The records, reports and testimonies of past volcanic eruptions and their consequences contain a wealth of information from which we can learn valuable lessons. This, in a nutshell, is the starting point of one strand of the STREVA project, ‘Strengthening Resilience in Volcanic Areas‘, which is a large programme funded by two British funding agencies (NERC and ESRC) and directed from t ...[Read More]
Over the next couple of months, Joel Gill (GfGD Founding Director) will be reporting live from Guatemala, whilst undertaking interdisciplinary field research relating to natural hazards and disaster risk reduction. This fieldwork forms part of a NERC/ESRC funded PhD, supervised by staff in the Department of Geography at King’s College London. One of the first things I want to do when arriving in ...[Read More]
The oldest Botanical Gardens in the western hemisphere lie on the outskirts of Kingstown, St Vincent, in the Windward isles of the West Indies – and what a gem they are. As the ironwork above the entrance declares, the gardens were founded in 1765. The original ambition of Robert Melville, the then Governor in Chief of the Windward Isles, was to establish a horticultural research station for ...[Read More]
Boom & Bust in the Namib Desert Namibia is mostly desert. Like its neighbour South Africa, the country was gifted with diamond-bearing Kimberlites. The Sperrgebiet (or “forbidden territory”), where the diamonds are concentrated, is strictly off-limits to the public. Namibia’s natural resources have played an important role in shaping the development of this inhospitable landscape. ...[Read More]
We love the fact that our blog can be a forum for many different people to share their expertise and ideas. Our guest blogs are always very popular, giving people access to a much wider range of knowledge and opinion that just one or two authors can provide! We have had some great blogs from students, academics and professionals, from the UK and overseas. We would love to have more guest blogs, pr ...[Read More]
Continuing the theme of sanitation from earlier this week, here we present a range of sanitation infrastructure, taken across Tanzania. There are some obvious and some subtle differences in the infrastructures being used. Consider how the different building types may have an impact on (i) security and personal safety, (ii) hygiene, (iii) latrine longevity, (iv) smell (note the ventilation pipe in ...[Read More]
Over the next couple of months, Joel Gill (GfGD Founding Director) will be reporting live from Guatemala, whilst undertaking interdisciplinary field research relating to natural hazards and disaster risk reduction. This fieldwork forms part of a NERC/ESRC funded PhD, supervised at King’s College London. Today Joel gives an introduction to his research and why he is focusing on the Central Am ...[Read More]
A major goal of volcanological science is understand the processes that underlie volcanic activity, and to use this understanding to help to reduce volcanic risk. Advances in instruments and techniques mean that scientists can now measure many different aspects of the behaviour of restless or active volcanoes, including seismicity (to detect magma movement at depth, for example); deformation (oft ...[Read More]
In October last year, Dr Alison Parker (Cranfield University) gave a brilliant talk at the GfGD conference – discussing the role of geologists in providing access to clean water and safe sanitation. The importance of the latter half of this duet of basic needs came as a surprise to many. In this guest blog, our first of 2014, Alison writes in more detail about geology, sanitation and support ...[Read More]
We’ll be taking a break from blogging over the festive season – returning on January 6th! Do join us again then for more articles, photographs and opportunities to get involved in the fight against global poverty. In the meantime – if you haven’t ‘Liked’ our Facebook page or followed us on Twitter – do that now to keep up to date with breaking news and opp ...[Read More]
