When setting up the first ideas for this blog Jan, Lucy and I started to research different national groups of geomorphologists from around Europe. Lucy came up with 13 contacts to groups in Europe and some were happy to write some short notes about their great work national and partly international. To give you a small impression, some contacts and visions please see the following posts by the Italian Young Geomorphologists, The Austrian Geomorphologists, The British Geomorphologists Postgrad Forum and the German young Geomorphologists.
The Italian Young Geomorphologists
The “Giovani Geomorfologi Italiani” (Italian Young Geomorphologists) was born officially in 2013 as one of the Working Groups of the AIGeo (Italian Association of Physical Geography and Geomorphology). Before 2013 the Association had already organized initiatives specifically addressed to its Young members (Periodical Meetings, Fieldworks and Grants for participating to Congress and Workshop)
(http://www.aigeo.it/index_file/Giovani_geomorfologi_AIGeo.htm)
Currently we are about 25 young scientists from all over Italy sharing research activities. We have opened a Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/giovanigeomorfologiitaluani
The very first common initiative, since the group has been recently founded, was the participation to the 17th Joint Geomorphological Meeting, in Liege from 30th June to 3rd July 2014 on “The geomorphology of natural hazards: mapping, analysis and prevention”, presenting a poster with the presentation of the group.
What we want:
- Sharing of information about events, research opportunities, grants, meetings etc.
- Start up research collaborations among different countries
Current Representatives:
Irene Bollati (University of Milan, Irene.bollati@unimi.it)
Francesca Vergari (Sapienza University of Rome, francesca.vergari@uniroma1.it)
The “Giovani Geomorfologi Italiani” Group (Credit: Irene Bollati and Francesca Vergari)
The Austrian Geomorphologists
The “geomorph.at” group is a small but firm group of Austrian Geomorphologists working in the field of Geomorphology and Environmental Change. Currently our group counts around 68 members of which around 20 members might be considered as “young geomorphologist”.
While there are no events especially assigned for young geomorphologists, the group “geomorph.at” is very active supplying and sharing information on (research) job openings, networking and initiating research projects within Austrian geomorphologists and with other geomorphology groups from Switzerland or Germany. All things young geomorphologists highly benefit from. This is done during our yearly meetings and by our geomorph.at mailing list.
Our highlight for young geomorphologists is our grant for research dissemination at international conferences. Yearly we announce three grants (100€ each) for our young members attending and presenting their work at international geomorphology related conferences.
Current Representatives:
Helene Petschko (Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena, helene.petschko@uni-jena.de)
Martin Mergili (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, martin.mergili@boku.ac.at)
Oliver Sass (University of Graz, oliver.sass@uni-graz.at)
Yearly meeting 2013 – Dinner at a Lower Austrian “Heurigen” (Wine restaurant) (Credit: Helene Petschko).
The British Geomorphologists Postgrad Forum
Who we are:
The British Society for Geomorphology (BSG) PG Forum currently represents over 220 postgraduates within Britain and further afield. The BSG PG forum outputs blog articles and a quarterly newsletter with topical articles of interest to geomorphologists, alongside helping with the BSG annual general meeting. The BSG AGM is held every September with academic/professional speakers presenting and ECR workshops ran – the AGM is commonly regarded as a great conference for postgraduates to get experience presenting to and obtain feedback from world-leading geomorphologists. Postgraduate grants for fieldwork and conference attendance are available from the BSG, with deadlines every January and September. The BSG also hosts an invaluable workshop for first-year postgraduate students, which is held every December in Cumberland Lodge within the prestigious grounds of Windsor Park. Finally, the BSG also publish postgraduate authored chapters in the Geomorphological Techniques resource – an invaluable resource for getting your first publication!
What we strive for:
- Improving the research opportunities available to postgraduate geomorphologists.
- Development of a strong network of postgraduate geomorphologists that will provide the foundation for later work and collaboration together – as well as allowing people to know a friendly face at conferences/workshops!
- To provide regular updates of interesting/topical developments/projects within geomorphology, and developments within the BSG.
Current Representatives:
Adam Trueman (Durham University, adam.trueman@dur.ac.uk) @AT_ecogeoman
Morgan Gibson (Aberystwyth University, mog2@aber.ac.uk) @Morgan_Gibson
John Groves (Queen Mary University, London, j.w.e.groves@qmul.ac.uk) @johnwegroves
Matilda Biddulph (The University of Northampton, matilda.biddulph@northampton.ac.uk)
Rupert Bainbridge (Northumbria University, rupert.bainbridge@northumbria.ac.uk) @GeoRu
Kate Reid (Northumbria University, kate.reid@northumbria.ac.uk)
Mark Allan (Northumbria University, mark.allan@northumbria.ac.uk) @_markallan_
Danielle Alderson (University of Manchester, danielle.alderson@manchester.ac.uk) @DanielleAldo
The British Society for Geomorphology Logo (Credit: BSG)
The German Young Geomorphologists
Who we are:
The “Junge Geomorphologen” (Young Geomorphologists) from Germany is a group of about 60 young scientists (Masters, PHDs and Postdocs) working in the field of geomorphologic research and related topics. We implement each year an international workshop for young geomorphologists in English to discuss our projects, exchange ideas, learn new methods and share a beer. Since 2014 we started organizing an international social event for geomorphologists at the EGU in Vienna, which will also take place at the 15th April 2015.
What we want:
- A favourable platform for early career scientists in Geomorphology
- A strong network among young geomorphologists
- Develop and push geomorphic research together
- No turf wars between groups
- An active and helpful community
Current Representatives:
Jan Blöthe (University of Bonn, jan.bloethe@uni-bonn.de)
Sabine Kraushaar (University of Vienna, sabine.kraushaar@univie.ac.at)
1st international workshop for young geomorphologists organized by the German Young Geomorphologists on the island Usedom in spring 2014. (Credit: Sabine Kraushaar)
