Physical Geography and Meteorology Laboratories

This area of the lab is the more analytical side of the laboratory where students have access to a wide range of different pieces of equipment. What the flume allows us to do is to reproduce those natural conditions and alter them as well. 

We can then look at how sediment moves in our manufactured, altered river state compared to that in the field. We also have a range of laser scanners as well. Now, these are used to document changes in the environment. So we've used these on Kilimanjaro, also in Arctic Finland as well, looking at snowmelt. And we can tie that imagery that we get from the laser scanner in with drone footage as well to get a much more complete understanding of how the environment is changing.

We've also got a piece of equipment that the students tend to use when looking at plastic pollution. We have a number of students that go out into the field, take samples, carry out beach surveys. The students are able to analyse those plastic particles and get an idea of not only what the plastic is, but also potentially where it might have come from. 

Now, that's really important from a geographical and an environmental context, because it allows the student to not only get an understanding of what the particle is and what the issue is and the extent of that problem. But it also provides opportunities for them to think about the bigger picture and start thinking about how we can address that problem. 

And that is a really important quality to take into a competitive workforce.