Workshop Overview

Studying disasters and small islands: Introduction to research disciplines

In research, like in school and college, we examine and analyse the world from different angles. We demonstrate perspectives of disaster research in the multi-hazard context of the Caribbean. Prof Emma Tompkins describes the types of disasters she researches in the Caribbean, including the threat of sargassum seaweed influxes, from her perspective as a geographer. Professor Jack Corbett offers the political perspective on how small islands in the Caribbean cope with disasters. Professor Jadu Dash explains how we can use remote sensing data to study environmental change. Join this session to explore a multi-hazard case study across multiple disciplines.

Duration: 2 hours

Online/in-person: Online, or in-person

Host institution: University of Southampton

Online materials: Available soon!

Audience: 16-18 years

Next workshop date: Date tbc. Please use the contact form if you are interested in this for your A-level students

Introduction to Google Earth Engine for Environmental Mapping

Join us for this workshop on how you can use data to monitor environmental events, hazards and disasters. You will have the opportunity to use space-borne imagery to detect and map environmental changes over time. This is an introduction to using the freely available web-based software Google Earth Engine and a chance to have a go at coding in JavaScript with support from University of Southampton researchers! Learn a new skill and gain insight into how scientists can monitor and map environmental hazards on the earth surface from space.

Duration: 2 hours/2 hours 30 min

Online/in-person: Online

Host institution: University of Southampton

Online materials: Available soon!

Audience: 16-18 years, undergraduate/postgraduate students, early career professionals 

Next workshop date: Festival of Nature, 16th June 2022. Visit our calendar or use the contact form to find out more.

Introduction to Stakeholder Analysis

Join us for this workshop on stakeholder analysis and learn how social science research methods can be used to tackle environmental issues. We will use Sargassum seaweed blooms as a case study to show how different stakeholders and their interest and power influences environmental decision-making. You will improve your critical thinking skills and learn more about social science research and stakeholder management.

Duration: 1 hour 30 min

Online/in-person: Online

Host institution: University of Southampton

Online materials: Available soon!

Audience: 16-18 years, undergraduate/postgraduate students, early career professionals 

Next workshop date: Visit our calendar or use the contact form to find out more.

What happened at Somerset Levels? Using remote sensing data to study flooding

Flood risk is thought to be an ever-increasing threat across the UK and with the Thames barrier closed for the 200th time in 2021, geographers are continuing to explore how we can best protect communities from flooding. In this workshop, you experience a university-level mini guest lecture which is then unpacked and discussed to offer you a method for calculating flood risk using the case study of Somerset Levels. This workshop gives an insight into how we can use innovative data to tackle environmental threats, including crowd-sourced and ‘big’ data, and apply analytical approaches to determine flood risk

Duration: 2 hours

Online/in-person: Online, or in-person

Host institution: University of Southampton

Online materials: Available soon!

Audience: 16-18 years, undergraduate/postgraduate students

Next workshop date: Date tbc. Please use the contact form if you are interested in this for your A-level students

Why do households adapt to coastal hazards?

In this workshop we explore what householders can do within the home to adapt to hazards and climate change. This workshop focuses on a England based case study of coastal flooding, which we use to work through a method of assessing household motivation and capacity to adapt to coastal flood risk. We then explore how this framework might also work for other hazards in the UK context. Finally, you are tasked to apply the same framework to the Caribbean context.

Duration: 2 hours

Online/in-person: Online, or in-person

Host institution: University of Southampton

Online materials: Available soon!

Audience: 16-18 years

Next workshop date: Date tbc. Please use the contact form if you are interested in this for your A-level students

Post Tropical Cyclone Seroja Building damage assessment Kalbarri, Western Australia 

This workshop will demonstrate techniques for assessing building damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Seroja, which impacted Kalbarri in April 2021. You will learn how to use geospatial data and analyse remote sensing images.

Duration: 3 hours 

Virtual/in-person: Online, or in-person

Host institution: The University of Western Australia  

Online materials: 

http://morethanmaps.earth/kalbarri-workshop.html 

Audience: 16-18 years (approximately 20 participants)

Next workshop date: Date tbc. Please contact us. 

Roof texture of a post-Tropical Cyclone Seroja Nearmap Image. Red and orange colours indicate a rougher texture. (Google Earth: Imagery ©2021 Maxar Technologies, CNES / Airbus, Map data ©2021).

Remote Sensing of mangrove dieback in the Gulf of Carpenteria, Northern Territory 

This workshop will create an understanding of the importance of mangroves for fisheries. You will learn how to use GEE to monitor vegetation. 

Duration: 3 hours 

Virtual/in-person: Online, or in-person

Host institution: The University of Sydney  

Online materials: 

http://morethanmaps.earth/mangrove-gulf-workshop.html 

Audience: 16-18 years (approximately 20 participants)

Next workshop date: Date tbc. Please contact us. 

Landsat-8 image before the mangrove dieback event.

Tropical Cyclone Winston’s impacts on mangrove ecosystem services in Ba, Fiji

This workshop will introduce how people living in coastal Fiji use a range of coastal and terrestrial ecosystems to support their livelihoods. It will also demonstrate how these ecosystems are affected by a range of climatic stressors including severe tropical cyclones and seasonal hot and dry spells. Through their effects on the ecosystems people use, climate shocks exert a large impact on people’s livelihoods in this region. In this workshop you will learn how to use causal loop diagrams to combine socio-economic, climatic, and environmental variables to understand how ecosystems support people’s livelihoods, how climate shocks affect these ecosystems, diagnose sources of vulnerability in livelihood systems, and design adaptation strategies and policies to boost system resilience.

Duration: 3 hours 

Virtual/in-person: In-person 

Host institution: The University of Western Australia 

Online materials: 

http://morethanmaps.earth/ba-workshop.html 

Audience: 16-18 years (approximately 20 participants)

Next workshop date: Date tbc. Please contact us. 

Climate Change impacts on the coastal zone

This workshop focused on understanding the impacts of climate change on coastal zones. The first part was a lecture and video clips introducing participants to what climate change is, the causes and the impacts with focus on coastal erosion and flooding in communities along the coast of Ghana. The second session of the workshop was a practical session involving mapping of shoreline change to access the impacts of coastal erosion on a coastal fishing community (Fuveme) in Ghana. Participants were taught how to load and digitize shoreline in the QIS software and assess the extent of erosion.

Duration: 4 hours 30 min

Online/in-person: In-person

Host institution: University of Ghana

Online materials: Available soon!

Audience: 14-18 years

Next workshop date: Date tbc.

Introduction to Mapping of Floating Sargassum using EO Browser & QGIS

In this workshop we explored the importance of mapping to adapting to the impacts of climate change. The first part of the workshop covered an introduction to sargassum, its invasion and impacts on coastal communities. Participants were also received firsthand information on ongoing sargassum research along the coast of Ghana and some initial findings including the disruption of fishing activities. The second part of the workshop was a practical session where participants were taken through how to map floating sargassum using EO Browser and QGIS using images from off the coast of Ghana.

Duration: 5 hours

Online/in-person: In-person

Host institution: University of Ghana

Online materials: Available soon!

Audience: 14-18 years

Next workshop date: Date tbc.

The role of citizen science in improving adaptation to climate change

This was a field-based workshop, where participants had the opportunity of a firsthand experience of the impact of coastal erosion and flooding in Glefe, a coastal community in Accra. Participants had the opportunity to interact with some community members to understand the situation on the ground and how the community members were adapting to the situation. They also observed the engineering interventions that have been put in place including groynes and revetments. Some of the participants expressed the view that people should not be allowed to build close to the shore in such instances.

Duration: 5 hours

Online/in-person: In-person

Host institution: University of Ghana

Online materials: Field based

Audience: 14-18 years

Next workshop date: Date tbc.