Protecting our Ocean’s future

Public need for better methods to monitor, manage and protect international marine assets has motivated sonar methodologies research by Dr Richard Bates, of the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, and colleagues that has led to the establishment of over 107 internationally important sites of Marine Special Areas of Conservation and Marine Special Protection Areas. In 2009, all principal UK Conservation Organisations (e.g. Natural England, Joint Nature Conservancy Council, Scottish Natural Heritage) adopted, as mandatory, procedures on sonar methodologies for benthic habitat survey, developed by Bates et al. within their conservation guidelines. The sonar methods used are part of internationally adopted practice, for example on fisheries protection sites, while at the same time providing stunning visualisation widely used for public understanding of the sites.


Since the early successes of the multibeam programme for habitat evaluation, a parallel research stream was developed for its use in studies of environmental change resulting from climate fluctuations.In particular a programme of research was stimulated by ground-breaking work on marine terminating glaciers in the Arctic highlighted by a series of films made for Greenpeace and the UN Climate Change Conference. The study of rapidly retreating glaciers and areas of sea-ice melt in Greenland, habitats to some of our most threatened species, such as the polar bear has since been the focus of documentaries for the BBC including Frozen Planet and the award-winning 2012 BBC programme, Operation Iceberg. As the marine environment continues to be the focus of every intensifying exploitation, new methods of analysing habitats and their inhabitants are being developed. The latest sonar technology, 3D real-time methods is the focus for recent work on cetaceans such as Orca and is now being explored by other research centres around the world, for example in Woods Hole, USA.

BBC documentation on the Middle Ages

Two BBC television series on medieval subjects: Inside the Medieval Mind (BBC4, 2008) and The Normans (BBC2, 2010), written and presented by world-leading medieval historian, Professor Robert Bartlett of the School of History, have exposed millions of viewers to historical documentary about the Middle Ages. Prof. Bartlett’s main areas of research are the history of medieval colonialism, of the British Isles in the period 1050-1300, and of medieval attitudes towards the natural and the supernatural. Inside the Medieval Mind discussed medieval views of issues such as miracles, the way medieval people thought about the physical world and the nature of human society. The Normans was informed in part by Prof. Bartlett’s earlier work on medieval colonialism and conquest.

Prof. Bartlett's will be discussing his latest book, "Why Can the Dead Do Such Great Things?: Saints and Worshippers from the Martyrs to the Reformation" (Princeton University Press, 2013) at the Oxford Literary Festival on 25th March and the Buxton Festival on 26th July.

The exponentially engaging Vanessa and Virginia

Extensive editorial and biographical research on the work of Virginia Woolf by Susan Sellers, Professor of English and Creative Writing in the School of English, led to the composition and publication of her first novel, 'Vanessa and Virginia', a glimpse into the life of sisters Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. The book was published by a small independent publisher in the north-west Highlands of Scotland, Two Ravens Press, and became their most commercially successful publication.
In 2009, it went on to become a Barnes and Noble 'Great New Writing Discovery' and editor's choice in the NY Times Book Review (Paperback Row). It has been translated into 16 languages. At that time, it was also adapted by Elizabeth Wright to stage and premiered in Aix-en-Provence in 2010. It attracted the attention of freelance director, Emma Gersch, who set up a company, Moving Stories, specifically to tour the play, which opened in September 2010 and ran until April 2013, when it moved to Riverside Studios in London. The play has toured the UK, France, Germany and Poland.

Vanessa and Virginia was chosen for BBC Radio Cambridgeshire’s ‘Book a Day in May’ and, subsequently, Susan Sellers has been interviewed for broadcast on numerous occasions including a special 45-minute edition of Woman’s Hour on BBC4.

Shaping perceptions of the Roman army

Dr Jonathan Coulston (School of Classics) is a leading authority on the Roman army. His expertise has underpinned the work of a wide range of heritage organisations, media companies and Roman army enthusiasts. Museums such as Housesteads Museum on Hadrian’s Wall (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) have drawn on his publications and personal expertise to classify and display their Roman army collections.
He has been consulted for magazines such as National Geographic – for articles on Roman frontiers (2012) and Libya (2013) – and for numerous television documentaries, including Lion TV’s An Untold Invasion of Britain (2009). His definitive publications on Roman military equipment are the touchstone for a wide community of living history re-enactors, illustrators and figure wargaming enthusiasts, and his regular public lectures have reached out to school children and public audiences across the country.

Promoting Christian pilgrimage in Scotland

The research of Dr Ian Bradley, of the School of Divinityinto the history of Christian pilgrimage and its recent revival, specifically in Scotland but also across Europe, has fed directly into the activities of churches, heritage bodies and specialist travel companies. Dr Bradley’s research has focused on the importance of the practice and theme of pilgrimage in Ireland and Scotland in the so called ‘golden age of Celtic Christianity’ in the sixth and seventh centuries, explored in his books Columba: Pilgrim and Penitent (Wild Goose Publications, 2000) and Colonies of Heaven (Darton, Longman & Todd, 2006). His important study Pilgrimage: A Spiritual and Cultural Journey (Lion Books, 2010), so far translated into Dutch, Norwegian, Japanese and Arabic, demonstrates the extent and nature of the revival of interest in Christian pilgrimage across Europe over the last 40 years. Dr Bradley’s research on the history of pilgrimage has led him to be invited to speak to the Scottish Parliament on the potential for pilgrimage related tourism in Scotland and to numerous radio and television appearances, most recently speaking to Neil Oliver about Iona on the 2014 BBC2 Series ‘The Sacred Wonders of Britain’.
His research into initiatives and practices for pilgrimage is being applied by churches, contemporary Christian communities, including the Iona Community, and heritage bodies, such as Historic Scotland, both to stimulate pilgrimages to significant historic and spiritual sites and as a basis for developing new pilgrim routes. For the last 10 years, Dr Bradley has been devising and leading pilgrimages around St Andrews, including the St Andrew’s Day and Good Friday pilgrimages. In 2010, at the invitation of Pax Travel, the leading pilgrimage operators in the UK, he led a pilgrimage across Scotland from Iona to St Andrews. He is closely involved with the Scottish Pilgrim Routes Forum in the current research and development of long distance pilgrim ways across Scotland from Iona to St Andrews and across Fife from St Andrews to Edinburgh via Dunfermline. His involvement is bringing about the development of pilgrim routes across Scotland.