Exhibition

December 2015

Over the last couple of months there’s been a frenzy of activity around the appointment of a new intake of PhD students across the University, many of whom are directly or indirectly associated with the Sustainable Earth Institute (SEI). 

Since there are so many new names and faces in different quarters, I thought it would be useful to bring the new starts that are most closely related to sustainability science together in a single list. So here are the new students and topics that have joined us in the last few weeks – let us know if we’ve missed anyone out.

Professor Iain Stewart

SEI-affiliated QR studentships

Caroline White

  • PhD title: Comparison of natural and anthropogenic sources of atmospheric nitrogen in the coastal zone and the open ocean 
  • Group/theme: Environmental Science
  • Advisory team: Simon Ussher, Mark Fitzsimons (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences) and Tom Bell (Plymouth Marine Laboratory)
  • Project collaborators: Andrew Peters (Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences), Steve Rowland (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences).

Nicola Steer
  • PhD title: A biologically meaningful evaluation of phenological responses to climate change 
  • Group/theme: Ecology, Behaviour & Evolution
  • Advisory team: Miguel Franco and Paul Ramsay (School of Biological Sciences).

Kathryn O’Shaughnessy
  • PhD title: Green engineering of marine coastal infrastructure: a design for life 
  • Group/theme: Environmental Science
  • Advisory team: Louise Firth, Paul Lunt (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences), Michael Hanley (School of Biological Sciences), Richard Thompson (School of Marine Science and Engineering), Steve Hawkins (University of Southampton). 
  • Project collaborators: World Harbour Project.

Magdalini Kechagia
  • PhD title: Public understandings of fracking: science, governance and place impacts
  • Group/theme: Geography
  • Advisory team: Ian Bailey, Nicky Harmer, Geoff Wilson and Iain Stewart (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences).

Maarten Wynants
  • PhD title: Impacts of soil erosion on river basin ecosystem services: supporting soil conservation measures for food and water security in East Africa
  • Group/theme: Geography
  • Advisory team: Will Blake and David Gilvear (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences)
  • Project collaborators: NM-AIST, Tanzania and UGent (Belgium).

Camille Dusseaux
  • PhD title: Stable Isotope paleoaltimetry reconstruction of the Variscan belt of Western Europe
  • Group/theme: Earth Science
  • Advisory team: Aude Gebelin, Luca Menegon and Stephen Grimes (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences).

Grant Cole
  • PhD title: Combined salt and extensional tectonic controls on facies distribution in the early Cretaceous of the Maestrat Basin, Spain
  • Group/theme: Earth Science
  • Advisory team: Matthew Watkinson (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences), Mark Enfield (PDF ltd), Mark Anderson (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences).

Louise Koornneef
  • PhD title: The sheeted dyke-gabbro transition zone: the key to unravelling the palaeomagnetic record of the Oman ophiolite
  • Group/theme: Earth Science
  • Advisory team: Antony Morris, Michelle Harris, Luca Menegon (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences) and Chris MacLeod (Cardiff) 
  • Funding: University of Plymouth school studentship.

Natalia Perez Del Postigo Prieto
  • PhD title: Tsunami generation by combined fault rupture and landsliding
  • Group/theme: Coastal Engineering
  • Advisory team: Alison Raby (School of Marine Science and Engineering), Colin Whittaker (Aukland), Iain Stewart (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences).

Other newly appointed PhD students in the themes relevant to the Sustainable Earth Institute include:

Victoria Keele

  • PhD title: Mapping river ecosystem services and flows
  • Group/theme: Geography
  • Advisory team: David Gilvear (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences)
  • Funding: Scottish Natural Heritage.

Cara Clancy
  • PhD title: Socio-cultural impacts of re-wilding conservation
  • Group/theme: Geography
  • Advisory team: Kim Ward, Nicki Whitehouse and Geoff Wilson (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences)
  • Funding: University of Plymouth school studentship.

Felipe Machado
  • PhD title: Resilience in Brazilian agriculture
  • Group/theme: Geography
  • Advisory team: Geoff Wilson and Sanzid Rahman (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences) 
  • Funding: Brazilian government.

Abdallah Al-Noor
  • PhD title: Mega-projects in Developing Economies: a case study of Merowe Dam, Sudan
  • Group/theme: Geography
  • Advisory team: Sanzid Rahman and Geoff Wilson (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences)
  • Funding: Self.

Tim Sydenham
  • PhD title: Governance and strategy implementation of regional energy policy
  • Group/theme: Geography
  • Advisory team: Ian Bailey and Geoff Wilson (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences)
  • Funding: Self (part time).

Havananda Ombashi
  • PhD title: Pollen-based landscape reconstruction on Exmoor
  • Group/theme: Geography
  • Advisory team: Ralph Fyfe and Tim Daley (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences)
  • Funding: Exmoor National Park/University of Plymouth.

Peter Barfield
  • PhD title: The influence of non-native species on habitat structure and functioning in an era of rapid environmental change
  • Group/theme: Environmental Science
  • Advisory team: Louise Firth (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences), Steve Hawkins (University of Southampton), Simon Bray (Fugro), Carlo Pipitone (IAMC-CNR, Sicily)
  • Funding: Self (part time).

Jon Ward

  • PhD title: Geotechnology and the Challenge of Property Rights
  • Group/theme: Plymouth Law School
  • Advisory team: Andy Clark, Vicki Hamlyn, Jason Lowther (Plymouth Law School)
  • Funding: QR.

Wycliff Tupiti
  • PhD title: A new look at the critical material potential of polymetallic nodules using advanced imaging techniques
  • Group/theme: Earth Sciences
  • Advisory team: Arjan Dijkstra, Colin Wilkins (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences)
  • Funding: Lockheed Martin.