Study tour to Cape Town

A group of 19 students and two staff members recently participated in Global Hull’s second-ever Study Tour, this year hosted by the University of Cape Town. The two-week programme focussed on the themes of social justice and global citizenship. There's more information on the background to this here. In this blog, one of our students, Daisy Williams, talks about their experience on the trip.

Our trip to Cape Town has been a once in a life time experience. I have learnt so much about the history and culture of South Africa, which I had never before taken the time to learn about. I have also learnt and grown as a person following the trip; the quality time I spent learning about different parts of South African culture stirred up a key interest in different cultures – an interest that I intend on developing further in university and beyond.

Day 0 (travel day)

The first day was a full travel day, long flights and lots of sitting around missing sleep. This was the first time we had all come together properly so meeting everyone was slightly daunting but of course everyone was friendly and conversation sparked pretty instantly. I’ve never been on long haul flights so to go from 0 to 2 in the same 24 hours… crazy! The whole flight experience was great, luckily I had an available seat next to me on both flight so I could stretch my legs slightly and get comfier (some other students weren’t so lucky). There was such a buzz between us when we landed – all eager to actually start our time in Cape Town. 

Day 1 - 5^th June

For our first trip onto the University of Cape Town (UCT) campus, we had a full tour by our lovely tour guide Takunda. He took us all around lower, middle and upper campus – yes, the campus is split into 3 sections as it’s on the side of Table Mountain – and this was the first time we got to see the amazing views of Cape Town.  

After lunch in the Baxter theatre (amazing buffet) we had our first lecture in UCT with Prof Zwelethu Jolobe. We had an introductory session to South African history, politics and culture where we learnt all about the colonisation of South Africa by the Dutch and the the British, the transportation of slaves from Eastern Asia to South Africa, the migration of different tribes within South Africa and the Apartheid. I came to Cape Town knowing very little about the country and this history class really gave us a whistle stop tour of the recent history, which would prove invaluable for the coming 2 weeks. 

Day 2 – 6^th June

The next day was a full day of South African languages and literature with Dr Tessa Dowling, which was a great session. We learnt a few phrases in Xhosa, like how to say hello – molweni! For lunch a few of us trekked up to upper campus food court for the first time, where I got a lunch wrap for about £1.50! In the afternoon, Tessa took us through some South African literature and we had the chance to write our own ‘Praise poems’, which are traditional poems passed down by families through the generations.

In the evening we all went to a local burger bar for dinner and made the most of their BOGOF burger deal. We’ve only known each other for a few days but by spending all day into the evenings together, the whole group is really bonding.

Day 3 – 7^th June 

Today we had a full day out. We first visited the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa where we had a guided tour around Mary Evans’ ‘Gilt’ exhibition; this exhibition used the silhouettes of people in different tones of brown to create different scenes. There was a nod to the slave past of Africa within her art and she has created a wallpaper which uses the layout of slave ships as the pattern. This pattern was also used in another piece where gingerbread men were laid out along the boat floor plan.

The plan was then to go up Table Mountain but due to the weather we had to rearrange this, so instead we headed to St George’s Cathedral – where Archbishop Desmond Tutu was laid to rest – and then walked through Company gardens. For lunch we went to Mojo Market which was filled with so many different cuisines and original, funky foods! After lunch we headed up Signal hill where we were greeted with views over the city before the rain clouds swept in.

In the evening, me, Elsbeth and Zoey headed to an interactive art exhibition on campus following a 3-day water conference. It was great to see people’s contributions for the topic as, during our Development and Change module, water was a big part of our learning. It was a very different experience and I thoroughly enjoyed taking part.

Day 4 – 8^th June

Today was a full day of music lecture with the incredible Professor Dizu Plaatjies who did a mixture of story telling, playing African instruments to us, and teaching us how to play! Me and Edan were the first to get up and play xylophone along side Dizu. He also shared his harrowing story about his band’s time during Apartheid; they were exiled for many years and his trauma was very visable. It has been our first time listening to the story of someone who actually experienced life during the apartheid and it was truly shocking to hear the first person stories of history we learn about on our first day.

For dinner we went to a local Chinese restaurant followed by an ice creamery and OH MY they were delicious! The perfect end to a great day.

Day 5 - 9^th June

The weather was actually sunny today, felt like the first time since we’ve been here that I didn’t need to take my raincoat everywhere! Today was dance lecture day with Lisa Wilson. In the morning we learnt about the importance of dance in South African culture and then in the afternoon we took part in a dance lesson where we learnt a range of traditional dances, such as: gun boot, Indlamu and Zulu. Everyone was so hot and sweaty after the 3 hours of dance that a couple people decided to jump in the pool back at our accommodation… they immediately regretted it, that’s for sure!

Day 6 – 10^th June

Today was (in my opinion) going to be the best day of the entire trip, and that is for one reason only – penguins. Not only was today’s itinerary jam-packed with exciting trips, BUT the weather had decided that today was going to be clear skies and glorious all day!

Our first stop was in Table mountain national park, where we stopped at a view point of the whole of Cape Town.

Then we had a pit stop at Imhoff Farm for toilet break/ grab a snack since our next opportunity for food wouldn’t be for a few more hours. Next we drove down the coast with the Atlantic Ocean to our right, where we saw some whales and drove through a town called Scarborough! Our first destination was the ostrich farm where we got the opportunity to feed ostriches. Ostrich is a common meat in South Africa, apparently it is a very healthy, lean red meat and our tour guide boasted about how delicious it is.

Nest stop was the Cape of Good Hope. This is the most southern point of the African Continent and the next bit of land from here is Antarctica! The views were incredible and up at the viewing platform you can see both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean. This is also the place where ‘My Octopus Teacher’ was filmed, a documentary on Netflix.

The favourite part of my day was next… we headed to boulders beach where a colony of penguins live. There’s a walkway built above the beach and the whole area is cordoned off to protect the penguins. We stayed there about half an hour and were just watching the penguins chill out! 

We then headed to Hout bay to an indoor food market for a late lunch before doing back to our accommodation. 

Day 7 – June 11^th

Today was supposed to be our trip to Robben island but, once again, the weather made this not possible; instead we headed to a vineyard, brewery and chocolate factory to do some wine/ beer/ chocolate tasting! On our way to the vineyard we drove past the townships Langa Inganga and Kayalicha; our tour guide, Dylan, talked about the segregation and the hardship people in these communities go through.

The vineyard is called Spice Route and here we got the opportunity to do 1 tasting session of our choice. Me, Tom and Rich decided to taste the beer selection and it was so fun! Everyone was very knowledgeable and each beer came with a bucket of information about the brewing processes. The wine and chocolate tasting had very good feedback and it sounded like everyone really enjoyed their sessions. On our way to lunch we stopped outside the Victor Verster prison, where Mandela spent his final time in prison. We went to the beautiful French/ Dutch town of Franschhoek for lunch before heading for a drive through Stellenboche. 

Our evening was spend at the V&A waterfront, which is a big shopping area with lots of restaurants and bars. A few of us found somewhere to chill before meeting others and going for some food.

Day 8 – 12^th June

Morning lecture today about social justice in South Africa with Professor Helen Scanlon where we began to think about South African’s history and how past injustices can be held accountable in order to have social justice. It was a very interesting topic which a few of the criminology and sociology students found extremely interesting for their own studies back in Hull. 

In the afternoon we visited the District 6 museum followed by a walking tour to the District 6 area; here we saw first hand the segregation inflicted during the apartheid, as the black and mixed race community that lived here were all relocated and the area bulldozed to make way for a residential area for white people. Due to other political issues, this rebuild never happened and district 6 is now just a waste land with only memories left of life before. 

We then went to the slave lodge museum which is based in a historical building where slaves were kept and housed. This experience was very hard-hitting and raw.

Day 9 – 13^th June

Today we continued with our social injustice lecture before heading out to the Castle of Goodhope for the afternoon. We had lunch here, where we tried the South African dish of Bobottie; it was delicious! We then toured round the castle led by Prof. Helen Scanlon, who showed us a few different installations she has helped put up about social injustice. After this we headed to the Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and further learnt about their lives and legacy. It was a beautiful memorial filled with inspiration.

Day 10 – 14^th June

We concluded the social injustice lecture today by talking about some cases Prof. Helen Scanlon has been a part of. For lunch we then travelled to Bokaap district to have traditional Cape Malay cuisine cooked by the brilliant Fayrusa. It was all delicious and we ate right there in her home! After lunch we had a walking tour around the colourful district where we learnt about the heritage and ansterors of the area. 

To finish the day a group of us booked an astroturf football pitch and had a kick around for an hour with our tour guide Takunda. It was a such a fun evening – everyone enjoyed it, whether they were running around the pitch or cheering on from the sidelines. 

Day 11 – 15^th June 

We had our final full lecture day today on global citizenship where we talked about our roles are global citizens and the challenges we face. Our lecture room had no windows so it was a relief to get out into the fresh air at the end of the day! In the evening we decided to have a final group meal as there are plans already for tomorrow. We tried out a local steak house and WOW it was delicious. It was load-shedding whilst we were there so half way through the lights came back on and music started playing which felt very random as we had gotten used to the ambience. But it was a great meal and great company too.

Day 12 – 16^th June

Today was bittersweet. Can’t believe it was our final full day in Cape Town. We tried Robben Island one last time this morning but unfortunately the wind wasn’t on our side, so back to the lecture room it was. After our final global citizenship lecture we headed to the Eastern Asia food market – a market selling traditional Asian cuisine. The Gyro and ice-cream I got from here may have been the best meal from the entire trip!

Then we headed to Table Mountain, where we finally got to go up the cable car to the top. There was 0% visibility from the top but it didn’t matter, we explored the top and got absolutely drenched in the clouds. It was great.

For dinner, UCT global team were kindly taking us out to a restaurant called Gold. What I hadn’t realised before we got there was that we were getting a 12 course tasting menu alongside interactive music, dance and face painting! The whole night was so fun and a perfect end to the entire trip. THANK YOU UCT!!!!

Making waves and moving sediment

Dr Hannah Williams has been a Post-Doctoral Researcher in Physical Geography at the University of Hull since April 2017. Hannah is part of the Hydralab+ project, a large European project that brings together researchers to improve experimental hydraulic research to better address climate change adaptation issues. Here she talks about a recent set of experiments carried out at the Total Environment Simulator.

Mixed Sediment Beaches are commonly found at high latitudes around the world, including amongst other locations, along the coastline of the United Kingdom. These types of beaches can consist of a mixture of both sands and gravels, and behave differently under hydrodynamic forcing, such as waves, to those made up of a single sediment size. Although some research, mainly in the 1970s-1980s, has been carried out to gain an understanding of the morphological behaviour of these types of beaches, little is still known about the variations in the morphology of these beaches due to mixed sediment, and how they respond to the hydrodynamic conditions.  The aim of this study was to try and gain some insights into beach response using a physical model.

At the University of Hull, we are lucky that we have a large experimental flume available for research called the Total Environment Simulator (TES). The TES has a working area of 11m by 6m, and is equipped with pumps to allow recirculating flow and sediment, a multi-paddle wave generator for the generation of both regular and irregular waves up to ~0.3m in height (depending on water depth), and finally is equipped with a rainfall generator sprinkler system on the roof. During my time at the University of Hull, I have been involved in experiments using all of these systems, demonstrating just how versatile the flume is. The photo below shows the TES when it first opened in 2000. As a well-used facility, it doesn’t look quite so clean anymore!  

For these particular experiments we were only interested in the beach response under wave loading, so only the wave generator system was required. We constructed a large beach across the opposite end of flume, with a height of 0.8m at the rear, and extending 5m towards the wave paddles. This gave the beach an initial gradient of 1:7.5.To obtain a mixed beach, we chose two different sediment sizes with a large difference in diameter. The fine sediment had a D₅₀=215μm (often known as play sand as it is commonly used in children’s sand pits), whilst the coarser sediment had a D₅₀=1.6mm. To construct this beach, this required over 5 tonnes of each type of sediment (and this including bulking out some of the area deep underneath the beach with breeze blocks), which all had to be lifted into the flume and distributed by hand. The photo below shows the initial smooth beach conditions. 

In terms of measurements, there were two main parameters we were interested in, firstly the incoming wave conditions. To measure these, we had 8 acoustic wave gauges distributed throughout the flume (see below). These recorded information about the wave heights and periods, from which we can gain an understanding of the transformation of the waves as they approach the beach. 

The second parameter we were interested in was the beach morphology. To measure this, we deployed a Terrestrial Laser Scanner. This was mounted from the ceiling above the beach. After each experimental run, the water was drained from the flume, and the scanner carried out a full 360 degree scan of the beach surface.The image below shows an example of a TLS scan, in which you can clearly identify the top of the swash zone, as well as a berm which has formed part way down the beach, and ripples in the lower section. 

For the actual experiments carried out here, we attempted to replicate some of the influence of the tidal cycle on the response of the beach. The experiments were run at three different water depths, namely 0.3m, 0.4m and 0.5m. In three of the experiments, we hit the beach with an initial storm (H=0.18m, T=2.2s, where H is wave height and T is wave period), at different points in the tidal cycle. One at high tide, then one at mid-tide on the flood tide, and one at mid-tide on the ebb tide. The purpose of this was to try and investigate the effect that timing of the storm with relation to the tidal cycle has on the beach response. After each storm a number of recovery events (H=0.10m, T=1.5s) were carried out, at each depth to complete a tidal cycle. The video below shows some of the experiments in action.

Using the laser scans, we can also examine the differences between scans, giving us an idea of the evolution of the beach throughout the experiments. From these we can obtain information about the amount of erosion and accretion at different points of the beach, and examine if this is different depending on when the storm occurred. The image below shows an example of a Digital Elevation Model of Difference, from which a number of interesting observations can be made.  It should be noted that Red shows accretion of sediment, whilst blue shows erosion of sediment. 

The very top of the beach remains white, this shows that the beach level here remains constant throughout the experiments, due to the wave run-up not reaching this point. Just below this section is a large area of erosion, this is the swash zone, where waves are breaking. This is a very energetic area which results in a large amount of sediment transport, mainly transported further down the beach to the zone showing large accretion. This is known as a berm and often forms as the wave deposits sediment. Below this area, it can be seen that ripples form. This is prior to the wave breaking where sediment movement occurs in an elliptical motion, forming small ripples on the surface. These are all features that are not unique to mixed sediment beaches, however, one feature that is, are the beach cusps. These can be identified in the figure by the regular arc shapes present. There is limited information on the origin of beach cusps, but once they have been created they are a self-sustaining formation. This is because as a wave hits the area of the beach with the cusp, it splits at the point and the water is forced either side. As the wave then breaks, the coarser sediment falls out of suspension and is deposited on these points (known as horns), whilst the water flows into the arc (also known as an embayment) where it in turn erodes out the finer sediment.

These experiments have only just finished, so analysis of the results is still on-going, but hopefully we will have gained some useful insights into the behaviour of mixed sediment beaches which can be used to help devise beach management plans in the future.

For more information on the work of the Hydralab+ project, then please visit: https://hydralab.eu/ 

An island apart

by Lindsey Atkinson

Having recently had the good fortune to visit Barbados and some of the Windward Islands in the Lesser Antilles I was struck by the difference between Barbados and the other islands and curious to find out why.  Now you’ll have to excuse me as I am not a geologist so I am wandering into new territory with this blog...

The Windward Islands are the more southerly islands of the Lesser Antilles, including  Martinique, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada.  They lie near the eastern edge of the Caribbean tectonic plate and are part of the Lesser Antilles volcanic arc.  Being largely volcanic in origin the larger islands are mountainous with a rich volcanic soil and they still have active volcanoes.  Seismic activity in the area is monitored by the University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre.  

Sulphur springs, La Soufrière, St Lucia

Sulphur springs in La Soufrière, give away St Lucia’s volcanic origins while its namesake, La Soufrière (1234m) on St Vincent, last erupted in 1979 replacing the lake that used to lie in the crater with a lava dome.



Inside the crater, La Soufrière, St Vincent

Barbados stands apart from the other islands being the most easterly of the Caribbean islands, 160km east of St Lucia.  It also differs in being a relatively low lying island, with the highest point at Mount Hillaby (340m), and it differs in origin from its nearest neighbours.


Former coral colonies, Little Bay



Sedimentary layers, Little Bay

Unlike the Windward Islands, Barbados was not formed by volcanic action and it lies at the very edge of the Caribbean tectonic plate.  As the South American plate was subducted under the Caribbean plate sediment was scraped off the South American plate, including deposits of pelagic organisms, forming an accretionary prism.  These layers were subsequently covered by a coral cap.  Both former coral colonies and sedimentary layers  can be seen exposed on the east coast, as here at Little Bay (left).

The movement of the plates resulted in uplifting of these deposits until eventually the island was exposed above sea level.  This happened in stages resulting in ridges which are visible across the island.

Harrison Caves

Little Bay

The island is therefore predominantly limestone, with little surface water as the water filters through the rock.  Beneath the surface are caves such as Harrison Caves with stalactites and stalagmites while on the surface there are dry gullies.  Some of these gullies may have formed when limestone cracked during uplifting or, as in the case of Welchman Hall Gully, where a cave roof has collapsed.  


Erosion has also done its work as the pounding Atlantic waves on the east coast have resulted in the dramatic cliffs of Little Bay and the limestone ‘mushroom’ rocks  of Cattlewash Beach. 

'Mushroom' rock on Cattlewash Beach

And of course erosion of the coral rocks has created the beautiful sandy beaches so beloved of tourists!

Crane Beach, South Coast



Bibliography:

Barbados National Trust   http://barbadosnationaltrust.org 

Donovan SK and Harper DAT (2005) The geology of Barbados: a field guide.

Caribbean Journal of Earth Science 38: 21-33.

Radtke U and Schellmann G (2006) Uplift History along the Clermont Nose Traverse on the West Coast of Barbados during the Last 500,000 Years - Implications for Paleo-Sea Level Reconstructions. Journal of Coastal Research 22: 350-356

Saunders et al. (1984) Stratigraphy of the Late Middle Eocene to Early Oligocene in the Bath Cliff Section, Barbados, West Indies.  Micropaleontology 30: 390-425

The Soufrière Foundation http://www.soufrierefoundation.org/about-soufriere/geology

University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre http://www.uwiseismic.com/Default.aspx

Let's get serious... and game!

by @SeriousGeoGames (aka @CloudSkinner)

Writing this blog post comes at an exciting time for me. I've been working on a project called 'Humber in a Box' with a group of student developers from SEED (a software development group at the University of Hull), and it is going to make its debut at the Hull University Science Festival this coming weekend. Humber in a Box represents a start for me at looking at using gaming technology and ideas to better communicate research, and I am going to use this post to explain the ethos behind this.

Early development shot of Humber in a Box

Think of gaming, whether on a table, a board or a computer, and you probably won't think about learning. After all, games are supposed to be fun, they're supposed to be entertainment. Learning is not often portrayed as fun, although us academics would take you to task on that. These two things, entertainment and learning, are seldom thought of together outside the use of jargon, like info-tainment or edu-tainment, and things that tend to use these labels are also seldom both.

It is my belief that games can be different, and as Geographers we can use gaming as a tool to educate and to communicate our science. What a game can do, which almost no other medium can, is put a person in the shoes of someone else, place them in a situation (metaphorically) where they have to react or behave in a way they would not normally have to, and through this experience a new dimension to a problem or issue.

For instance, a simple game to run in a classroom would be a debate where opposing sides have to assume certain roles. One I ran recently involved a debate about hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking", and split the group in three. Group 1 were to be the developers, who wished to explore the shale gas reserves beneath our Geography Department; Group 2 were an environmental pressure group determined to put a stop to this; and Group 3 were those in the Geography Department who would make the decision. Groups 1 and 2 were armed with the same crib sheet of basic facts and some case studies, and each group was given 30 minutes to discuss and research, before Groups 1 and 2 presented their case.

Hydraulic Fracturing, or Fracking, is a controversial practice ideal for classroom debating games (image by US Environmental Protection Agency).

Despite the best efforts of Group 1 to reassure the decision makers, Group 3 voted unanimously against the development. This was also against the group's general support of hydraulic fracturing outside of the game. The purpose of the game was to show that a contemporary issue like this requires both a Human and a Physical Geography response to fully understand it, and how researchers from both need to engage with it and work together. It also highlighted the difficulties of communicating science and research in a live, ongoing debate with many emotive issues also going on (often of far greater importance to the members of the public involved).

The above example is a very quick and simple game that is often used (often without the realisation that what is going is in fact a game), and it is those same principles that can be taken forward and combined with modern and emerging technologies to create something more powerful.

This could be a physically constructed object, like the 'River in a Box' that we have at the University of Hull. This table is boxed and filled with sand, with water pumped into the top allowing it to flow over the surface and down the slope. It is a miniature version of the big flumes used in physical modelling experiments, such as the Total Environment Simulator at The Deep. As the water flows it erodes the sand and produces channels, like a river, only smaller and quicker. On this you can place model houses and let people model defences, or artificial channels, with their hands. It is a very simple, yet very effective way of communicating various aspects of river science, such as geomorphology, flooding and erosion.

There is so much that can be done by tapping into the potential of computer gaming. The gaming industry is worth £59bn worldwide, which is more than the music and film industries, and it is still growing rapidly. It is massive business and it has a huge user base. It should be obvious from the popularity of games like SimCity, Civilization and Minecraft that there is an appetite for games with a learning angle, if they are done correctly.

Hull History Centre is using Minecraft to communicate Hull's heritage (image by Ian S)

Researchers at Hull are already on the curve when it comes to Minecraft. The HullCraft project, run by the University and Hull History Centre, in particular Joel Mills and Hannah Rice, looks to rebuild some of archived architectural plans in the History Centre within the Minecraft engine by enlisting the help of users, many of them young. People take part as it is enjoyable and they can earn badges to display on online profiles, but they learn about the history of Hull and about architecture as they do so.

This is why I started SeriousGeoGames (SGG). I'm not sure what it is just yet, a project I guess is the closest word. I'm not even sure that this rather dull, yet descriptive, name will be its final moniker. It is, however, a medium I am using to explore the potential of modern gaming technology, and other cool pieces of tech, to be turned to a good pedagogical (posh word for teaching style) use. It is very early days, but the first project is underway working with a group of student developers from the University of Hull's software development group - SEED.

Screenshot of Humber in a Box

The project is named 'Humber in a Box' and is using our CAESAR-Lisflood model of the Humber Estuary and placing within the Unity 3D gaming engine. Via an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, the user is put inside the model viewing the topography of the surrounding area in three dimensions, and has the ability to fly around using an Xbox controller. In the background the model is calculating the tides within the estuary and graphically displaying these. To help communicate the dangers of future sea level rises without investment in flood defences, there is an option for the user to increase the water levels up to whatever level they like - but it gets very wet after 5 m! The science behind this is based on the paper featured in this previous blog.

All these cool toys are great but the danger is that they don't transcend that to become more than just toys. The ethos of SeriousGeoGames, whatever becomes of it, will be the communication of the science and research that went into making it. I hope this has given you some introduction to the use of gaming in science and learning - I'm not claiming that this is anything overly new or innovative that I have come up with (not by a long shot!), so, with that in mind, below is a blog roll and twitterati of interesting things to follow (please feel free to comment and suggest others that should make the list -

The SEED team - Johannes Van Rij (@JvanRij), Danny Quarmby, Leo Abbas, Benjamin Allison.

Deltares - Levee Patroller 

University of Hull/Hull History Centre - HullCraft 

Games & Social Networks in Education: Research and Practise - @AlexM11

iLearningUK  @iLearningUK

Heritage Engagement, Interpretation and Visualisation @hannahbeth_r

Games and Learning (Association for Learning Technology Special Interest Group) 

University of Plymouth - Volcano Gameplay @laramani14

University of Leeds - Virtual Worlds Demo

Professor Dame Judith Rees

Guest blog by Pauline Deutz 

Our final 'WOW GESS woman' is Professor Dame Judith Rees. She was Professor of Geography at the University of Hull from 1989-1995, during which time she was also Dean of the School of Geography and Earth Resources (as it was then) and subsequently Pro-Vice Chancellor. This followed a BSc in Economics and MPhil from LSE, and a PhD from the University of London, undertaken whilst an assistant and subsequently lecturer at LSE. After her time in Hull, Judith returned to LSE, where she has held a number of senior leadership roles including directing environmental research institutes and served as Interim Director of the London School of Economics 2011-2012. Judith is currently Vice Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and is the first female President of the Royal Geographical Society. 

Although a relatively brief interlude in a long and distinguished career, Judith’s time in Hull has had a significant and ongoing impact on her subsequent career. Her research has focused on environmental issues, including the management of water resources, environmental risk and adaptation to climate change. Coming from a social science background, it was Judith’s experience in Hull’s Geography department that afforded the opportunity to work with academics researching the physical science aspects of environmental issues. Notably, Judith says that this was her 'first encounter with people discussing and working on climate change, not insignificant to my future career'.

Hull awarded Judith her first Chair, making her the first female Professor of Geography at Hull. Sadly, after 20 years, we have only just appointed our third female Professor of Geography. Judith was the first and so far still the only female head of department. That leadership role, followed rapidly by a PVC appointment, unusually for the time, was supported by management training. 'At Hull', Judith recollects, 'I learnt an immense amount about dealing with people, making hard decisions, learning to compromise and trying to be transparently fair. This Hull experience was very important not only in being invited to become Pro-Director at LSE (first woman) but also to doing the job itself. So Hull formed the basis of my subsequent administrative career'.

A third aspect of Judith’s career has been working closely with government and non-governmental bodies.  She comments that she 'will also always be grateful for the way that the University allowed me to work one day a week for OfWat (the economic regulator for the privatised Water Industry). Long before the impact agenda hit us all Hull understood the importance of academics engaging with practitioners. The OfWat experience then led to the Monopolies and Mergers (then Competition Commission) and subsequently to being on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Global Water Partnership and then The UN Secretary Generals Advisory Committee in Water and Sanitation'.

Judith’s contribution to environmental research, engagement and university leadership has been recognised by the awarding of an honorary Doctorate from the University of Hull in 2012, and being made a Dame in 2013. 

International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. International Women's Day celebrates women's success, and reminds of inequities still to be redressed. The origins of IWD can be traced to the struggle for women to gain the vote in European countries about a century ago. The first International Women's Day event was run in 1911.

WOW Week of Women in GEES: Lois Latham (1910-1990), regional geographer

by Briony McDonagh (with help from Helen Manning)

Today’s ‘WOW GEES woman’ is Lois Latham, a regional geographer who spent more than 30 years in the Department of Geography here at Hull. She was the first woman to be appointed to a permanent academic post in the department in 1946 and throughout much of her tenure, the only female academic working in the department.

Lois Latham with colleagues at a retirement function in 1989

(l-r: Jay Appleton, Alan Harris, Harry Wilkinson, Lois Latham and George de Boer) 

Latham was born more than a century ago, in Wakefield (West Yorkshire) in 1910, later studying geography at the University of Sheffield and graduating in or around 1932. She served as editor of the Scottish Geographical Magazine between 1936 and 1940 – the third woman in succession to hold the post – and during the Second World War, she contributed to the Admiralty Intelligence Handbooks.

In 1946, she moved to Yorkshire, appointed as a lecturer in Geography in what was then Hull University College. This was a time when the city was still hard hit by its aerial bombardment during the War. As a then colleague of Latham’s in the Department of Economics mentioned to me recently, Hull in the late 1940s and early 1950s was badly ravaged by war with thousands of bombed-out houses and many of the academics at the University working out of army huts!

During her more than 30 years at Hull, Latham was active in the teaching programme and in a range of other roles both within and beyond the University. She was President of the Hull branch of the Geographical Association from 1954 until around 1960 when she handed over the presidency to her colleague in the department George de Boer. She travelled widely and in 1959 to 1960 she spent a year at the University of Zagreb in Yugoslavia and later organised a return visit to Hull by Tomislav Šegota of the Yugoslav Encyclopaedia, an international connection linked closely to her own research interests in the regional geography of the USSR. She also headed the department’s contribution to the second phase of the Land Utilisation Survey of Britain, the behemoth of a mapping project first initiated by Dudley Stamp in the early 1930s. She was by all accounts also an excellent teacher, and the department continued until very recently to award a student prize in her name (funded thanks to a generous bequest in her will).

The huts housing the Department of Geography post WWII. Photo: M. Holliday c. 1963

By the time she retired in 1977, Lois Latham had spent more than three decades as an educator and researcher in the Department of Geography. She had seen the University gain its Royal Charter (and the right to grant degrees in its own name), been part of the move whereby the department relocated back into the space in Cohen it now occupies and witnessed a huge explosion in staff and undergraduate numbers. During all this time she was the only woman to hold a full-time academic position in the department. In fact, it was not until the appointment of Sarah Metcalfe and Judith Rees in the late 1980s that the department ever had more than one woman in full-time permanent posts on the payroll! Today we’re approaching double figures – an achievement indeed in the quarter of a century since 1988.

The Cohen Building in the spring sunshine: GEES's home since the 1960s

But despite both her long-standing service and her role as Hull’s first female geographer, Lois Latham remains a relatively obscure figure. She was not, for example, someone I had heard of when I started my own job at the University, though I knew of other Hull geographers of the period including Herbert King (whose papers at the Hull History Centre I’ve previously consulted) and George Kimble (whose Geography in the Middle Ages I’d recommend to anyone). As Avril Maddrell comments in her recent book, Latham has been ‘expunged from the textual account of the department’s history’ (Complex Locations, p. 235). It’s hard to know whether this was directly as a result of her gender, but as one-time colleague Derek Spooner notes in his contribution to the department’s recent history, Latham was a ‘somewhat marginalised and possibly undervalued figure in the Department’ (Eighty Years of Geography at Hull, p. 14). She did not, for example, publish as much as many of her (male) colleagues and as we all know in academia, it’s publish or perish when it comes to one’s scholarly reputation. Personally I’m sorry she published so little – I’d have liked to have read the work of the Hull’s first female geographer. I’d also like to know which her office was in the Cohen Building. I’m definitely hoping it was mine!

Acknowledgements: This blog post draws on dissertation work by current GEES undergraduate, Helen Manning; Avril Maddrell’s excellent book, Complex Locations: Women’s Geographical Work in the UK 1850-1970 (Wiley/Blackwell, Oxford, 2009); and the recent history of the department, Eighty Years of Geography at Hull, edited by Stephen Ellis (2013). Readers wishing to know more about Lois Latham and her contemporaries at this and other UK institutions are advised to consult the latter two sources. Photos from Eighty Years of Geography except the last which was taken recently by Anna Bird. 

International Women's Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. International Women's Day celebrates women's success, and reminds of inequities still to be redressed. The origins of IWD can be traced to the struggle for women to gain the vote in European countries about a century ago. The first International Women's Day event was run in 1911.