Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Reading

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Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Reading

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Welcome to Department of Geography and Environmental Science at Reading. Find out more about our teaching and research at https://www.reading.ac.uk/ges/.

14/10/2026

🪨

It's time for !

A new series highlighting our in-house geology collection.

13/10/2026

Yesterday our Part 3 BSc and MSc students visited an urban rooftop as an example of green infrastructure!

Only minutes away from Reading town centre, the RISC rooftop garden promotes community education, health, and wellbeing, while housing around 160 plant species in only 30cm of soil - even a cherry tree. 🍒🌳

After exploring the garden, the students learnt more about its creation and key features such as sustainable urban drainage, biodiversity, and community engagement. Waste minimisation is also at the heart of the forest garden, using woodchips from tree surgeons, newspaper mulch, and even old stones from Reading Abbey.

The garden sits on top of the flat roof of the conference room with reinforced steel joists supporting the roof - which made for an interesting view looking up during the presentation!

RISC

Visit the RISC website for more information 👉 www.risc.org.uk/gardens/roof-garden/

Watch a virtual tour of the garden 👉 www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPL2XZ8aMyc&t

10/10/2026

An ERUPTIVE demonstration for the University of Reading open day!

To showcase one of the many exciting modules in our Geography and Environmental Science courses and demonstrate how far volcanic material can travel during an eruption, we launched balls of varying weights into the air using liquid nitrogen. 🌋💥

Learn more 👉 www.reading.ac.uk/ges

University of Reading

09/10/2026

Explore your future at the University of Reading!

Join us for the University open day tomorrow and discover what studying Geography and Environmental Science could look like.

Make sure not to miss the special GES demonstrations at 10:15 and 14:15 in the fields near the Russell Building. 🌋

More info 👉 www.reading.ac.uk/ready-to-study/visiting-and-open-days/opendays

07/10/2026

🪨

Introducing !

Presented by Dr Hazel McGoff, an Associate Professor in Environmental Science within our department.

Stay tuned for next week. 👀

02/10/2026

The University of Reading Vice-Chancellor's Awards took place earlier this week!

We are incredibly proud of our colleagues Dr Jess Neumann, Dr Hilary Geoghegan, and Dr Alison Macleod, alongside their student partners, who received an award for their collaborative work developing a new assessment brief template. 🎉🏆

The template is now widely used across teaching within the School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science, where it helps to create greater consistency and clearer communication around assessments.

One of the GES students involved in the project, Niamh Pipe, shared the following:

"After speaking to students from a range of year groups, it was clear students were unhappy with the way assessment information is communicated and the lack of consistency between modules.

We worked with staff to design a new assessment brief to improve the communication between staff and students. We hope that the work we have done will improve students' experience when completing assessments and lead to a positive change within the department."

Congratulations to everyone involved! 👏

Archaeology at the University of Reading

30/09/2026

Sturgeon are a royal fish, but they are no longer swimming in British rivers.

As part of her PhD project on extinct British species, Lucia Snyderman is researching sturgeon decline in the River Severn.

Over the past few weeks, Lucia walked the River Severn from source to sea - a whopping 215 miles! - to interview fishing communities along the way and document oral histories of sturgeon. 🐟🏞️🐟

She will use this hands-on community experience to help inform river restoration and sturgeon reintroduction planning.

Read more 👉 doi.org/10.1098/rsos.260521

Lucia's interview with BBC Shropshire (34:15-41:58) 👉 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0030t66

Lucia Snyderman

29/09/2026

Looking to recharge between classes? ⚡

Our new SAGES-themed Student Commuter Hub is now open in the Wager Building, creating a 'home away from home' for commuting students who spend long days on campus!

It features areas for eating, studying, resting, and socialising - as well as secure storage to make campus days easier. 🍴📚 💬

You can find the space in Wager G20.

28/09/2026

The new academic term is off to a start!

As part of our Welcome Week activities, our Part 1 students headed out to explore two iconic London institutions: the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and the Natural History Museum.

Students learned about the RGS' wide-ranging work today (from collections to employability) alongside reflecting on the institution's complex history.

At the NHM, students visited exhibits such as 'Fixing our broken planet' - reflecting on nature in crisis and hopeful responses. 🌍🌿

14/09/2026

2nd day of our final year optional field class to Hampshire, Powys and Berkshire. Today at White Castle Winery near Abergavenny undertaking a soil survey, having a discussion with the managers about the challenges and opportunities of viticulture in the UK, and of course a tasting.

Address

Department Of Geography & Environmental Science, Wage And Russell Buildings, Whiteknights
Reading
RG66AB

Website

https://www.reading.ac.uk/ges/

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