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I ma Geographer
Y O U R PAT H T O A C A R E E R I N G E O G R A P H Y
SEPTEMBER 2010 www.geographical.co.uk 47
ments provide evidence for previous changes to our climate. Each course has a slightly different emphasis, and its worth taking the time to explore the full programme of each potential course to make sure that its right for you. The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) can help you to make your choices, and we are constantly updating and developing resources that support anyone with an interest in studying for a degree in geography. Whether youre still deciding if its the subject for you, or choosing where best to study once youve made that decision, go to our website to learn more. There youll find the following: The careers brochure Going Places with Geography (www.rgs.org/goingplaceswithgeography) highlights a range of careers and opportunities in which geography graduates flourish, whether using subject-based or transferable skills. From working in the City to conservation, geographers are highly employable, and the diversity of employment opportunities is reassuring in times of economic uncertainty; The Study Geography web resource (www.rgs.org/studygeography) provides information on university courses, how to apply, guidance on key issues to think through when choosing your programme, and advice on writing a strong application; And information about becoming one of our Young Geographers (www.rgs. org/younggeographer). Join up, and youll receive your own monthly copy of Geographical, free entry to our lectures, discounts and special access to online learning resources. Whatever your passion in the world, fascination with the environment or concerns about inequality, geography can provide you with the knowledge, experience and transferable skills that will reward you personally and advance you professionally. Its a subject that reveals the worlds people, places and environments while also giving you a hand in shaping their future. Dr Rita Gardner, director of the RGS-IBG To find out more about the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), visit www.rgs.org For specific resources for students, visit www.rgs.org/supportforstudents
I m a Geographer CAREERS
m a Geographer CAREERS I
then completed an MSc in applied meteorology and climatology at the University of Birmingham. He is currently a technical specialist in the Environment Agencys Flood Forecasting Team in the Midlands. This role mainly involves monitoring prevailing weather and catchment conditions using more than 200 level gauges in the Severn and Trent basins and using oodforecasting and hydrodynamic models, he says. These models, which can be run every hour, can predict the risk of ooding between 48 hours and ten days ahead, and we use this information to provide ood forecasts to the public, businesses and the emergency services. Without this degree, I wouldnt be doing a job for which I have a passion, interests me and that I love so much.
After the disaster, I had all sorts of questions about how these sorts of things come about, as well as the enormous human impact, she says. I was determined that in the future I would possess the necessary skills to do more and to make a sustained dierence. She came out of the emergency aid sector and joined Bath Spa University as soon as she returned, graduating as a mature student with a rst-class BSc geography degree last year. Studying full time with a family was tough, but my husband was really supportive, and I think it sets a good example to my kids, Michelle says. In my nal year, I specialised in conducting research that explores belonging among rst-generation Muslim women in Britain. Many struggle with literacy and language skills, and hence cant engage with government or academic social research. After completing a PhD at the University of Reading, which she starts in October, she is planning to continue to work with marginalised women and children in an international migration policy context. Geography is the perfect platform to really consolidate all of your knowledge and put that into an academic context, she says. It covers pressing and topical issues that people are talking about in the pub or at a barbecue. Its such an interesting and broad subject.
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University of Edinburgh, School of GeoSciences, Grant Institute, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JW, UK
www.geos.ed.ac.uk/postgraduate
The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
m a Geographer CAREERS I
I m a Geographer CAREERS
science instead after spending a Year in Industry working for British Energy, writing software to control Sizewell B nuclear power station in Suolk. Im still not entirely sure why I chose geography, he admits. I think the things that really appealed to me were the subjects breadth, the way that it can be linked to computer science through things such as GIS and remote sensing, and also the real science behind it it tells you how the world works. For Robin, the best thing about the course was discovering so many fascinating things about the world. I had never done anything before on aeolian systems areas where sediment is transported by the wind, such as sand dunes; remote sensing using satellite imaging to nd out useful information about the Earth; or GIS computer mapping and geographical analysis. And it would appear that the degree has really increased his thirst for knowledge. Im just about to start a PhD investigating how the complex and chaotic systems within remote sensing can be understood and modeled, focusing particularly on atmospheric correction that is, removing the eect of the atmosphere (which essentially makes the colours come out wrong in the image). This is a dicult, but very important procedure in remote sensing. After that, he plans to share his knowledge and teach geographers of the future as a university lecturer.
thats the beauty of it. You get to sample whats out there and then specialise in the eld that interests you the most. The applied nature of geography as a subject is what makes it so interesting.
I m a Geographer CAREERS
of conditions, and are looking to get more out of your degree than sitting in a library writing essays all the time, then a geography degree is the best choice. Paul is currently putting the knowledge and skills that he has built up to good use with a contaminated-land consultancy called Geo Environmental Management, which specialises in the control and remediation of liquid pollution. My job now is very varied and every day is dierent, he says. I have to make lots of site visits to collect data, use computer modelling and write reports, so Im continually drawing upon the skills gained throughout my degrees. Without geography, I would probably be stuck in a nine-to-ve oce job doing something that I hate.
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UKUnivErsityDirECtory
Universities and other institutions that offer geography-related courses A
University of aberdeen www.abdn.ac.uk aberystwyth University www.aber.ac.uk University of abertay Dundee www.abertay.ac.uk
www.uel.ac.uk edge Hill University www.edgehill.ac.uk University of edinburgh www.ed.ac.uk University of exeter www.exeter.ac.uk
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University of Manchester www.manchester.ac.uk Manchester Metropolitan University www.mmu.ac.uk
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Bangor University www.bangor.ac.uk Bath spa University www.bathspa.ac.uk Birkbeck, University of London www.bbk.ac.uk University of Birmingham www.bham.ac.uk Bishop Grosseteste University college Lincoln www.bishopg.ac.uk Bournemouth University www.bournemouth.ac.uk University of Bradford www.bradford.ac.uk University of Brighton www.brighton.ac.uk University of Bristol www.bristol.ac.uk
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University of Glamorgan, cardiff and Pontypridd www.glam.ac.uk University of Glasgow www.gla.ac.uk University of Gloucestershire www.glos.ac.uk University of Greenwich www.gre.ac.uk
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Newcastle University www.ncl.ac.uk University of Wales, Newport www.newport.ac.uk North east Wales Institute of Higher education www.newi.ac.uk University of Northampton www.northampton.ac.uk Northumbria University www.northumbria.ac.uk University of Nottingham www.nottingham.ac.uk Nottingham Trent University www.ntu.ac.uk
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UHI Millennium Institute www.uhi.ac.uk University of Hertfordshire www.herts.ac.uk University of Hull www.hull.ac.uk
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Open University www.open.ac.uk Oxford University www.geog.ox.ac.uk Oxford Brookes University www.brookes.ac.uk
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Keele University www.keele.ac.uk Kings college London www.kcl.ac.uk Kingston University www.kingston.ac.uk
studies, University of London www.soas.ac.uk University of sheffield www.sheffield.ac.uk sheffield Hallam University www.shu.ac.uk University of southampton www.soton.ac.uk southampton solent University www.solent.ac.uk University of st andrews www.st-andrews.ac.uk st Marys University college, Twickenham www.smuc.ac.uk staffordshire University www.staffs.ac.uk University of stirling www.stir.ac.uk University of strathclyde www.strath.ac.uk University of sunderland www.sunderland.ac.uk University of sussex www.sussex.ac.uk swansea University www.swansea.ac.uk
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University of cambridge www.geog.cam.ac.uk canterbury christ church University www.canterbury.ac.uk cardiff University www.cardiff.ac.uk University of chester www.chester.ac.uk coventry University www.coventry.ac.uk cranfield University www.cranfield.ac.uk University of cumbria www.cumbria.ac.uk
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University of Ulster www.ulster.ac.uk University college London (UcL) www.ucl.ac.uk
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University of Plymouth www.plymouth.ac.uk University of Portsmouth www.port.ac.uk
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University of central Lancashire www.uclan.ac.uk Lancaster University www.lancaster.ac.uk University of Leeds www.leeds.ac.uk Leeds Metropolitan University www.leedsmet.ac.uk University of Leicester www.le.ac.uk University of Liverpool www.liv.ac.uk Liverpool Hope University www.hope.ac.uk Liverpool John Moores University www.ljmu.ac.uk London school of economics and Political science www.lse.ac.uk Loughborough University www.lboro.ac.uk
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University of West england, Bristol www.uwe.ac.uk University of Winchester www.winchester.ac.uk University of Worcester www.worc.ac.uk
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Queen Mary, University of London www.qmul.ac.uk Queens University Belfast www.qub.ac.uk
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University of York www.york.ac.uk
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University of Derby www.derby.ac.uk University of Dundee www.dundee.ac.uk Durham University www.dur.ac.uk
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University of reading www.reading.ac.uk roehampton University www.roehampton.ac.uk royal Holloway, University of London www.rhul.ac.uk
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University of east anglia www.uea.ac.uk University of east London
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University of salford www.salford.ac.uk school of Oriental and african
Aqua-Firma_4tr-Geogra#C3753.pdf
28/1/10
7:27:31 pm
Jan Belgers
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Peter Bennett
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Sail & Small Ship Voyages - Arctic, Antarctica, S.Georgia, Seychelles, Galapagos Expert leaders including Award Winning Photographers, Researchers & British Antarctic Survey Biologist
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David Slater
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Water Wilderness Wildlife
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Opportunities in Geography.
For further details and an application form please email Examiner.Recruitment@ocr.org.uk, or visit www.ocr.org.uk
University of Glamorgan
Cardiff Pontypridd Caerdydd
*HESA Performance Indicators 2007/8.