friends knew him as Jock Wordie. He was President of the Royal Geographical Society from 1951 to 1954. Early life an ...

* Tony Wrigley

References

External links

Official department website
{{Authority control Geography, Department of Geography departments in the United Kingdom

History

Research

Notable alumni and staff

See also

References

External links