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Departmental news

IRCHSS New Ideas award to organise a flood management symposium in NUI Galway

Congratulations to Alexandra Revez on her recent IRCHSS New Ideas award to organise a flood management symposium in NUI Galway. This Spring Geography will host a one day symposium exploring the role of academia in flood management innovation in Ireland. The event, funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, is entitled, ’Enhancing academic capacity to address increased flood management challenges: a multi-disciplinary symposium’, and will bring together international and national researchers from the natural and social sciences.

The New Ideas project was developed by PhD Student Alexandra Revez with the support of Dr. Marie Mahon and Dr. Frances Fahy, Geography in collaboration with the Institute for Business, Social Sciences and Public Policy in NUI Galway.

The one day symposium will take place in St Anthony’s Building, in the Cairnes School of Business and Public Administration/NUI Galway on the 8th of March, 2012.

For further information please see this link or email Alexandra at a.limarevez1nuigalway.ie

President's Award for Teaching Excellence

Congratulations to Dr John Morrissey who was one of the five winners of NUIG's President's Awards for Teaching Excellence in 2011.

NUIG President, Jim Browne, presenting Dr John Morrissey
with the 2011 President's Award for Teaching Excellence

Bill Watts 14CHRONO Award

Geography graduate student, Michelle McKeown, was awarded the Bill Watts 14CHRONO Award 2011 for three AMS radiocarbon dates at the 14CHRONO Centre at Queen’s University Belfast. The awards are given annually to postgraduates through the Irish Quaternary Association (IQUA).

2nd Annual Symposium on Environment, Society and Development

'Accumulation, Securitization and the Politics of Rule'

National University of Ireland, Galway

Galway, Ireland

August 23, 2011

The Environment, Society and Development Symposium, held in conjunction with the close of the MA in Environment, Society and Development, is a forum within which to foster critical examination and exploration of contemporary issues of geopolitics, development, governance and political ecology in a Global-South/developing world context. The overarching aims of this annual meeting are to bring together scholars, practitioners, and students to: (1) consider the complex and dynamic mesh of environmental, political, social, and economic processes that define the contemporary moment; (2) critically engage with vital global challenges related to geopolitics, environmental security, sustainability, and governance; and (3) explore policy directions and chart opportunities for moving beyond these challenges. The theme of the second annual symposium is 'Accumulation, Securitization and the Politics of Rule' and will entail a critical focus on the various practices and interventions that configure contemporary environment- society relations. This year’s ESD Address will be given by Professor Mark Duffield (Bristol). Other panellists include Professors Neil Smith (CUNY) and Gerry Kearns (NUI Maynouth) and Dr Tina Harris (Amsterdam).

The one day symposium, hosted by the Department of Geography and MA ESD at the National University of Ireland, Galway, will be held Tuesday August 23, 2011. The day will consist of panel discussions, keynote addresses, and themed panel sessions. There is no fee to attend.

Preliminary programme and symposium abstracts.

To register by August 1, 2011, please contact Anna Stanley at annaelizabeth.stanleynuigalway.ie. Please include your name, title and institutional affiliation. Note that space is limited.

MA in Environment, Society & Development Fieldtrip, Sarajevo 2011

The MA in Environment, Society and Development class of 2011 recently returned from another challenging and inspiring fieldtrip to Sarajevo, Bosnia, where students carried out development fieldwork with a wide range of international agencies, civil society organisations and NGOs, including the EU Delegation to BiH and UNDP Bosnia. The trip culminated in the 2nd Annual Student Symposium on Environment, Society and Development, at which students presented innovative research proposals for more critical and participatory forms of development to academics and practitioners alike.

CELT Learning and Teaching Innovation Award

Congratulations to Dr Kathy Reilly and Dr John Morrissey on their success in attaining a CELT Learning and Teaching Innovation (LTI) Award for 2011 in support of the Field-Based Learning module of the MA in Environment, Society and Development. The module brings together the overall vision of the MA programme by civically engaging students on fieldwork in Bosnia, where they intersect with the work of the European Commission, NGOs and United Nations agencies such as the UNDP Bosnia. Funding is provided by CELT's Community Knowledge Initiative (CKI) and will be used to extend civic engagement in the context of international development by seeking to bridge what has been oft-highlighted in development studies as the 'disconnect between academic and practitioner work'. Collaborative initiatives between the academy and the international development community may be rarely embarked upon, but the pedagogic and local community rewards in seeking to facilitate more critical, informed and participatory forms of development are enormous, and this is precisely what is hoped to be further developed with this funding. More specifically, it will be used to support a yearly one-day symposium in Sarajevo that will provide a platform for students to present their pilot research to the range of practitioners they have worked with on the ground in Bosnia, crucially fulfilling one of the most important elements of participatory research and civic engagement, that of scaling up knowledge.

NUIG Gender ARC Seed Funding Award

Congratulations to Dr Maura Farrell as lead applicant on a successful funding proposal to the NUIG Gender ARC Seed Fund. The award of €2750 will go towards hosting a one-day symposium entitled 'Gender, Educational Attainment and Employment in Ireland'. Co-applicants included CELT, the School of Education, NUIG and Department of Education and Professional Studies, University of Limerick. The aim of the symposium is to consider whether greater levels of educational attainment in the general population in Ireland reflect greater employment opportunities, and the possibilities presented through available intellectual resources including existing data sets that might help explore changing patterns of gendered inequalities. One key outcome of the symposium will be a better understanding of what further research needs to be conducted, either by exploiting existing data sets or augmenting them with new data. The longer-term aim is to explore potential sources of funding for a larger-scale research project in this area.

Geography supports Galway Dancer in Residence 2010/2011

The School of Geography and Archaeology is delighted to be associated with Choreographer Ríonach Ní Néill, who has recently been appointed Galway dancer in residence in a scheme initiated by the Arts Council of Ireland. Ríonach’s successful application was supported by Geography, Galway County Council/City Council Arts Offices, and the Town Hall Theatre. Ríonach’s residency will focus on investigations into and debate around the Irish body and its relationship with landscape, with particular focus on recent lifestyle changes rural and sub-rural Galway. Addressing our embodied experience, it will explore new ways to confront this sensitive issue within Irish culture, namely our use, relationships with, perceptions and representations of our bodies. A creative action-research project, the residency will explore different means of public engagement and intervention, leading towards a new choreographic work. The partnership with Geography presents opportunities to close the gap between academic and artistic practices, and further explore dance and geography’s shared interest in space, how we shape it and it shapes us.

Congratulations to Dr Mary Cawley

Congratulations to Dr Mary Cawley who has been awarded a fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to visit and conduct research on rural tourism with colleagues at Chiba University.

Barcelona Fieldtrip 2011

Another hugely successful 2BA fieldtrip took place in January, with Barcelona the destination this time. Pictured above are staff and students enjoying the trip which was led by Dr Frances Fahy, Prof. Seamus Grimes, Dr Noel Healy, Prof. Micheál Ó Cinnéide and postgrad Brídín Carroll. Various geographical themes were explored, with guest speakers from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Biomedical Research Centre adding to a vibrant week of learning. Well done to all involved!!

Congratulations to Dr Jessica Pape and the ConsEnSus research team (headed up by Dr Frances Fahy, Geography NUI Galway, Dr Henrike Rau, Sociology and Political Science NUI Galway and Prof Anna Davies, Geography TCD) who were shortlisted for the Globe Forum Early Career Researchers Contest which sought innovative research projects on sustainability. For more information please see http://www.globeforum.com/ and http://www.consensus.ie/.

Congratulations to Brídín Carroll

Congratulations to Brídín Carroll who was recently selected to participate in the University of California – NUI Galway Exchange Programme. Brídín, a geography postgraduate student currently in her second year of the structured PhD programme, will be funded to study for three months in the University of California, Santa Cruz (during 2012). The Social Sciences Division in the University of California, Santa Cruz is a centre of excellence for research on food systems. Brídín’s PhD research examines the often contested meaning of ’local’ and considers how and why local food has become valorised. Congrats Brídín!

Congratulations to Emer Henderson

Congratulations to Emer Henderson, winner of the Europe Direct Regional Competition Debate on “WIND ENERGY – the future, or a blot on the landscape?” The event, which was hosted by the EU Direct Centre in Letterkenny on behalf of counties Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim, took place on November 9th 2010. Emer, a postgraduate research student in Geography, had to research, prepare and deliver a short speech in front of a local audience and an expert panel of judges. Emer won first prize at the regional event which included an iPad, a trip to Brussels as well as a place in the National Finals in Farmleigh, Dublin later in November with a first prize of €1,000. The final event will be recorded for broadcast on http://www.europedirect.ie/ and social media sites related to Europe Direct. Good luck in the finals Emer!

Burren Fieldtrip, October 2010

Environment and Landform (TI 219) students enjoying their excursion to the Burren where they explored various aspects of protected area management and governance. The fieldtrip was led by Dr Noel Healy and Dr John McDonagh.

Congrats to Ligang Dao and Chaosheng Zhang

During the recent international conference of the Society for Environmental Geochemistry and Health (SEGH) held at NUI Galway, June 27 to July 2, Geography PhD student Ligang Dao won the best student poster prize (SEGH 2010 had nearly 300 participants from 40 countries). Ligang’s award winning poster was entitled 'Employing a portable X-Ray fluorescence (P-XRF) analyser and GIS to identify and map heavy metal pollution in soils of a traditional bonfire site'. Ligang is currently doing a PhD with Dr Chaosheng Zhang, who was also elected as a new councillor of the international board of SEGH. Congrats to both!

Congratulations to Dr Maura Farrell and Dr Noel Healy

Dr Maura Farrell and Dr Noel Healy after being conferred with their PhD degrees in Geography, pictured with Dr James Browne, President of NUI Galway, and Dr John McDonagh, Head of Geography and research supervisor.

MA Fieldtrip, Sarajevo 2010

The MA in Environment, Society and Development class of 2010 recently returned from a hugely successful fieldtrip to Sarajevo. Led by Dr John Morrissey, together with postgrads Tony Johnston and Garret Maher and postdoc Dr Kathy Reilly, the visit entailed students working on the ground with various international development agencies and NGOs, including the UNDP, European Commission and British Council. The trip culminated in a super evening of research presentations - to fellow students and development practitioners alike.

Dr Noel Healy awarded a 2010 EPA researcher travel support grant

Congratulations to Dr Noel Healy who has been awarded a 2010 EPA Researcher Travel Support Grant to present a paper at the 5th International Conference on Monitoring and Management of Visitor Flows in Recreational and Protected Areas in Wageningen, the Netherlands (30th May-3rd June). Noel will present a paper entitled 'Mediating the tourist experience and appropriate levels of interpretation – Exploring reaction to the transformation of Irish nature-based tourism'. Noel’s recently completed PhD project, which was funded by the EPA, explored the intricate political environment and power struggles which mould and contest Irish protected area decision-making structures - whilst providing a multi-layered analysis of Ireland’s protected area planning and governance systems. Noel’s supervisors were Dr John McDonagh and Dr Henrike Rau.

John Morrissey nominated as Fulbright US Institute Scholar

Congratulations to Dr John Morrissey who has been nominated by the Fulbright Commission as Ireland's sole candidate for a Fulbright US Institute Scholar Award for 2010/2011. John has been nominated for the Institute on US Foreign Policy at the University of Florida.

International Conference on Contemporary Labour Migration at NUI Galway

The School of Geography and Archaeology, together with the RGS-IBG and IGU, are co-hosting an international conference on contemporary labour migration on 12-13 May 2010 at NUI Galway. Read more.

Launch of new MA in Environment, Society and Development

Geography's new MA in Environment, Society and Development was officially unveiled last week at a hugely successful event attended by the Dean of Arts and colleagues from the International Affairs Office and the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. In welcoming students to the MA, Programme Director and Lecturer in Political Geography, Dr John Morrissey, spoke of the pressing global issues of environmental security, geopolitics, neoliberalism and development that are vitally important in our contemporary world. He outlined the MA's central goal to engage these challenges by first critiquing environment-society relations in a variety of contexts before working to develop critical, informed and applied programmes of action that involve bringing knowledge initiatives into the field. To this end, Dr Morrissey underlined the import of an innovative module on the MA, 'Field-Based Learning', which will involve students working on the ground in Bosnia and Herzegovina with the UNDP, European Commission and various civil society organizations and public advocacy groups.

The MA also includes modules such as 'Environment and Risk', 'Geopolitics and Security' and 'Managing Development', and the programme as a whole involves engagement with a number of core areas in critical human geography, including geopolitics, development and political ecology. It is hoped that the MA will prepare students for a range of workplaces including government departments, non-governmental organizations, planning and project management agencies and specialist research and policy institutes. The programme is also designed to enhance students' prospects for undertaking further research at PhD level.

In officially launching the Masters, the Dean of Arts, Dr Edward Herring, spoke of the MA attracting unprecedented interest in its first year and congratulated the highly-motivated, talented and dedicated Geography staff for initiating a fully-subscribed programme, with students from Ireland and abroad, including two International Scholars from Ethiopia and Sri Lanka. The external examiner for the MA is the Distinguished Professor of Geography and Anthropology at City University of New York, Neil Smith.

Geography Successful as CARDI announces six grants for research to benefit older people

The Centre for Ageing Research and Development (CARDI) is delighted to announce the successful applicants for call 1 of its Research Grants Programme. The programme aims to promote north-south research partnerships that bring together different subject areas to look at issues affecting older people in new ways. The research should involve older people themselves and the findings will be designed to improve policies and services for them. Read more.

Congratulations to Garret Maher!

Garret Maher, whose PhD research relates to ’Transnational Migration: Brazilian experience in Ireland’ has been awarded a bursary to present a paper at the POPFEST population geography conference to be held in the London School of Economics, in July 2009. The paper deals with ’Labour migration and immigrant remittances’. POPFEST is an annual conference organised for Graduate students and is sponsored by the Population Geography Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society-Institute of British Geographers and a number of other population research groups. We also wish Garret every success with his forthcoming fieldwork in Anápolis, Brazil. Garret’s research supervisor is Dr Mary Cawley.

Maura Farrell Appointed Researcher on EU Seventh Framework Programme Award

Maura Farrell (Final year PhD student in the Geography Department), who has been appointed as a researcher on a new EU Framework 7 Programme. The project titled, ’Developing Europe’s Rural Regions in the Era of Globalization’ (DERREG) is one of just 3 successful applications chosen from a highly competitive field of 425 applications made under this FP7 round, which comes under the thematic heading of Socio-Economic Science and Humanities. The aim of the project is to develop an innovative, interpretative model of research that integrates scientific analysis across a number of key sectors and processes, coupled with a strong emphasis on practical application, to enable rural areas meet the challenges of globalization. Maura will coordinate the project for the NUIG consortium and in doing so she will ensure that the key objectives of the project are achieved. Periodic research and financial reports will also be delivered to relevant EU Partners as well as to the EU and the Lead Partner (Wales). Maura will ensure a final summary report of the project is distributed in conjunction with published research papers and a report covering the wider societal implications of the project.

Congratulations to Bríd Walsh

Congratulations to Bríd Walsh who has won the 2008 EPA award for best PhD presentation at its annual Fellowships & Scholarships Seminar. The seminar, which was held at the Hilton Kilmainham Hotel, Dublin, last Thursday and Friday, 13th and 14th November, featured over 30 participants from a number of Irish third level institutions, including UCD, TCD, UCC, DCU, UL, NUIM, WIT and CIT. Presentations covered a range of topics, including air quality and climate change, environmental technologies, biodiversity, land use and soils, waste and resource management, water quality and the aquatic environment, and socio-economic considerations. The event also featured over 50 poster presentations. The title of Bríd’s presentation was: “A best practice approach to socially sustainable wind farm development applicable to Ireland”. Bríd is currently researching in Denmark, undertaking comparative studies of the Danish approach to windfarm promotion and development. Bríd is supervised by Prof. Micheál Ó Cinnéide.

Congratulations Dr Fahy & Dr Stanley (August 2008)

Congratulations to Dr Frances Fahy and Dr Anna Stanley who will be appointed as the department's new lecturers in environmental geography this semester. Frances will be joining the department from the University of Ulster and Anna is arriving from the University of Laval, Canada.

Garret Maher wins 'Society for Irish Latin-American Studies' research grant

The geography department would like to congratulate Garret, a first year PhD student, on winning this grant which will enable him to undertake an important aspect of his research. The objective of the Irish Latin American Research Fund is to support innovative and significant research in the different aspects of migrations between Ireland and Latin America. See http://www.irlandeses.org/grant_newrecipients.htm for further details.

Maura Farrell wins the Bob O’Connor Award

Once again it is wonderful to see Geography graduates being recognised for the quality of their research and the contribution they are making to their chosen fields. We are delighted therefore to be in a position to warmly congratulate Maura Farrell (final year PhD Student) who was recently awarded the Bob O’Connor Award for ’Excellence in Research’. This prize is presented annually by the Agricultural Economics Society of Ireland and is awarded to the graduate student showing the greatest promise in terms of their research. The award is granted on a competitive basis whereby all graduate students present their work to a judging panel which includes the President of the AESI. In fact this is the second occasion on which Maura has attained this award having also won the competition in the first year of her PhD. The 2008 Annual AESI presentations took place at the Rural Economy Research Centre, Teagasc, Athenry on 7th May 2008. Maura is also the recipient of a Walsh Fellowship and is supervised by Dr John McDonagh. Well done Maura!

Loka Ashwood to represent Geography Dept at the XII World Congress of Rural Sociology

Congratulations to Loka Ashwood (MLitt Student in the Department of Geography), who has been awarded the Fred Buttel Travel Scholarship from the European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS) to attend the XII World Congress of Rural Sociology in Seoul, Korea in July of this year. Not only will Loka attend the World conference and present her research work, she will also be presented with $1,500 at a special ceremony during the Congress. Based on an essay competition outlining an original contribution to rural sociology on any topic of relevance to the academic interests of the Society, the Scholarship was open to all Graduate members of the ESRS and was judged by a panel made up of members of the ESRS Executive Committee. Loka is supervised by Dr John McDonagh and Dr Marie Mahon. Well done Loka!

Congratulations to David Scallan

Well done to David Scallan (3rd year PhD student) who was awarded a place at the European Summer School of Rural Sociology at Pannon University, Nagykanizsa, Hungary in 2008. The theme/topic of the summer school is broad in order to cover a range of interests broadly relevant to the future of rural areas and their relationship with urban and peri-urban areas.

Shanghai Fieldtrip 2008

Another wonderful fieldtrip to China took place this spring, this year visiting Shanghai. Pictured above are staff and students from TI224 enjoying the trip which was led by Dr Chaosheng Zhang, Prof. Seamus Grimes, Dr Mary Cawley and Dr Aaron Potito.

Geography Society - Gerald Flemming - March 2008

The Geography Society was delighted to host a presentation from RTE and Met Eireann's Gerald Flemming this month. The talk on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management was one of the highlights of the year for the Geography Society and we would like to extend a warm thank you to Gerald for an entertaining and informative talk. A very enjoyable evening was had by all.

Galway Green Map - November 2007

The launch of the Youth and Community Greenmap of Galway took place in the City Museum on Friday the 23rd of November. The Youth Green Map for Galway is part of a larger project being undertaken by the Department of Geography, NUI, Galway in association with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Galway City Council. A Green Map is a locally produced chart of an area that identifies, promotes and links environmental, social, and cultural amenities. These maps typically show green areas, cycle paths, green businesses, organic markets, quiet spots in the city, interesting walking routes and the cultural sites that make an area unique. The map is available online at http://www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/en/node/2969. For further information please contact Frances Fahy.

Congratulations Dr Mahon! - July 07

Well done to Marie Mahon who was appointed as the new lecturer in human geography this month. Marie completed her PhD in the department in 2004 and has been researching and teaching here since. Her appointment gets a big thumbs up from the postgrads!

2007 International Association for Society and Natural Resources Student Scholarship

Congratulations to Noel Healy (2nd year PhD candidate) who was awarded the 2007 International Association for Society and Natural Resources Student Scholarship for the 13th ISSRM at Utah State University in Park City, Utah. The 13th International Symposium on Society and Resource Management (ISSRM), the official meeting of the International Association for Society and Natural Resources, takes place from June 17-21, 2007. Well done Noel!

Geographers on Ice - Sofia Fieldtrip 2007

Another hugely successful department fieldtrip took places this Spring, this year visiting Bulgaria. Pictured above are staff and students from TI224 enjoying the trip which was led by Prof. Ulf Strohmayer, Prof. Micheál Ó Cinnéide and postgrads Katie Sullivan, Kathy Reilly and David Scallan.

IRCHSS Research Fellow 2007/2008 - Congratulations Dr Morrissey!

Congratulations to Dr John Morrissey who was awarded a prestigious Government of Ireland IRCHSS Fellowship to visit CUNY in New York for the academic year 2007/8. Dr Morrissey will carry out research on US Geopolitics in the Middle East over the period 1983-2003 by charting the initiation of United States Central Command (CENTCOM). His research aims to employ the lens of CENTCOM and its archive of military geographical knowledges of the Middle East to illuminate the evolving geostrategic basis of recent American intervention.

Burren Fieldtrip - October 2006

Environment and Landforms (TI 219) students enjoying their excursion to the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher, the fieldtrip was led by Dr John McDonagh and Noel Healy.

Fellowship Awards 2006

Stephanie Egan was awarded an IRCHSS and a Lady Gregory Fellowship and has opted to accept the latter. Sharon Leahy and Terisha Veeran were awarded the Departmental Graduate Fellowships for 2006-07. Sincere congratulations to Sharon, Stephanie and Terisha! Sharon and Stephanie are pursuing PhD research with Dr John Morrissey and Terisha is pursuing MLitt research with Dr Chaosheng Zhang.

Welcome Dr Ledwith! - September 2006

A warm welcome to our new recruit, Dr Valerie Ledwith who joins the Department with a PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles. Valerie is a Human Geographer with a special interest in the geographies of social and demographic change.

Barcelona Fieldtrip 2006

Yet another fun and exciting Geography Department field trip! This year's successful and educational week-long trip was to Barcelona, Spain. Many students sampled the regional cuisine and immersed themselves in the local culture as they learned about the importance of space, politics, and the historical context of numerous '-isms'.

Welcome Dr Potito! - February 2006

A warm welcome to our new recruit, Dr Aaron Potito, who joins the Department with a PhD from the University of California at Los Angeles. Aaron is a Physical Geographer with a special interest in the reconstruction of past climates.

Northern Ireland Fieldtrip 2005

Political and Cultural Geography (TI 229) students, together with Dr John Morrissey, enjoyed a memorable trip to Northern Ireland on Nov. 5-6, 2005. Students from Ireland and the US visited Derry, Portstewart, the Giant's Causeway, Bushmills and Belfast over a packed weekend of learning and fun!

CIG, Galway 2005

One of the most successful Conference of Irish Geographers in recent years was hosted by the Department from May 6th to 8th. Prof. Derek Gregory from the University of British Columbia was plenary speaker, and a hugely enjoyable and intellectually stimulating conference was had by all.

Belgium Fieldtrip 2005

A hugely enjoyable and succesful trip to Belgium took place from Mar. 28th to Apr. 2nd, 2005. With their base in Brussels, the group - led by Dr Mary Cawley, Dr John McDonagh and Dr John Morrissey - explored various social, economic and cultural geographical themes in the two Belgian regions of Wallonie and Flanders.

Beijing Fieldtrip 2004

A successful fieldtrip led by Dr Kieran Hickey, Dr John Morrissey, Prof. Micheál Ó Cinnéide and Dr Chaosheng Zhang took place during March 31 to April 8, 2004. Various aspects in human and physical geography were explored in a variety of fascinating environments.

Department of Geography
National University of Ireland, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland.
Phone: +353 (0)91 492643
This page was last updated Wednesday, February 01, 2012