Geography at Queen Mary is ranked 5th in the UK for the quality of our research, with 80% of that research defined as world leading or internationally excellent. This means our students are taught by scholars at the cutting edge of their field who bring the excitement of their research into the classroom.
Though our research covers a broad range of issues in human and physical geography and environmental science - from international development to river restoration – our staff share a commitment to research that informs real world change. It is impossible to describe the full range of our research here, but you may want to take a look at a small selection of our staff and the research they do.
Alastair Owens is the current Head of School and is an historical geographer and social and economic historian working on nineteenth and twentieth-century Britain. Alastair has particular interest in Victorian London, which is also a core focus of his teaching interests and expertise. Much of Alastair’s work is interdisciplinary and collaborative and has been supported by a range of grants, including from the Economic and Social Research Council, the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the British Academy, the Philomathia Foundation and Isaac Newton Trust. Alastair has undertaken research projects with Historians, Economists, Finance experts and Archaeologists (as well as with Geographers) and has collaborated on several projects with colleagues in London-based museums.— Professor of Historical Geography, Alastair Owen, Head of School
Sydney is a feminist geographer with interests in political geography and international relations. She was recently awarded a prestigious Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship for her research in the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Poland and the USA on the geographies of abortion, pro-choice activism and the state’s control of reproduction. Sydney’s co-edited book – After Appeal: Rethinking Abortion Politics - was published by Zed Books in January 2020. As well as working with our Masters and PhD students, she teaches on our second-year module Health, Space and Justice. — Dr Sydney Calkin, Lecturer in Human Geography
As well as a Professor of Development Geography, Kavita is also Queen Mary’s Deputy Vice-Principal for Research Impact, and Director of QMUL’s Centre for the Study of Migration on whose behalf she has recently completed a series of visits to discuss migration research with scholars in Delhi, Nairobi, and Beirut. Kavita’s research focuses on transnational migration, migrant’s employment and financial practices, remittances and financial exclusion. She has been instrumental in helping to establish a distinctive ‘hybrid geography’ agenda which encourages students to challenge ideas of the global South as a collection of places in need of external development interventions, and recognise instead the immense diversity of the global South and the links between the global South and North. — Professor of Development Geography Kavita Datta
Marcia joined the School of Geography in 2018, having completed her BA at the University of Chile, and her MA and PhD at the University of Sheffield. Marcia’s research sits at the intersection of development, political and social geography. With a focus on the experiences and ‘management’ of refugees in Latin America, in her most recent research Marcia has explored the experiences of resettlement amongst Palestinian and Colombian refugees in Chile and Brazil. Marcia brings these interests, and a commitment to fostering critical thinking and engagement amongst her students, to her teaching on our second-year module Spaces of Uneven Development. — Dr Marcia Vera Espinoza, Lecturer in Human Geography
Jon is a social geographer whose research focuses on poverty, inequality and social (in)justice in the UK – a research agenda he has pursued through projects on the experiences of low paid migrant workers, street homelessness, austerity and food banking. He is particularly interested in sites of potential challenge to neoliberal values and practices and in research that can inform these challenges. Over the years he has advised numerous government and non-governmental agencies on these issues, including: HM Treasury, Greater London Authority, Homeless Directorate Canada, Mayor’s Office Auckland New Zealand, Crisis, Oxfam, and Sustain. In 2016 he co-founded the Independent Food Aid Network, working with more than 300 food banks and organisations working to end food insecurity in the UK.— Professor of Geography, Jon May
Simon is a political geographer with interests in political economy and the international politics of the post-war era. He came to Queen Mary in 2004 and helped establish QMUL’s Centre for the Study of Global Security and Development. He regularly comments for newspapers, television and radio and has published five books - most recently: Empire of Democracy: The Remaking of the West, 1971-2017 (Doubleday, 2019) and The Political Origins of Inequality: Why a More Equal World is Better for Us All (Chicago University Press, 2015). Simon is currently working on a project exploring Humanitarianism in the 21st Century with colleagues in the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies and the Peace Research Institute, Oslo. — Dr Simon Reid-Henry, Reader in Geography
James joined Queen Mary from the University of Southern California, where he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations and the Deep Carbon Observatory. His research focuses on understanding the interactions between micro-organisms and their geochemical and physical environment and he works in some of the most remote and extreme environments on Earth: ranging from the Arctic and Antarctica to the deep ocean. In his latest paper, published this year in Nature Ecology and Evolution, he examines the loss of biodiversity associated with the retreat of the world’s glaciers. — Dr James Bradley, Lecturer in Environmental Science
Alex’s research explores the processes that control the form and behaviour of rivers. His approach combines novel remote sensing methods (including images from Landsat and Google Earth) with modelling techniques more commonly used in mathematics and neuroscience. He brings his expertise and these novel techniques to his teaching on fluvial geomorphology, geospatial science, hydrology, environmental modelling and river management. Wherever possible in his teaching, Alex demonstrates these techniques using active research sites and provides students with the opportunity to work with real research data.— Dr Alex Henshaw, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography
Kate is an environmental geochemist whose research examines the source, distribution and behaviour of sediment-bound contaminants. She works closely with geomorphologists, hydrologists and ecologists. Kate has held visiting Fellowships at the National Water Research Institute, Canada, and University of Xiamen, China, advised several UK and overseas agencies (including the Environment Agency, Environment Canada, and the Port of Nantes in France) and is currently President of the Estuarine and Coastal Science Association. She brings this experience to her teaching on our first-year modules Earth Surface Science and Global Environmental Issues, and to our second and third-year modules Earth System Cycles and Environmental Management Applications. — Professor Kate Spencer, Professor of Environmental Geochemistry