UCL Department of Geography

04/06/2026

How does race shape the way cities are built?

The second lecture in the Racial Capitalism and the Urban series turns to Brazil to explore how race and urban space are deeply interconnected.

Professor Renato Emerson dos Santos will examine how racial classification, segregation, and inequality shape the geography of Brazilian cities, and how these dynamics are tied to wider systems of urban development and labour.

The discussion also highlights how Black urban movements have redefined cities as spaces of resistance, struggle, and change.

📍 IAS Common Ground
🗓️ 16 June 2026 | 5 PM - 6:30 PM
🎟️ Free and open to all

Find out more: tinyurl.com/ucl-bart

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The second lecture in the 'Racial Capitalism and the Urban' series examines how racial classification shapes peripheral urbanisation in Brazil, with Professor Renato Emerson dos Santos.

03/06/2026

🚀 How do we measure pollution from rocket launches?

Researchers at UCL Geography are developing innovative ways to track spacecraft emissions using high-resolution satellite imagery.

Led by Professor Eloise Marais and funded by ARIA, the project will create new methods for detecting and quantifying pollution plumes released during rocket launches. The work could provide valuable insights into how the rapidly growing space industry affects air quality, atmospheric chemistry and climate change.

As launch activity increases worldwide, understanding these impacts is becoming an increasingly important scientific challenge.

Read more about the research and its potential impact: tinyurl.com/ucl-unl

What environmental questions about the space industry do you think deserve more attention?

03/06/2026

When the graduate job market feels uncertain, how do you find your next step?

UCL Geography alumna Maahika Singh shares her experience of navigating rejection, building resilience, and ultimately launching her own business. Supported through UCL Innovation and Enterprise, she turned her passion for storytelling into a thriving venture.

Her journey shows how the skills developed through Geography, understanding people, places and complex challenges, can lead to opportunities far beyond traditional career paths.

Tell us: what has been the most valuable skill in your career journey?

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After graduating with a first from UCL and sending out hundreds applications without success, Maahika Singh quickly realised she had to adapt in a world of AI and hyper-competition. When hard work and good grades are no longer enough, here’s how she made her mark

01/06/2026

Figuring out your summer plans? 🌞

There’s still time to build experience, explore opportunities and develop skills after term ends. Explore late and off-cycle internships, volunteering, and other ways to build career readiness over the summer. There are many alternative ways to grow your skills and experience while enhancing your employability.

➡️ Unlock your next steps by reading the UCL Careers guide on what to do if you haven’t secured a summer internship: https://bit.ly/43x72T3

28/05/2026

How do global infrastructure projects reshape everyday life?

We're pleased to welcome Professor Timothy Oakes (University of Colorado Boulder) for a seminar exploring infrastructure, precarity and urban transformation in Southeast Asia.

Focusing on Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor, the talk examines how development zones and investment corridors create “new hinterlands”, spaces between rural and urban life where communities navigate uncertainty, mobility and changing livelihoods.

This event will be of interest to anyone working on urban studies, development, migration, political geography and Southeast Asian studies.

Find out more: tinyurl.com/ucl-newhint

📅 Wednesday 17 June 2026
🕓 4–6pm
📍 G01 Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN

Free and open to all. No booking required.

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27/05/2026

How does social class shape experiences in higher education?

Geographers Against Classism are hosting a panel discussion exploring how social class is experienced, understood, and addressed within academia.

The event will bring together students and academics from UCL and King's College London to reflect on barriers to educational pathways, cultural and social capital, and the role class plays in shaping academic experiences and curricula.

The discussion will be followed by an audience Q&A and informal refreshments.

📍 Lecture Room LG04, 26 Bedford Way, UCL
📅 Tuesday 9 June, 3–5pm
🎟️ Free and open to all

Find out more: tinyurl.com/ucl-gac

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22/05/2026

World Biodiversity Day is a reminder that biodiversity isn’t separate from cities, campuses, or everyday life, it’s part of how healthier environments are created and sustained. 🌿

We’re pleased to see UCL commit to becoming a Nature Positive University, building on work across research, teaching and campus spaces to better understand and support biodiversity. From mapping habitats to tackling environmental impacts, this is a conversation geographers are deeply engaged in.

Find out more via UCL and Sustainable UCL: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2026/may/ucl-commits-becoming-nature-positive-university

It’s World Biodiversity Day (22 May) and UCL has committed to becoming a Nature Positive University🌳

This means putting nature at the heart of how we operate, teach and research.

We’re taking action by:

• Mapping biodiversity across our campuses
• Understanding our wider environmental impact, including supply chains
• Setting targets to improve biodiversity outcomes
• Creating a biodiversity working group to lead the work

Across UCL, this builds on the Wild UCL campaign – from greener spaces on campus to projects that support habitats and wildlife.

Our researchers are also leading the way globally, developing new ways to measure biodiversity and exploring how universities can reduce their impact on nature.

Want to get involved?
We’re inviting staff and students to express interest in joining a biodiversity working group and help shape what comes next.

Find out more: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/sustainable/news/2026/may/ucl-commits-becoming-nature-positive-university

Sustainable UCL

22/05/2026

Congratulations to the Class of 2026. 🎓

From late-night deadlines to graduation day in UCL's bicentenary year, you’ve been part of a chapter that will stay in the university’s history long after the photos are taken.

Here’s to everything you built, discovered, questioned and survived along the way 💜



📸: Nikolaos Volkov

21/05/2026

Hat's off to this year's graduates🎓

We’re celebrating every single one of you who is crossing the stage at the Royal Festival Hall this week. Congratulations on reaching such an incredible milestone. We’re so proud of you. 💜

19/05/2026

Satellite launches are transforming how we communicate and navigate the world, but what impact are they having on Earth’s atmosphere? 🛰️🌍

In a new interview with NPR All Things Considered, Professor Eloise Marais discusses emerging research into pollution from rockets and satellite burn-up in the upper atmosphere.

Her research explores how soot particles released high above Earth could unintentionally cool parts of the atmosphere, raising complex questions about geoengineering, climate ethics, and the rapid growth of the global space industry.

As satellite “mega constellations” continue expanding, the interview highlights why international cooperation and sustainable regulation of space activity are becoming increasingly important.

🎧 Listen to the interview: tinyurl.com/geoengin

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