Speakers

Professor David Lambert

David Lambert was a secondary school teacher for twelve years, becoming a deputy head teacher in a comprehensive school.  In 1987 he moved to the Institute of Education, University of London as a lecturer in Geography education, becoming a Reader in 1999 and was Assistant Dean for Initial Teacher Education.  In 2002 he took a full time role as Chief Executive of the Geographical Association, guiding its development and its closer relationship with the RGS-IBG which has resulted in the jointly led government funded Action Plan for Geography (2006-2011).  He has written extensively on Geography in schools, mainly on curriculum matters, assessment and citizenship.  Since 2007, David has combined the leadership position of the GA with the Chair of Geography in Education at the Institute of Education, two roles that combine around the need to ensure that the contribution of geography to education of young people is understood and valued.

Professor Sir Gordon Conway KCMG

Gordon Conway was appointed Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for International Development at the beginning of 2005. He also holds the title of Professor of International Development at Imperial College, London.

He was educated at the Universities of Wales (Bangor), Cambridge, Trinidad and California (Davis). In the early 1960's, working in Sabah, North Borneo, he became one of the pioneers of sustainable agriculture. From 1970 to 1986, he was Professor of Environmental Technology at Imperial College, London. During this period he lived and worked in many countries in Asia and the Middle East. He then directed the sustainable agriculture program of the International Institute for Environment and Development in London before becoming Representative of the Ford Foundation in New Delhi from 1988 to 1992.  He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2004 and is President of the Royal Geographical Society and Chair of Visiting Arts.

Dr. David Vaughan

After graduating from University of Cambridge, and taking an MSc in Geophyisics at University of Durham, David Vaughan joined British Antarctic Survey in 1985 as a contract glaciologist.  He is now one of the eight Principal Investigators that lead the core science programme of the British Antarctic Survey.  He has spent eight summer seasons engaged in fieldwork in Antarctica, and has published widely on ice, climate and geophysics. 

After participating in the writing of the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, he was selected as Coordinating Lead Author for the Polar Regions Chapter of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  In 2004, he was Recipient of Polar Medal for services to Antarctic Science and in 2006, David was made Honorary Professor in the School of the Environment and Society, University of Wales Swansea where he teaches annually on “Science, The Media and Policy”. 

Professor Peter Dicken

Peter Dicken is Emeritus Professor of Geography in the School of Environment and Development at the University of Manchester.  He has held visiting academic appointments at universities and research institutes in Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Singapore, Sweden and the United States and lectured in many other countries throughout Europe and Asia.  He is recognized as a world authority on the geography of economic globalization through his extensive contributions to leading international economic journals and books and, especially, through his internationally acclaimed book, Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy (5^th edition, 2007, Sage Publications, London; Guilford Press, New York). 

Professor Mike Hulme

Mike Hulme is based in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia (UEA) and was the Founding Director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research from 2000 to 2007.  His general research interest is global climate change – especially representations of climate change in history, society and the media, climate scenarios, and the interaction between climate change science and policy.  He has published over 100 peer-reviewed journal papers and over 30 book chapters on these and other topics, together with over 220 reports and popular articles about climate change. He is co-editor of the journal Global Environmental Change and editor-in-chief of the newly commissioned Wiley’s Interdisciplinary Review – Climate Change.  

Dr. Roland Randall

Roland Randall is Official Fellow, Director of Studies in Geography and Graduate Tutor for Arts at Girton College, Cambridge.  His research interests are Mediterranean and British Biogeography with particular interest in coastal habitats on which he has published numerous research papers.  He has also been an Ecological consultant to ARC, National Trust, DETR, English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, Anglian Water and Andrews Ward Associates and a European Union for Coastal Conservation Committee Member.

Dr. Peter Knight

Peter Knight is Senior Lecturer in Geography and Course Director for Physical Geography at Keele University; a Chartered Geographer and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.  His research focuses on glaciology and glacial geomorphology, combining fieldwork in areas such as Greenland and Iceland with experimental work in the low-temperature laboratory. In addition to many papers in scientific journals he has written textbooks for both A-level and undergraduate students.  His most recent book, “Glacier Science and Environmental Change” (Blackwell, 2006) draws together contributions from more than 100 scientists to present an international picture of the state of the discipline.  He also has a deep interest in sharing with students his enthusiasm for Geography and for the physical environment, and in exploring approaches teaching that help students to expand their view of the world.

Professor Andrew Goudie

Andrew Goudie is Master of St Cross College Oxford,  Professor of Geography and President of the International Association of Geomorphologists.   He has been Honorary Secretary and a Vice President of the RGS, Executive Secretary and Chairman of the British Geomorphological Research Group, a member of the Council of the IBG, and President of the Geographical Association.  His research interests include the geomorphology of deserts, climatic change, environmental archaeology and the human impact.  He has worked extensively in southern Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland and Namibia) and the Middle East, including Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates

Professor Hazel Barrett

Hazel Barrett is Head of Geography, Environment and Disaster Management at Coventry University .  She is a development geographer and her main research interests are the socio-economic aspects of development, in particular rural development in sub-Saharan Africa. Recent research and consultancy has focused on health (especially HIV/AIDS), population, education, gender and income generation including horticultural production and organic agriculture.