Geographical Information Science

Research focus is on Geographical Information Systems (GIS), Geospatial Intelligence, Earth Observation and Digital Terrain Modelling. Research in the field of Earth Observation includes the development of methodologies and algorithms for exploiting data from new earth-observation sensors, such as ultra-high spatial resolution imagery, LIDAR and SAR for land-cover classification and feature extraction. GIS research has included the analysis of crime records, spatial epidemiology, crop yield prediction, visualisation of natural and urban landscapes, and neural networks.

Environmental and Geomorphological Sciences

Research focus is on river management, sediment transport and channel morphology, climate change indicators, drylands geomorphology and landscape ecology. There is also a strong emphasis on the modelling of environmental dynamics (forced and natural) over a range of time scales through the Quaternary and Holocene. Training related to research activities in this area is available through the Midlands Consortium for Graduate Training in Physical Geography.

Environment and Society

This research theme is focused on the expertise developed within Environmental and Geomorphological Sciences and research seeks to apply this knowledge to solve environmental problems in a variety of geographical contexts in both the developed and developing world. The creation of the Centre for Environmental Management, a discrete but integral component of the School, provides a new institutional focus for the School's policy driven, applied enironmental research, including management and control of air and water pollution; sustainability thresholds and countryside policy; flood management and prevention; rural landscape and countryside management; and the political economy of natural resource management.

New Economic Geographies

Research focus is on theoretical and empirical issues in contemporary economic geography, including the importance of culture in the analysis of economic phenomena, and the impact of new forms of electronic communication and distribution. Particular opportunities arise for research in the geographies of money and finance, globalization and world cities, labour migration and mobility, consumption and commodity chains, and the music industry. There is also a regional emphasis in research on economic transition in China, Russia, Eastern Europe and South East Asia.

Cultural and Historical Geography

This well established research theme represents a form of geographical enquiry related to wider developments in the arts and humanities. The theme has been particularly successful in undertaking collaborative projects within and beyond the School, securing substantial grants from research council and charitable trusts (AHRB, ESRC, Leverhulme and Welcome) to fund research staff, and attracting postgraduate students, a number of whom have taken up important posts elsewhere. Research focuses on:

• Cultural representations of landscape and environment
• Patterns and processes of historical geographical change
• Histories of geographical and environmental knowledge