The Kennet Geog Blog

  Infectious diseases vary by geographic region and population, and they change over time. When moving from one region to another, humans are exposed to a variety of potential pathogens and also serve as part of the global dispersal process.   Microbes picked up at one time and in one place may manifest in disease (and potentially be transmitted) far away in time and place. Because many microbes have the capacity to persist in the human host for months, years or even decades, the relevant time frame for study of geographic exposures becomes a lifetime. Furthermore, microbes also move and change and reach humans via multiple channels. Read more  here.

  When I recall the nation I was born in, my memories of the brief time I spent there are conjured through rose-tinted glasses. I recall lush fields of green rice paddies, ponds decorated with lily pads and frogs, and trees bursting with fruit. Besides myself, Bangladesh is home to 168 million people — yet the nation was only recently born through blood and struggle over 50 years ago. Now, Bangladesh faces great struggle again. The majority of the nation sits on the largest river delta in the world, at the confluence of the mighty Ganges, Jamuna, and Meghna Rivers. These rivers are Bangladesh’s lifeblood; they are the waterways that produce the rich agricultural soil that dubs the nation the “Land of Rivers.” My rose-tinted glasses are gone now. Where there were once rice paddies, there is now just water; where there were once ponds full of life, they are now buried under the currents; and where there was once beautiful agriculture, there is now only erosion and destruction. The Land o

This paper identifies groups vulnerable to the effect of flooding on hospital visits due to diarrhoea during and after a flood event in 1998 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The number of observed cases of cholera and non-cholera diarrhoea per week was compared to expected normal numbers during the flood and post-flood periods, obtained as the season-specific average over the two preceding and subsequent years using Poisson generalised linear models. The expected number of diarrhoea cases was estimated in separate models for each category of potential modifying factors: sex, age, socio-economic status and hygiene and sanitation practices. During the flood, the number of cholera and non-cholera diarrhoea cases was almost six and two times higher than expected, respectively. In the post-flood period, the risk of non-cholera diarrhoea was significantly higher for those with lower educational level, living in a household with a nonconcrete roof, drinking tube-well water (vs. tap water), using a dista

  The epicentre of Morocco’s  devastating earthquake  on 8 September was in the High Atlas Mountains, about 71km south-west of Marrakesh. Moina Spooner, from The Conversation Africa, asked Jesús Galindo-Zaldivar, who has been carrying out research on the formation of the  Atlas mountains  and the geology of the area, about the factors which led to this situation. Read the full article  here!

 Statistical testing is a key piece of your NEA data analysis. The links below give you access to some key statistical tests you may be able to use when analysing the data you have collected.  Spearmans rank:  Click here Mann Whitney U:  Click here Chi Squared:  Click here

The videos in the attached playlist are a great way to revise on the go! Whether you're on the way to meet family at a special event or enjoying a wholesome walk to school, these videos really get the geography brains pumping!  Click here for video playlist.

The video below provides a reminder as to what geomorphic processes impact our coastlines. This is a useful recap to some vital components within the coastal unit. The video can be found  here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has provoked intense public and political debate on the future of cities and urbanisation. Prognoses have ranged from the ‘end of the city’ to reinvigorated visions of green multifunctional neighbourhoods. Urban researchers have identified a set of existing and potential shifts in all kinds of areas: urban imaginaries, material forms, sociotechnical networks, economic activities, social practices, governance arrangements, and spatial configurations.  Our starting point is a concern with how the pandemic has  accelerated  certain processes and agendas and how these operate in relation to circulations that are variously prioritised, catalysed, devalued, neglected and abandoned at different sites across the urban world. At the same time, other processes, priorities and sites have been  decelerated , interred, put on hold, and confined to particular margins. Read the full article  here!

The currently globalising society is characterised by a tension between increasingly intensive transnational mobility of people and continuous territorial regulation of these flows. This situation has led to the increasingly selective opening and closing of borders, providing territorial access to some while keeping out others. In this paper, I reflect on how such management of people’s (in)ability to cross borders has become a geopolitical instrument. View the full journal  here.

Short Abstract The paper makes an important contribution to geographical thinking by applying new scale-free methods to (a) ascribe geographic origins to long-established British populations, and (b) ascribe origin characteristics to more recent migrants. For the first time, we demonstrate that geographic origins and inter-generational migration history shape social mobility outcomes for long-established populations. We demonstrate that social mobility outcomes for more recent migrant groups are diverse and that conventional statistical classifications of ethnicity conceal some diversity of outcomes that arise from probable national origins, family group membership, and length of family group establishment in Britain.  Click here for full article

 A students guide to independent investigation The guide attached  here  offers key pieces of information to support you as you work through your NEA. This is official guidance from OCR and should therefore be followed thoroughly. It is absolutely key that you utilize free time you have to read this guide and ensure you are within OCR's expected guidelines. 

No doubt you have by now spent considerable time considering the different methods you will use to collect data. This is valuable and important as methods are the salient factor in determining the accuracy of the data and subsequent conclusion therefore weaknesses in the methods reduce the certainty of the conclusions. The blog post  here  looks at some techniques you may wish to use to present your data amongst other important pieces of information.  There are also further pieces of information to be found below:  Barcelona Field Studies Centre Field studies council General data presentation

RGS-IBG Managing Editor: Academic Publications Sep 19 By  Julian Dobson ,  Sheffield Hallam University Geographers' interest in high streets has ebbed and flowed over the years. The 1980s saw a  flurry of interest  as traditional town centres were reshaped by out-of-town or edge-of-town shopping centres designed to be accessed by car. More  recent scholarship  has continued to frame high streets and town centres as shopping environments, often referencing a common trope of the  'death of the high street' . The idea that the high street is dying is common in media and policy circles ,  too, prompting a rash of initiatives such as the UK Government’s  Future High Streets Fund . Acknowledgement of the wider functions of town centres has been relatively muted, however, although some attention has been paid to what might be described as 'more-than-market' approaches to retailing that ‘ develop and create community’ . Even if the idea of the high street as a shopping dest

What really causes migration?   We look extensively at global migration and the challenges and opportunities this creates. Broaden your horizons with the articles attached below.  Article 1- The Conversation Article 2- The brain drain

    Place is a geographical nexus of connections How do we understand space? What makes a space special to so many people? The ARCGIS story map attached  here  is a great way to visually aid your understanding of the bigger picture surrounding the unit. Click read more to access the link! 

 Coastal systems and flows of energy Still finding the concept of coastal systems challenging? The article below is relevant to all exam boards (Including OCR) and delves into what makes coasts an open system as well as supporting your understanding of inputs, outputs and processes.  The web page can be found here:  Coastal systems and wave energy

 The UK’s island identity has long shaped its political outlook – is that why it currently feels so adrift? The article below explores the identity of the UK with a particular focus on politics and the links this creates with sovereignty.  The link to the article can be found here:  https://theconversation.com/the-uks-island-identity-has-long-shaped-its-political-outlook-is-that-why-it-currently-feels-so-adrift-209276