Prof John Dearing – Geography and Environment
Prof Steve Darby – Geography and Environment

This studentship is linked to the international research project DECCMA¹, which is concerned with understanding and reducing the vulnerabilities of four global deltas: Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna, Bangladesh; Mahanadi, India; Nile, Egypt; and Volta, Ghana. The successful student will work alongside the main project conducting research into the sustainable management of these complex social-ecological systems in the face of growing social, ecological and climate stressors during the 21^st century.  For each delta, a combination of land use management practices both within and upstream of the deltas, climate change, on-going social migration, and socio-economic change is creating delta conditions that have not previously been experienced. This makes near term and longer term planning and management for climate resilient development of deltas a challenging prospect. The aim of the PhD project will be to focus on the stability and sustainability of the biophysical processes, particularly the multi-decadal dynamics that control delta morphology, flooding, and ecosystem services. While the focus is on the biophysical, there is a recognised need for interdisciplinary approaches within a social-ecological systems framework that address the role of non-biophysical drivers. scholarship daily news in www.rightman.ir

There are several methodologies that could be employed and developed depending on the individual’s background and skills set. Reconstruction of the recent environmental changes through collation of existing datasets, official records, satellite imagery and/or new palaeoenvironmental analyses might be used to assess how the contemporary delta system has evolved through sets of social-ecological interactions. Dynamic modelling approaches could be used to simulate possible changes in the biophysical processes and conditions into the near future. A combination of these approaches might be used to assess the likelihood for major regional tipping points, transformations and instabilities to be reached or crossed in the face of projected stressors. The PhD could focus on one delta specifically, or take a broader approach encompassing more than one site. scholarship daily news in www.rightman.ir

The successful student will have a first class degree in a relevant discipline, such as Geography, Earth Science, Environmental Science or Complexity Science. A relevant MSc degree is desirable. The project will be supervised by Profs John Dearing and Steve Darby, and other members of DECCMA at the University of Southampton. The planned start date is October 2014. The closing date for receiving applications is May 26th, with an interview in early June. We intend announcing the name of the successful candidate by mid-June. Please direct any informal enquiries to John Dearing ([email protected]). scholarship daily news in www.rightman.ir

The studentship is to be funded at RCUK level, currently £13,726 per annum, with an RTSG of £750. The studentship is open to British and EU nationals only. International students can apply to the topic but they must be able to meet the difference between home/EU and International tuition fees themselves. scholarship daily news in www.rightman.ir

Funding duration: Three years

Please apply for the MPhil/PhD in Geography via the following link: https://studentrecords.soton.ac.uk/BNNRPROD/bzsksrch.P_Search

¹The research project ‘Deltaic Environments, vulnerability and Climate Change: The role of Migration as an Adaptation and its policy implications’ is funded through the Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) funded by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the UK’s Department of International development (DfID). scholarship daily news in www.rightman.ir

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