New Placement Opportunity: Hazards Education in the Himalayas – Literature Reviews

In June 2014 a conference will take place in Leh (Ladakh Region, India) with a focus on sustainable resource development in the Himlayas. Prior to the main conference, there will be a two-day school’s conference involving students (aged 14-16 years) from 10-15 local schools. A series of lessons will be delivered to these students on the key topics of (i) climate change, energy resources and energy conservation, (ii) landslides and the environment, and (iii) earthquakes and how to measure

GfGD have been invited to play an important role in this initiative, and the focus of our work will be in planning and delivering the ‘Landslides and Environment’ section of the education programme. GfGD will be developing a range of informative, interactive and culturally appropriate activities for this topic, and delivering the lesson in 2014. More information about the project can be found on our website.

The Himalayas Project will form a core part of GfGD’s work throughout 2014, and student engagement from our university group network will be encouraged throughout. It is important for GfGD to understand both the geology and culture of Ladakh in order to develop culturally appropriate, effective teaching material. We are seeking enthusiastic students to undertake a short-term research placement with us over the Christmas break, developing literature reviews on key topics.

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 GfGD PLACEMENT OPPORTUNITY

The information below can be downloaded as a PDF

WHEN & WHERE: Approximately 1-2 weeks (per topic) during December to early January (student’s Christmas vacation). Precise working dates are flexible. To minimise costs to the student and enable students to have flexibility in working hours, candidates will work on the project from home.

OUTLINE: This placement will involve working with the GfGD Himalayas Programme Officer and GfGD Director. GfGD are involved in an international project on Sustainable Resource Development of the Himalaya (see our website for more information), which will cumulate in the delivery of a students’ programme in Ladakh, India, in June 2014. The student will assist us with preliminary research and fact sheets to enable us to deliver a culturally appropriate, effective and sustainable teaching programme – focusing on hazards education.

Each candidate will be asked to write a short literature review on one of the following topics (please state any preference on your application statement):

(1) LADAKH

• What is the cultural, linguistic and religious population make-up in Ladakh, and what sections of the population are likely to be most vulnerable to natural hazards?
• What policies and education programmes are in place at a national and regional level to address risk in Ladakh? How much progress is being made on developing/ implementing these policies?

(2) LANDSLIDES

• What is the historical pattern of landslides in Ladakh, what further hazards (such as flooding) have been caused by landslides and what was the resulting loss of life and damage to property?
• What were the triggers of landslides in the past, and what factors may be exacerbating risk today?

 (3) GENERAL GEOLOGY OF HIMALAYAS (& Focus on Ladakh)

• Overview of (i) geology of Himalayas (formation, current tectonics, natural resources, glaciation/Quaternary geology), (ii) a focused section giving an overview of any information especially relevant to Ladakh.

This placement will give the successful candidate:

• An opportunity to make a valuable contribution to the fight against global poverty, helping to get appropriate information included within a hazards education programme.
• The opportunity to state on their CV that they have undertaken a 1-2 week research placement with Geology for Global Development.
• A preliminary insight into the development sector, disaster risk reduction and the Himalaya Region – and an opportunity to talk about this project, disaster risk reduction and sustainable development with GfGD’s leadership team.

In addition, all those who contribute to this project through the completion of preliminary research and development of teaching materials will be invited to a special seminar and drinks reception in the summer of 2014, after the completion of this project.

WHO: The successful candidate should have completed at least one year of study at undergraduate level, and have an interest in disaster risk reduction or geology of the Himalayas region. Experience of completing an extended literature review as part of your study/training is desirable and should be noted on your application form. We welcome applications from undergraduate and graduate students as well as recent graduates.

FINANCES: This is a short-term voluntary research placement, with no financial support for successful applicants. The placement is designed to be home/university-based so as to minimise all costs incurred by the participants and give valuable experience to students’ from as broad a range of backgrounds as possible.

 APPLICATION: DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS MIDDAY 6^th DECEMBER 2013

If you are interested in this placement, please send Rosalie Tostevin, GfGD Himalayas Programme Officer [rosalie@gfgd.org] a copy of your CV (max. two pages) and a short personal statement (max. 250 words) outlining why you would like this opportunity. These will be reviewed and the successful candidate informed.

Please note that we currently do not have the funding to take participants to Ladakh (India). These are UK-based research placements. Should funding become available to take any students, participation will not guarantee you this opportunity, but will be looked upon favourably in applications.