Seminar on physical geography - February 26, 2006

The one-day seminar on physical geography organised earlier this month by the Geography Division was an enriching experience for all the participants. The seminar was spread over five presentations by three prominent lecturers from the University of Portsmouth in the UK: Dr Paul Farres, Dr Rob Inkpen and Dr Malcolm Bray.

The seminar was inaugurated by a speech from Dr Simon Mercieca, the director of the Mediterranean Institute, under which the Geography Division falls, and by Dr Joseph Mifsud, director of the European Unit. Dr Mercieca spoke of the importance of geography for the Mediterranean Institute. He also said that whereas many geographers ended up as teachers in the past, this situation has changed in the last two years and many geography graduates are nowadays finding jobs in other sectors.

Dr Mifsud emphasised the links between the University of Malta and the University of Portsmouth and encouraged the students present to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the EU to participate in ERASMUS mobility programmes. After the first presentation on the University of Portsmouth and with particular reference to the Geography Department and to the various courses offered, Dr Farres spoke on the different analytical approaches of geographic investigation and provided examples from staff research projects and student work undertaken at the University of Portsmouth. In 'Modelling in Physical Geography: Experimental and Hardware Approaches', Dr Farres mentioned three types of models which geographers use to investigate and interpret the processes that occur in the natural world namely: the conceptual model which communicates reality, the statistical model which provides estimations and the mathematical models which provide simulations and future predictions. The latter are nowadays the most important tools for risk assessment and prevention. The presentation was supported by various examples from field experiments conducted by Portsmouth University students both in the UK and on an international scale.

The talk ended with an interesting discussion whereby Dr Farres and his colleagues suggested practical and simple models that can be developed for research studies and dissertations. Dr Inkpen spoke about the Philosophy of Physical Geography which is very often underestimated.

The seminar ended with a very interesting lecture on Shoreline Management in the UK presented by Dr Bray.