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 ceg msc courses recieve RICS accreditation
19.12.07
We are pleased to confirm that, in addition to the undergraduate
geomatics and joint honours with geomatics programmes, the following programmes are accredited within the RICS / Newcastle University partnership:
- MSc in Applied Hydrogeology (flexible learning), with effect from September 2006 and subsequent intakes
- MSc in Flood Risk Management (flexible learning), with effect from September 2006 and subsequent intakes
- MSc in Sustainable Management of the Water Environment (full time, part time and flexible learning), with effect from September 2006 and subsequent intakes
Accreditation is pending for the following programme:
- MSc in Environmental Engineering (full time and part time)
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 debate over flood-proofing effects of planting forests
Ian Calder
17.12.07
Letter to Nature
SIR — William Laurance, in his News & Views article ‘Forests and floods’ (Nature 449, 409–410; 2007), highlights a paper by C. Bradshaw and colleagues claiming that it provides strong correlative evidence that native forests reduce the frequency and severity of floods in developing countries. We identify weaknesses in the Bradshaw approach, particularly the exclusion of extreme events and question whether the analysis either allows the firm conclusions drawn by Laurance or advances current knowledge.
The ‘forest and floods’ debate goes back at least to the nineteenth century. Now forest hydrologists generally agree that although forests mitigate floods at the local scale and for small to medium-sized flood events there is no evidence, in contrast to the implied Laurance claim, of significant benefit at larger scales and for larger events.
Laurance also recognises the omission of extreme events in the Bradshaw analysis. But we argue that this seriously weakens the policy importance of the results - it is these extreme events that matter; economic damage and loss of life grow exponentially with flood magnitude. We have other reservations: the lack of any analysis in relation to flood size, the danger of false correlations and the exclusion of Chinese data because of outliers — an unfortunate omission, given that China has undergone large changes in forest cover where the flood ‘signal’ should be strong.
If we cast aside these methodological reservations we must accept Bradshaw’s other conclusion that having more forest plantations leads to increased frequency and duration of floods – something which Laurance failed to mention in his article.
For China, where initiatives such as the sloping-lands conversion programme — heavily promoted on the basis of flood-mitigation benefits — are leading to forest plantation over areas comparable to those of afforestation by the rest of the world put together, the conclusion is particularly important. Other studies have also warned that forest-management activities can aggravate flood risk.
Ian R Calder*, James Smyle†, Bruce Aylward‡
*Centre for Land Use and Water Resources Research, Newcastle University, Newcastle NE1 7RU, UK
† 149 E. Rosewood Ave., San Antonio, Texas, USA
‡Ecosystem Economics LLC, PO Box 2062, Bend, Oregon 97709, USA |
 ceg scientists uncover the microbial secrets of heavy oil
Ian Head and Martin Jones
13.12.07
Most of the world's oil reserves have been affected by biodegradation. This reduces the value of the oil by lowering the hydrocarbon content and makes it more viscous and difficult to produce, like the enormous tar sand deposits of Western Canada. Despite its huge economic importance, relatively little is known of the detailed mechanisms of how this process occurs in the subsurface oil reservoirs. In a recently published paper in the journal Nature, a multidisciplinary team of scientists lead by Steve Larter (Newcastle University and University of Calgary), Ian Head and Martin Jones (CeG, Newcastle University), have discovered that the biodegradation in oil reservoirs actually occurs by an anaerobic fermentation mechanism which produces methane from the oil hydrocarbons. The multinational research team, which included petroleum geologists, geochemists, modellers and microbiologists, used oil and gas compositional analyses from laboratory and field degraded crude oils to determine that this degradation pathway involved a syntrophic acetate oxidation step followed by conversion of the carbon dioxide intermediate into methane.
There are potentially major economic implications to these findings since understanding this mechanism may enable it to be engineered to accelerate the naturally slow methanogenic process in oil reservoirs to allow the production of energy, as methane, from difficult-to-produce heavy oil fields and also the trillions of barrels of stranded oil in water flooded oilfields. In the context of NE England similar processes may occur in abandoned coal mines opening the door to a possible means
for recovery of the region's extensive abandoned energy resources as clean-burning methane.
further information:
www.nature.com/nature/journal/v451/n7175/pdf/nature06484.pdf
www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/12/12/scioil112.xml
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7140983.stm |
 putting newcastle on the map
Ru Anderson
6.12.07
If you have a passion for mapping, or simply want to learn more about how to use a GPS system, why not take part in the Newcastle Mapping Weekend? The plan is to map the University campus and surrounding city centre area this weekend (8-9th December) as part of the national OpenStreetMap project.
OpenStreetMap aims to create and provide free online geographic data, such as street maps, for the whole world. There is already some detail on the website for Newcastle, but more is needed.‘The maps most of us think of as free actually have legal or technical restrictions on their use, so the plan is to create a detailed mapping system which anyone can use,’ explained organiser Ru Anderson, BSc Hons Surveying and Map Science, who is running the weekend as part of his practical dissertation.
Ru explained that he will be creating a ‘cake’ of the city centre area and then each person will pick a slice to go and map. Volunteers can take part for the whole weekend, or just a few hours, depending on how much time they have available. Following the event, GPS traces will be placed on a computer, tagged, and then uploaded to the OpenStreetMap website. Ru added that the mapping event is a great opportunity for beginners to get involved as there will be experts available to show people what to do, and some GPS receivers will also be available to borrow for the event. It is also worth bringing a pen and paper for noting what you’re mapping, and possibly a digital camera for photographing odd spellings of road names or any unusual/interesting things while mapping.
Both days will run from 9am until 4pm, meeting in the University’s Cassie Building, off Claremont Road.
To find out more, contact Ru Anderson on 0781 7772550 or email r.c.anderson@ncl.ac.uk
further information |
 pollution solution earns national environment award
Will Mayes
6.12.07
A novel technique using reed beds to naturally clean up waste from industrial sites has gained Dr Will Mayes the inaugural Fiona and Nicholas Hawley Award for Environmental Engineering.
Dr Mayes, a research associate in the Sir Joseph Swan Research Institute and former researcher in CeG, developed the technique, which uses specially-designed reed beds – known as constructed wetlands – in place of conventional chemicals to treat high-alkaline pollution from former factories. The work has gained him the top prize of £5,000 in a national competition, sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Engineers, which is open to all engineering and science graduates and postgraduates at UK universities.
Receiving the award, Dr Mayes said: 'It is extremely gratifying to have my work recognised through this award from a well-respected, independent group of expert engineers.
further information |
 visiting hydrogeology professor appointed
Rick Brassington
30.11.07
Newcastle University has recently appointed Rick Brassington as a Visiting Professor in the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences. Rick is a hydrogeologist with broad experience across industry, environmental regulation and consultancy and is perhaps best known for his book on field methods in hydrogeology. He will be contributing to the teaching in the School’s Applied Hydrogeology MSc and other postgraduate teaching programmes as well as a number of hydrogeological research projects. Geoff Parkin, Programme Director for the Applied Hydrogeology MSc said, “We are pleased that Rick is joining us to add his experience of practicing hydrogeology in industry to our courses.”
The School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Newcastle University combines a range of specialist disciplines in Civil Engineering with those from the Geosciences to undertake research and provide teaching in climate, water, geological, and atmospheric systems. |
 nigerian petroleum conference success
Olukayode Samuel
28.11.07
CeG geochemistry PhD student Olukayode Samuel has been awarded the 2nd Best Paper prize of £300 and a plaque for his presentation at the 24th International conference of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in Abuja, Nigeria. Kayode’s talk presented results obtained at Newcastle which shed new light on the potential source rocks of Niger Delta oils, which has implications for petroleum exploration in the region. Kayode's co-authors on the paper, Martin Jones at CeG, Chris Cornford at IGI, Bideford and Lisa Pratt at Indiana University, USA also received plaques.
In a related development, Kayode’s talk at the 14th North Britain Research Student Conference held in Edinburgh, UK, earlier this year also won the EAGE/SPE/Total 2nd Best paper prize at the conference (see photo). |
 eden catchment 'HELPing' in UNESCO water related issues
Mark Wilkinson and Caspar Hewett
28.11.07
Conference: 4 - 9 November, Johannesburg
Mark Wilkinson and Caspar Hewett attended the HELP (Hydrology for the Environment, Life and Policy) southern symposium 2007 in Johannesburg, South Africa representing the Eden catchment, Cumbria. The Eden catchment, instrumented under the CHASM project, is recognised as a HELP basin. The UNESCO HELP initiative has identified 67 catchments from 56 countries as HELP Basins, and this Symposium was a tremendous knowledge sharing opportunity on how to put HELP objectives into action. The Symposium was aimed at bridging the gap between science and policy towards sustainable development at local, national and the international levels. Among other outcomes, this Symposium helped in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. It was interesting to compare issues from the Eden catchment to those of other HELP basins and exchange knowledge. Some useful contacts were made with other catchments and we intend to twin with other catchments around the world. |
 invited speaker: UN framework convention on climate change
Richard Dawson
26.11.07
Richard Dawson has been invited to speak at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change 13th Conference of the Parties in December 2007. The Conference, hosted by the Government of Indonesia, brings together representatives of over 180 countries together with observers from intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, and the media. The event includes the sessions of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, its subsidiary bodies as well as the Meeting of the Parties of the Kyoto Protocol. A ministerial segment will conclude the Conference.
Richard has been invited to join colleagues from the National Institute for Environmental Sciences (Japan), the Asian Institute for Technology (Thailand) and Durban Municipal Government (South Africa) to convene a symposium that explores the key gaps in policy discussions and scientific understanding of climate change and carbon management in cities. This topic is key to addressing the challenge of climate change as cities are responsible for the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions and their concentration of population and infrastructure makes them particularly susceptible to the impacts of climate change.
CeG are advancing the understanding of the impacts of climate change on urban areas through their leadership of the Tyndall Centre funded Cities programme that is led by Professor Jim Hall and a large team that includes Stuart Barr, Ali Ford, Claire Walsh and Richard Dawson from CEGs and six other UK research institutes.
Tyndall Cities website: http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/research/programme6/
UNFCCC website: http://unfccc.int/ |
 ceg to host the 16th ACME annual conference
Mohammed Rouainia
24.11.07
This year, the annual ACME (Association for Computational Mechanics in Engineering – UK) meeting will be hosted by the School of Civil Engineering & Geosciences at Newcastle University (1-2 April 2008).
ACME, was formed in March 1992 to both promote research in computational mechanics within the UK, and to establish formal links with similar organisations in Europe and worldwide.
Further details on the conference can be found on-line at: http://www.ceg.ncl.ac.uk/acme/
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 oil crisis? what crisis?
Andrew Aplin
19.11.07
Remember the fuel crisis a few years ago? According to the makers of the recently released film "Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash", that "crisis" is just a mild precursor of much more serious, future global battles over dwindling supplies of oil and gas. Whilst there is no doubt that oil and gas is an incredibly valuable and finite resource, the film's langauage is too dramatic, suggests Professor of Petroleum Geoscience Andrew Aplin. Nevertheless, there is only a short window in which to wean ourselves away from petroleum and towards a range of other fuels. The full story is reported in the Northern Echo and can be downloaded. |
 ceg student named in the university's elite athletes squad
Tom
Bramald
7.11.07
Stage 2 Civil and Structural Engineering student, Rahul Rampersad has been named in the University's Elite Athletes squad. A member of the Trinidad and Tobago National Badminton Squad since 2000, Rahul joins a squad of 19 other students who will receive specialist support and tutoring alongside their degree studies. The university has recently climbed to ninth in the BUSA (British Universities Sports Association) rankings and the performance of the elite athletes has played no small part in this success.
Ceg students participate in a variety of sports and activities outside of their degree studies.
Newcastle University Sport
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 transport professor receives CBE at buckingham palace
Eric Sampson
3.11.07
Professor Eric Sampson, visiting Professor of Transport received his CBE from Prince Charles, at a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on the 2nd November 2007. Professor Eric Sampson received a CBE in the Queens Birthday Honours, for services to transport. The award is in recognition of the immense contribution Professor Sampson has made to transport and ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) research and policy delivery during his time with the Department for Transport and more recently with Newcastle University and as Chairman of ITS UK.
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 expert predicts carbon allowance
3.11.07
In a recent faculty lecture on the future of transport which looked at how we may live, work and travel in the year 2055, Professor Phil Blythe, discussed the findings of the recent Government Foresight Study on Intelligent Infrastructure and suggested that pay as you drive and the possibility that individuals may be given an individual ‘carbon allowance’ to influence their carbon footprint. The lecture was reported in the Evening Chronicle and is available to download.
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 newcastle provide keynote address to european safety workshop
3.11.07
Professor Phil Blythe provided the keynote address to the recent ‘In-Safety’ workshop, held in Scotland House, Brussels on the 24th October 2007. Phil, who collaborates with the consortiums project coordinators HIT-CERTH of Greece in a range of projects, spoke on the role that intelligent infrastructure could play in the future in delivering additional safety to the transport networks of Europe. Information on the In-Safety project can be found at http://www.insafety-eu.org/.
Keynote presentation
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 reducing the error in Antarctic ice mass change estimate
1.11.07
A Civil Engineering and Geosciences member of staff sets off for 3 months in Antarctica in early Novemeber to collect data that will enable better estimates of Antarctic ice mass change. Dr David Barber will visit the floating Larsen C and Filchner-Ronne Ice shelves and deploy 15 GPS receivers, a much more expensive and accurate version of the receivers found in Sat-Nav. The GPS data will be used to give millimetre-level understanding of the ocean tides under the ice shelves, two of the most poorly mapped regions on Earth in terms of ocean tides. Improved knowledge of ocean tides means that the up-and-down motion of the ice shelves, which can be up to 8-10m, can be reliably removed from satellite measurements attempting to measure changes in elevation and mass of the Antarctic ice sheet.
The project, led by Dr Matt King and Prof Peter Clarke, with colleagues from British Antarctic Survey and Earth and Space Research (USA), will produce a new map of the ocean tides. The three-dimensional nature of GPS data mean that the horizontal flow of the ice shelves can also be better understood. Recent studies have shown that the ice shelf flow may be affected by ocean tides, and this study will enable a better understanding of this phenomena.
The Larsen Ice Shelf was recently featured in the opening scenes of the film "The Day after Tomorrow", where the collapse of its northern most section (half the size of Cumbria) was dramatically portrayed. In real life, the collapse of this section of the ice shelf over a matter of days led to a speed-up in the flow of glaciers previously feeding into it and hence increased global sea level by a small amount. The Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf is one of the two largest ice shelves in Antarctica, and is about the size of France.
Newcastle University news item
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 gizmos help clean the air
31.10.07
Air pollution sensors small enough to be carried around in people's pockets are being developed at Newcastle University. A team of experts led by Prof Phil Blythe has come up with the innovative low-cost wireless sensors which can accurately measure how pollution levels build up on city roads.
Chronicle article
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 ceg to host google earth training for teachers
Tom
Bramald
18.10.07
The School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences is hosting a practical workshop to show teachers and expedition organizations how to create virtual fieldwork using Google Earth. Participants will get hands-on experience with digital cameras and GPS units, creating mini-fieldwork projects, and transform data into a Google Earth virtual journey.
The event is being held on Monday 19th November and will be based in the School's dedicated Continuing Professional Development Suite. Google sponsor 10 new courses free of charge for key influencers of geography teaching in LEA maintained schools. To be considered for a free course place, please download and complete the booking form from the Royal Geographical Society website.
To find out what else CeG can do for schools, contact Tom Bramald.
RGS Google Earth Training
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 professor outlines the future of coal mining
Paul Younger
17.10.07
Energy expert Professor Paul Younger gave the first annual Thomas Hepburn memorial lecture last week, outlined his vision of the part which coal can play in servicing the energy needs of the future, in an environmentally-friendly way.
It is thought that coal resources far exceed those of gas and oil globally. In addition, current reserve/production ratios indicate that coal reserves will last six times longer than oil and four times longer than gas.
Traditionally, extracting coal has been associated with dangerous conditions and labour-intensive, difficult work in less than ideal conditions. Suggested newer methods of obtaining energy from coal not only eliminate these methods but could also offer the opportunity of capturing and storing carbon dioxide in the resultant voids.
Describing coal gasification as a ‘serious sunrise industry’, Professor Younger is quoted in the Journal saying, 'My passion is that we’ve got the coal, the need and the expertise and all we require is the will'.
Professor Younger’s talk generated much media interest and readers can learn more at the following link to the Journal article.
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 RSPSoc 2007 hosted by newcastle university
Jon Mills
17.10.07
RSPSoc 2007, The Annual Conference of the Remote Sensing and
Photogrammetry Society, was hosted by Newcastle University from 11 - 14 September 2007.
The event proved a great success, with more than 260 participants representing over 20 countries attending. Technical highlights included keynote presentations by speakers from NASA, Microsoft, Google, Hanover University and Ordnance Survey. The School of CeG presented ten papers at the meeting, with Pauline Miller (independently by the RSPSoc Technical Committee!) being awarded the 'Best Poster' prize for her presentation 'Integrated remote monitoring of coastal geohazards'. A packed social programme that included a Civic Reception and River Tyne Cruise culminated with the Conference Meal at St. James Park where almost 200 of the conference delegates heard David Williams, Director General of the British National Space Centre (BNSC), give an entertaining after dinner speech. The conference website, http://www.rspsoc2007.org, includes the full conference proceedings and more photos.
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