4 June 2013
Geography prize for PhD student Martin
A PhD student from the University of Dundee has been recognised for his research into climate change adaptation with a prize from the Royal Geographical Society.
Martin Muir will be presented with the Area Prize at the Society's annual conference later in the summer. Area is an international peer-reviewed academic journal published quarterly by the Society, and the Prize is awarded annually to the best article by a new researcher to appear in the journal.
Martin will receive a cash prize of £500 for his paper 'Climate change and standing freshwaters: informing adaptation strategies for conservation at multiple scales'. The paper will also be made available open access on the journal homepage.
The competition judges described the paper, co-authored with Professor John Rowan and Professor Chris Spray from the University, as "well organised and clearly argued, this article has a strong empirical and conceptual basis and also raises some wider, non-academic issues."
Martin said he was delighted to be awarded the prize and that he hoped to continue carrying out research in this area.
"Climate change adaptation is an important and rapidly expanding area of research as no matter how good mitigation measures may be climate change is already happening, and will continue to impact over the coming century," he said.
"This paper introduces a new framework for producing robust adaptation actions using the internationally important, highly diverse, Scottish freshwater loch resource as a great case study. This research looks at important issues around how species and habitats which have traditionally been considered an important part of our natural heritage will cope with changing environmental conditions.
"As climate continues to change these special places and species will face increasing pressures and if we want them to remain a functional part of the environment then we need to make proactive management decisions now. Scotland provides a good example because of its situation on the very edge of Europe.
"Many of the species of conservation interest are glacial relics which are unlikely to be happy in a warmer world. If we want to keep them part of Scotland's natural heritage we need to take action.
"I'm absolutely delighted to have won the 2012 Area prize. Getting this paper published was a long process and I would like to thank the reviewers and editors at Area for making suggestions which significantly strengthened the paper."
The research was funded by Scottish Natural Heritage and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, who are currently facing these issues in developing conservation strategies for species and habitats of national and international importance in the face of challenges arising from climate change.
The purpose of the Area Prize is to encourage submissions from new researchers and to reward excellent geographical research. The Prize is sponsored by Wiley-Blackwell, who publish Area on behalf of the Royal Geographical Society.
To be eligible for consideration, authors must be engaged in full or part-time postgraduate research, or be within three years of the completion of their PhD, or of equivalent professional standing.
The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) is the learned society and professional body for geography. Formed in 1830, the Royal Charter of 1859 is for 'the advancement of geographical science'.
Today, it delivers this objective by developing, supporting and promoting geographical research through scientific expeditions and fieldwork, education, and public engagement, while also providing geographical input to policy.
A key aim is to foster an understanding and informed enjoyment of our world. The Society holds the world's largest private geographical collection and provides public access to it. More information is available from www.rgs.org.
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