Compass Vol.3 Issue 1

NOVEMBER 2017 | VOL. 03 ISSUE 01

A CLIMATE OF CHANGE

FROM THE CENTRE OF THE CRISIS

LESSONS FROM NEPAL

CONTENTS

A LETTER FROM

14 / HAPPINESS MATTERS

Working with The Flying Seagull Project to bring love and laughter to children in crisis.

THE EDITORS

Welcome to the first edition of a new year of Compass!

In Michaelmas this year, Compass launched our new blog, bringing a technological upgrade with our same geographical perspective. With articles posting every week, the blog is adding a dynamic new element to the magazine that we hope will bring Compass to more people.

In a truly surprising turn and as a testament to the history of geography in Cambridge, we discovered this year that Compass is not as new as we thought! In 2015, the first meeting for a CUGS geography magazine was held, and we soon decided the name Compass was appropriately geographical. This spring, however, Anna Jenkin from the alumni office discovered a copy of the Cambridge geography magazine from 1949: also called Compass! Call it fate or just coincidence, but Compass magazine has a much longer history than we had realized.

Many thanks to all who have contributed to Compass, and for everyone’s support for our new blog. Special thanks to the academics at the department and our writers from beyond Cambridge geography for their advice, stories, and support. Finally, thanks to our wonderful and hardworking team of editors, designers, and administrators, without whom this magazine could never have existed.

We hope you enjoy Compass!

Isabel Dewhurst and Julia Ganis Co-Editors-in-Chief DISCLAIMER THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS MAGAZINE ARE THOSE OF THE INDIVIDUAL AUTHORS ONLY AND DO NOT REPRESENT THE VIEWS OR OPINIONS OF COMPASS MAGAZINE AS A WHOLE OR THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY.

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27 / CUBA: A BIRDS-EYE VIEW

A whistle stop tour around Cuba from a less-thanordinary perspective.

04 12 20

A GEOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE

A Climate of Change / Nepal / Geography and Trump / Mountain

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Squatting / Happiness Matters / The Faroe Islands / Connectography

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Hurricanes / Canadian Lakes / Himalayas / Stratigraphy

ON THE COVER // PHOTOGRAPH BY ALICIA COOKE Pokhara, Nepal.

20 / HURRICANES AND CLIMATE CHANGE

GOT AN IDEA? CONTACT US. compass@cugs.co.uk Facebook/@cugscompass

24 / WATER SCARCITY IN THE HIMALAYAS

A critical reflection on 2017’s relentless hurricane season.

Siobhan Eastman reflects on her time with the Centre for Ecology, Development and Research.

30 / CAMBRIDGE THEN AND NOW

32 / MY THREE WEEKS WITH DELILAH

Simon Preston discusses his time at Cambridge 35 years ago.

26

GEOGRAPHERS IN ACTION

Cuba / From the Centre of the Crisis / Cambridge / For Keningar

TRAVEL

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India, Dhaka, Guangzhou, Mount Bromo

38

STUDY TIPS

Supervision and Essay Tips / What I did wrong as a first year

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A travel through India by rickshaw, funded by Research Europe through CUGS.

EDITORIAL

EDITORS IN CHIEF ISABEL DEWHURST and JULIA GANIS A GEOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE AOIFE BLANCHARD and BRONWEN FRASER HUMAN GEOGRAPHY TESNI CLARE and HANNAH MENDALL PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY FIONA DOBSON and FRANNY SCHLICKE GEOGRAPHERS IN ACTION NINA GROSSFURTHNER TRAVEL NILUFA AHMED and CALLUM SWANSTON LEARNING TIPS STEPHANIE ANDREWS and AIDAN THOMAS BLOG EDITORS ANGUS PARKER, CHLOE RIXON and JENNIFER THORPE

SECRETARY LUCIAN LEE

PUBLICITY

ANJALI GUPTA and JOE SANDALL

DESIGN

CATHERINE CHANG

CONTRIBUTORS

DR FRANCESCA MOORE, DR IRIS MÖLLER, SIMON PRESTON, JAMES WOODALL, NILUFA AHMED, STEPHANIE ANDREWS MOLLY BIDDELL, AOIFE BLANCHARD, ADAM BOBBETTE, ELLIE BRAIN, TESNI CLARE, MOLLY COOK, ALICE COPPOCK, FIONA DOBSON, SIOBHAN EASTMAN, BRONWEN FRASER, SIMON FRASER, ANJALI GUPTA, CLARE MARSH, HANNAH MENDALL, BRIDGET POTTER, DAN SMITH, AIDAN THOMAS, TONI WATT.

Facebook: @cugscompass Twitter: @compass_cugs Compass Blog: cambridgecompassmagazine.wordpress.com

Deciduous Woodlands

PHOTOGRAPH: SIMON FRASER

A GEOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE

A CLIMATE OF CHANGE

BY SIMON FRASER

P

ublic awareness of environmental issues has had a long gestation period.

John Muir (1838-1914), widely regarded as the father of the modern world conservation movement, initiated the protection of wild places in North America. But it was the seminal work Silent Spring by the marine biologist Rachel Carson, published in 1962, which first alerted the world to the dangers of pesticide use, especially DDT, which was widely used at the time. This courageous woman took on the chemical industry and raised important questions about our impact on nature. The following year saw the Cuban missile crisis and Bob Dylan’s apocalyptic song ‘A Hard Rain’s a Gonna Fall’ with its pessimistic ecological imagery. Later the same decade, millions around the world were inspired and moved by images of the Earth taken by astronauts on the Apollo moon missions. For the first time, mankind was able to see the Earth as it had never been seen before, a fragile craft in the black void of space, a wondrous sphere of great beauty. The images echoed Rachel Carson’s words: ‘The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction’. Years later, those Apollo images have become timeless photographic icons, whilst the world continues to grapple with the challenge of how 7.6 billion people can live sustainably in a finite environment.

In 2017, it is strange to recall the almost total lack of awareness about the impact of human activity on the global atmosphere and climate, as recently as the 1980s. When I arrived in Antarctica in 1981 as a field assistant with the British Antarctic 4 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

Survey (BAS), the stability of the Antarctic ice sheet was primarily of academic interest only. Despite signs of a warming trend in the Antarctic Peninsula region, few people were remotely concerned about the long-term consequences. One was the physicist Joe Farman, who discovered the hole in the ozone layer. I recall hearing Joe at an informal lunchtime lecture at BAS headquarters in Cambridge in the 1980s: ‘Atmospheric science is a very young science.

The truth is we simply don’t know for sure what will happen if we continue to ignore the warning signs’.

Understandably, this mild-mannered scientist wisely advocated the precautionary principle.

After Antarctica I became a freelance professional photographer. My first environmental assignment was in Poland and the former East Germany in 1990, just after the reunification of Germany and the rise of democracy in Poland. Heavy industry in the Soviet era had resulted in some of the worst pollution on the planet. The following year, National Geographic ran a cover story entitled ‘East Europe’s Dark Dawn’, which in the pre-internet era proved very useful in researching an assignment in Northern Bohemia in the Czech Republic, a region devastated on a staggering scale by 1000 km2 of opencast mining and the burning of brown coal.

During my visit in 1992, medieval villages were still being bulldozed in the relentless drive to extract coal.

Since then, pollution as a focus of media attention has been eclipsed by climate change, and the massive challenge of producing energy for the world’s needs without reaching a climatic tipping point through unrestrained greenhouse gas emissions.

So how far have we come in the intervening years? The global average temperature has increased significantly, reaching 1˚C above pre-

Glacier, Svalbard

PHOTOGRAPH: SIMON FRASER

industrial levels in 2015. Atmospheric carbon dioxide has crossed the 400 ppm threshold and is now at its highest level for several million years and 40% higher than the pre-industrial level of 280 ppm. Extreme weather events have become more frequent, many other environmental problems have become more serious and yet our awareness and understanding of the processes has undergone something of a revolution, to a degree that was inconceivable a generation ago. In this climate of change, both literally and in the sense of our response to the consequences, we are living through a critical period in the history of the planet. Though far from universal, there has been a huge shift in awareness and intention: more and more people realise that the planet’s resources must be managed sustainably.

Biodiversity, whether on a local or a global scale, is a vital barometer of the health of the environment, of particular significance at a time when the current rate of species extinction is estimated to be at least 1000 times the background rate. There have been five mass extinctions in the history of life on earth - this could be the sixth. As the eminent biologist E.O.Wilson observed, Homo sapiens is the first species on Earth to have evolved into a geophysical force, and this poses a crucial question: how can we “shift to a culture of permanence, both for ourselves and for the biosphere that sustains us?”

Ironically, as the world population continues to grow, and becomes ever more urbanised, our connection to nature becomes more diluted and yet 5 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

Drax Power Station

PHOTOGRAPH: SIMON FRASER

we continue to rely as much as ever on natural systems for the daily essentials of air, food and water. And yet there is a slow and gradual cultural shift towards the creation of a more harmonious balance between economic development and ecological sustainability.

It requires an understanding of how the world works, and the political will and organisational capacity to repair the damage. Recognition of the importance of ecological interconnectedness has nothing to do with ideology or ‘environmentalism’.

It is a paradigm shift in awareness as more and more people realise we are stressing the finite resources which sustain us.

In the words of His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, head of the 900-year-old Tibetan Buddhist Kagyu Lineage, who visited Cambridge earlier this year during his first visit to the UK: “The environmental emergency that we face is not just a scientific issue, nor is it just a political issue, it is also a moral issue.”

A GEOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE

DOES GEOGRAPHY MATTER IN A WORLD OF TRUMP?

I

BY AOIFE BLANCHARD

n a world of ‘alternative facts’ and with a president like Donald Trump in control of his own twitter feed, I’m beginning to ask the question: ‘Does Geography matter?’ The answer is of course yes, and is well argued by Harm De Blij if anyone is in doubt. With this in mind, let’s consider more closely some of Trump’s greatest geography fails to date.

Trump’s questionable hold on geography and geopolitics more widely has been gloriously displayed by his handling of the hurricanes that have hit North America and the Caribbean this year. In the early hours of Tuesday 26th September, six days after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in one of A representation of Trump’s astounding knowledge of the its worst natural disasters on record, Trump globe tweeted “Texas & Florida are doing great Source: Bramhall Cartoons. Accessed from: http://interactive.nydailynews. but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering com/2016/10/daily-news-editorial-bury-trump-in-landslide from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble”. The paradox he sets up Georgia in June 2016, Trump declared Belgium between a failing Puerto Rico and heroic America to be a “beautiful city”, presumably intending to is unavoidable, relying on Puerto Rico as a foil to refer to Brussels, which he had previously called valorise the response of the United States. This has a “hellhole”, angering the populace of Brussels led to the Independent’s very valid question “Does on many a front with his continued geopolitical Trump even know that he’s responsible for Puerto blunders. In a TV advert promoting his USRico?” As Norman sassily argues, a dependency is Mexico border wall plans, footage of Melilla, an entitled to depend on its mother country’s help, as is autonomous Spanish enclave within the borders usefully indicated by the name ‘dependency’. of Morocco, was used. Trump later claimed this to To be fair to Trump, the Puerto Rican situation be intentional rather than erroneous but it seems is a complicated one, in which its people are rather dubious when even Trump’s lawyer initially recognised as full American citizens by law but made a statement acknowledging the mistake. In cannot vote in presidential elections. This is because January 2016, Trump tweeted the following: “Man Puerto Rico is a non-incorporated territory, a fact shot inside Paris police station. Just announced that almost half of Americans were similarly unaware terror threat is at highest level. Germany is a total of, according to a recent poll. This unfortunate mess – big crime. GET SMART”. Beyond the erratic position of disenfranchisement at the national level, and scare-mongering formulation of his tweet, it despite a referendum in June calling for Puerto Rico would appear Trump thinks Paris is the capital to become America’s 51st state, makes Trump’s city of Germany. Who knew? The final interesting Presidency and apparent disregard for Puerto Rico imaginary I will touch upon from Trump’s Atlas is all the more bitter, particularly when one reflects the African country of “Nambia”. Where is it, you that Puerto Rico would have had seven electoral might ask? Perhaps it resides somewhere in West college votes based on its population and so may Africa close to its cousin The Gambia, or more likely have swung the vote. it is a separatist section of Namibia in the South?

Taking a gander back into some of Trump’s even Your guess is as good as mine… less forgivable geographical misunderstandings I could go on endlessly thanks to Trump providing proves equally entertaining and horrifying so much cannon-fodder but I’ll stop this diatribe depending on whether you’ve come to accept the age here. All that’s left to say is yes, geography still of Trump yet. To highlight but a few, in the world of matters to the majority of us who don’t subscribe to Trump, Belgium is a city, Morocco may as well be in Trump’s Atlas, and the very least of the ramifications Mexico, Paris is in Germany, and apparently there’s of his poor grasp of the globe are that he looks all the an African country called “Nambia”. At a rally in more incapable on a geopolitical stage.

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A GEOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE

Mountainscape around Machu Picchu.

Mountainscape of Peru

PHOTOGRAPH: MOLLY BIDDELL

PHOTOGRAPH: MOLLY BIDDELL

MOUNTAIN: A GEOGRAPHER’S REVIEW

A

lluring, addictive, awe-inspiring: three of the tangle of emotions that spin through one’s head when immersed in the recently-released, multi-sensory cinematic thriller, Mountain. This is a documentary with a twist; it is a three-tiered collaboration of cinematic, musical, and textual delight. Directed by Jennifer Peedom, famous for her 2015 BAFTA-nominated ‘Sherpa’ exposé, the phenomenal vertiginous footage is brought to life by the composition of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, conducted under Richard Tognetti.

Threading a narrative through the documentary is Robert Macfarlane, Fellow of Emmanuel College and Reader of Geocriticism. His provocative prose is based upon his famous book Mountains of the Mind, in which he unpicks man’s elusive relationship with mountains. Macfarlane’s rolling prose is brought to life through the rugged voice of Willem Dafoe, who injects immense charisma into these perilous landscapes. This triplicate sensory experience lays bare the emotive magnetism of the mountains, pulling the audience to the cliff-edge of their seats, sending their hearts racing and palms sweating.

Collated from more than 2,000 hours of footage filmed in 15 countries, Mountain is a 70-minute adrenaline shot. Peedom explains that she let Tognetti’s music determine which footage was used when, allowing the audience’s aural sensitivity to take control. The orchestra synchronises Vivaldi, Grieg, and Beethoven to scenes of awe and bewilderment, while the giddy arpeggios of Arvo Pärt’s Fratres soundtrack the churning somersaults of aerial skiers.

“What is this strange force that draws us upwards – this siren song of the summit?”

The film captures the sublime essence of mountainscapes, traversing their significant cultural and spiritual surfaces. The multi-sonic structure of the documentary echoes the rich experience of mountain existence. The dramatic orchestral score, melodious literature and climactic camera shots draw the audience further from sedentary observation, into the harsh world of ridges, summits, and deafening drops.

Peedom delves deep into the crevasse of understanding the human connection to and 7 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

BY MOLLY BIDDELL

obsession with mountains. Using a historiographic lens, the documentary explores the transformation of mountain landscapes in the European imagination.

It follows the journey from over 300 years ago, when the earth’s wild places held no appeal and were seen as superfluous margins, uncivilised and violent, awe-full only in the context of God’s magnificence.

With the arrival of Burke’s (1757) notion of the ‘sublime’, a consequence of the transcendent combination of terror and pleasure as described by Coleridge on Scafell Pike, mountains became the physical expression for a new school of philosophy.

This romantic approach, combined with the newly discovered concept of ‘deep time’, transformed mountains from barren, static places into landscapes of enquiry and exploration. Today, exploration has become an unbridled compulsion: mountaineers, ice climbers, free soloists, speedflyers, heliskiers, snowboarders, wingsuiters, and parachuting mountain bikers all claim mountains as their playground. Macfarlane explains: “As everyday life becomes safer for some, we seek out danger elsewhere, you never feel so alive knowing that any minute you could die.” and High altitudes are “a space where time warps and bends and sensations are thrillingly amplified … [It] induces in us forms of insanity and forms of grace.”

The documentary points to the sobering reality of human insignificance in the face of such high altitudes, reminding the audience that our highest peaks are places to be revered and respected.

“Mountains are so much more than a challenge, or an adversary to be overcome” In understanding why and how we react and relate to mountains, Peedom is also unpicking man’s relationship with nature, as both a concept and a material reality. Macfarlane, a believer in the notion of the ‘Anthropocene’, and writing at a time when concepts such as planetary urbanism proliferate, more than hints at our current disconnect with a ‘real’ nature, concluding: “Mountains humble the human instinct … restore our wonder and challenge our arrogance.

More than ever we need their wildness.”

A GEOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE

LESSONS FROM NEPAL

WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM SUBSISTENCE FARMERS

BY BRONWEN FRASER

A

week before Michaelmas commenced, I was crammed into a brightlypainted bus with around fifty other people, lurching and jolting over the boulder-strewn, potholed quagmire that constituted a road, at a galloping pace of 7 km/h. A tiny elderly lady was perched on my lap, a sack of pumpkins was jammed under my feet, and a rucksack containing all my worldly belongings was strapped on the roof alongside several live goats. Sweating buckets and unable to move, my friend and I decided to spend the six-hour journey singing along to the loud Hindi music blaring from the speakers, and laughing hysterically every time the bus tilted at an alarming angle over a precipitous drop.

After living with a local family in a remote village in Nepal for three weeks, we had come to adopt their laidback Nepali attitude, encapsulated by their favourite song, ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’. Indeed, this had become our motto for the trip, proving useful on the frequent occasions, such as now, when we found ourselves completely clueless about what was going on.

My two friends and I had just finished a volunteering placement with Helambu Education and Learning Partnership (HELP), teaching English to schoolchildren in the rural village of Gunsa. The programme had been advertised as a meaningful way to spend the summer: Western volunteers, we were told, were desperately needed to improve the quality of education in underfunded, poorly-trained rural schools. Our time in Gunsa had undoubtedly been a mind-blowing experience, but not in the way I had expected: on that mad bus journey back to Kathmandu, I couldn’t escape the uncomfortable feeling that I had learned infinitely more during the three-week placement than I had taught.

A locally-founded NGO, HELP at first glance seems very different to the glitzy ‘Gap-Yah’ organisations which ship thousands of young Westerners out to far-flung locations on packaged voluntourism holidays every year, and accrue a tidy profit in the process. HELP has carried out 8 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

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Crepuscular rays in valley.

PHOTOGRAPH: BRONWEN FRASER

A GEOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE

Basanti at temple hill.

PHOTOGRAPH: BRONWEN FRASER

hugely beneficial work, rebuilding schools after the devastating earthquake of 2015 and providing scholarships which enable outstanding children from poor backgrounds to access higher education.

However, I came away feeling that we volunteers had little to contribute, and that our time in the village had not been of much benefit to those who lived there.

This was partly because we did not have the opportunity to do much teaching: when we first arrived in Gunsa, our host, Basanti – a kind, softspoken young woman who worked as a teacher at the school – explained that due to an unfortunate clash of dates, the children had exams for the next two weeks, so we would only be able to teach one postexam lesson per day. The informal, inconsistent nature of this optional class, with different children attending each day, meant that we were unable to make much progress teaching them English. Even when we began to teach regular classes in our final week, I couldn’t help but wonder if the children would be better off learning from their regular teachers, rather than three untrained, unqualified British teenagers whose English they could barely understand. The question of whether development volunteers are really a help or a hindrance is increasingly being raised in the media; I have heard 10 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

stories of gap year students ‘helping’ to build schools in African villages, which later had to be demolished and rebuilt by the locals because the students had done such an incompetent job.

For me, however, the biggest question was not whether our teaching had made a difference, but whether Western ‘aid’ was needed at all. I had gone out to Nepal with the notion that I would be helping to educate and inspire children who had the misfortune to be born into a poverty-stricken, earthquake-riven village, rife with disease and malnutrition, giving them a chance to build a better life. A month later, my arrogant perceptions of development and the so-called ‘Third World’ had been totally transformed.

It cannot be denied that living conditions in Gunsa were basic and the subsistence lifestyle almost medieval: most of the houses had been flattened by the earthquake and replaced by simple temporary shacks built from corrugated tin. There was no running water – we washed ourselves and our clothes with nothing more than a bar of soap and a bucket – and every meal was the same: a simple but delicious lentil soup with rice and vegetables. Yet despite the simple lifestyle, and the tragic disaster that had torn apart their lives and killed 46 villagers just two years ago, everyone seemed to be extraordinarily healthy

A GEOGRAPHER’S PERSPECTIVE

On the way to the waterfall.

PHOTOGRAPH: BRONWEN FRASER

and happy – more so, in fact, than in the West. The sense of community spirit was fiercely strong, and we were welcomed into it with genuine warmth and enthusiasm. Everyone was always in and out of each other’s houses (including ours); we could not tell who was related to who because the children all acted like brothers and sisters. Adults would rise with the sun at 5am to work in the luminous green rice paddies surrounding the village, taking liberal amounts of a home-brewed spirit called ‘Raksi’ to keep them going, and leaving their children in the care of neighbours. True to the Nepali outlook on life, people could be found relaxing in the shade at any time of day, playing cards, drinking tea or laughing with friends. After school on a hot day, all the children would go swimming in a nearby waterfall pool. Above all I was struck by the deep kindness and generosity that pervaded this small Buddhist community, the like of which I have never encountered before.

Seeing what life in Nepal is really like forced me to question the assumptions about the developing world I had subconsciously absorbed during my Western upbringing: beliefs that are embedded in a persistent colonialist mentality, disguised by good intentions. We have a well-meaning but ultimately false perception that our way of life is better, more 11 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

advanced; that countries like Nepal must ‘develop’ to obtain this superior lifestyle; and that they need our helping hand to do so. It would be wrong to deny that poor communities in some parts of the world suffer in horrendous living conditions, and have benefited enormously from Western aid programmes.

However, the fundamental idea that these countries need to develop to a Western standard for their people to be happy and successful seems unfounded.

Indeed, many of the people I met in Gunsa appeared to be more deeply content than most of my friends and family at home. Our individualistic, consumerist culture equates happiness with success, money, and material possessions, although there is little evidence proving that wealth produces any happiness at all.

That is why I left Nepal with a troubling question: do communities like Gunsa really need Western ‘aid’ to help them develop?

Perhaps it is easy for me to say from my privileged position as a Cambridge student, born and raised in one of the world’s wealthiest countries. But I would argue that the world’s richest countries are just as much in need of ‘development’ as its poorest. We have more to learn from subsistence farmers – about community, family, and how to enjoy life – than we have to teach them.

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Feminist squat in Spain.

PHOTOGRAPH: TESNI CLARE

SPACES OF COMMUNITY SPACES OF RESISTANCE

BY TESNI CLARE

W

andering through the streets of Barcelona’s Gràcia district this summer, I stumbled across a squatter community nestled in the hillside of Park Güell, the words ‘OKUPA’ and ‘RESISTE’ painted in huge bright lettering across the roof. It sure caught the eyes of unknowing tourists munching on ice cream and likely hoping for a romantic hilltop panorama of the city. The quote painted across the guttering: ‘We know your capitalist paradise…we look for the hell of freedom’.

Despite the anarchistic statement and obvious political motivation for the squat, I was touched by the immense sense of community and diligence I found – shared vegetable and herb gardens, ad hoc recycled furniture, a communal kitchen and paintings and sculptures everywhere. Being careful not to romanticize and idealize a practice that is often a result of extreme poverty and precarity, the space opened my eyes to the potential of squatting as political statement, a form of activism against a world of globalization and neoliberal capitalism.

Dutch sociologist Hans Pruijt distinguishes between ‘deprivation-based’ squatting and squatting as ‘political activism’, i.e. the use of space for protest, organisation, and discussion. The occupation (by the public) of abandoned (private) space symbolizes Lefebvre’s notion of a ‘right to the city’ – not only the right to access resources but the 12 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

right to reshape ourselves by reshaping the city.

In his comprehensive account of the 1960’s-bred European squatter counterculture, ‘Autonomous City’, Alexander Vasudevan reconceptualizes squatters as pioneers of new radical and alternative lifestyles; squats as laboratories of experimentation.

The movement represents an attempt to ‘reclaim’ the city in an era of gentrification, urban redevelopment, and privatisation of formally public space that systematically displaces the working class.

Back to the streets of Barcelona. Squatting within empty lots became popular in Spain during the 1960’s rural exodus, as a response to a shortage in urban housing. As the Franco regime crumbled in the late 1970’s, the movement was revived under the name ‘Okupa’ (occupy) and bound up in the emergent ‘Movida Madrileña’ counterculture that spread ideals of individual freedom and transgression of Francoist taboos. The 1992 Olympics urban regeneration, multiple housing crises and, more recently, pervasive property speculation and house price inflation continue to catalyse Okupa activism.

The squatter community I met was just one of many dotted across Spanish cities. Patio Maravillas, an ‘autonomously governed space’ in central Madrid, has been a thriving social hub

since 2007 (despite occasional police eviction and forced relocation). The space is home to free workshops, discussions, and performances and is occupied by local groups, artists and activists alike.

Patio Maravillas represents a highly politicised motive for squatting and is heavily involved in the alter-globalisation movement. Similarly, Eskalera Karkola, also in Madrid is a feminist squat run by women based on worker self-management principles, and acts as an open house and safe space for activities focussing on overcoming domestic violence and female precarity, and exercising LGBT rights.

Further North in Europe, and hidden in the rural French valley of Cévennes, lives ‘La Vieille Valette’, a self-sufficient farm run by former Parisian punks. Over the years it has grown into a collective of gardeners, artists, and travellers that champion a low impact, off-grid lifestyle.

Along with defying an economy that breeds inequality, squats are challenging an economy of industrialization, excessive material consumption, and environmental degradation.

The practice is increasingly prevalent in the UK as well. In April this year, a group of activists occupied an empty university building in Brighton and established a community with the aim of providing food, shelter, and support to Brighton’s 13 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

ever growing homeless population – a problem that local authorities have frequently failed to resolve.

The space was also set to run DIY workshops and talks on feminist and political theory. Within two weeks, Brighton & Hove City Council evicted the squat under the 2014 ‘Public Space Protection Order’ (PSPO). This order has been severely criticised for imposing spatial control on British cities, limiting citizens’ freedoms with geographically-defined criminalisation. It also raises important questions over who has a right to access the city, and who has the right to decide this. It was under the PSPO that Hackney council attempted to criminalise sleeping rough in 2015 – which was met by uproar against the idiocy of attempting to impose a £1000 fine on homelessness.

The legality and legitimacy of squatting has long been a subject of debate, with many countries deeming it a crime and others a ‘civil conflict’ between owner and occupant. Anarchist Colin Ward describes squatting as the oldest mode of tenure in the world, reminding us that we are all occupying once appropriated land. In fact, to regard earth as a commodity that can be owned has its roots in European enlightenment ideals and the emergence of capitalism, and is not necessarily a concept endorsed by all cultures globally. However, squatting can be a source of much nuisance and distress for local residents, especially when the practice is so often associated with drug abuse and criminal activity. Many hardworking homeowners also find themselves frustrated at the idea of ‘freeriding’ – a particularly unfair stigmatisation Okupa. in a society that favours the alreadyPHOTOGRAPH: rich under TESNI CLARE the banner of meritocracy.

Research by the national homeless charity ‘Crisis’ found that the vast majority of UK squatters are homeless, of which 41% suffer from physical ill health and 42% from mental health problems. In an era of crippling NHS cutbacks, unregulated house and rent prices, and the stripping away of social housing, one can surely start to see the links.

It is important to realise that squatting is sometimes a necessity for some, to provide a roof over a head and perhaps a sense of community and solidarity in an isolating world. It does not represent a long term or necessarily practical solution to a housing crisis - for this is a complex economic and political structural problem – but perhaps is an effective way of sending a message to the top.

I suggest a re-evaluation of the squatter movement, away from connotations of misery and squalor and toward a positive reclaiming of space; abandoned space transformed into a hub of collective, sustainable living and political activism, a testament to people’s endless capacity to be innovative, resourceful, and cooperative in an often oppressive climate.

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Athens team taken by a refugee who had met the flying seagulls a year before in a camp PHOTOGRAPH: BRIDGET POTTER

HAPPINESS MATTERS

BY BRIDGET POTTER

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ewspapers today are full of grand narratives of crisis, war, hunger and the ‘refugee crisis’. But what about the real lived experience of those caught up in these sweeping statements of chaos? What about the children, violently robbed of a normal childhood… are they able to smile, laugh and play?

Over the summer I had the opportunity to work with a wonderful organisation called The Flying Seagull project. The Seagulls have made it their goal to bring as much love, light and laughter to disadvantaged children across the globe as they can muster, all through the medium of circus, interactive performance, and play. The work is tailored specifically to different groups’ needs - be it providing a welcome break for those caught up in the refugee crisis, building social inclusion and self-esteem in marginalised neighbourhoods, or alleviating anxiety for those undergoing medical 14 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

treatment. The particular project that I joined took circus, games, songs, and workshops to children living in refugee camps across Greece.

The charity’s motto is ‘We’re just after your laughter’ …and it really is that simple. In the case of the refugee situation in Greece there are so many complex political, social, and economic issues that need to be addressed to ensure that those fleeing violence and persecution in their home countries can find safety and security. However, the simplest yet most important of things – allowing a child to have a childhood amidst the turmoil and trauma is too often overlooked and lost in our attempts to help.

The project may strike as too simplistic, idealistic, and essentially silly. Clowning around in ridiculous outfits amidst absolute poverty and despair?

But perhaps not so surprisingly, the results are incredible. The Seagulls travel all over Greece, running multiple sessions a day to reach as many children as possible (not an easy task considering layer upon layer of mandatory clown wear, over 40°C temperatures and excessive bouncing around). The team is made up of so many talented and endlessly enthusiastic performers, with the sole aim of making kids smile through play. The games are simple and based on sound and movement that is easy to understand without language. There’s something

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Team in Northern Greece PHOTOGRAPH: BRIDGET POTTER

very inclusive about not needing to understand anything to play, and games always took place in a circle – a strong structure with no start or finish, nobody at the front or at the back. Increasingly, academic research is recognising the importance of play in children’s development. It’s how we’ve evolved to learn, and it’s absolutely crucial for those who’ve experienced trauma at such a young age.

What struck me the most was the immense boredom suffered by children and their parents in camps and squats, especially those camped in rural and isolated warehouses surrounded by nothing but aridity, armed guards and barbed wire. Hordes of children - some barely older than two - run around the camps, having travelled precariously from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in the hope of finding a life away from violence and poverty. They are bored, frustrated, and angry, waiting around whilst politicians deliberate on what to do next. Many parents would describe how excruciatingly difficult it is to keep kids occupied during the day. They would often fight aggressively, or remain socially withdrawn.

Yet every single time, I was amazed by their resilience - their ability to transform from traumatised people who have been forced to grow up too fast, back into kids brimming with energy, laughter, and cheek.

15 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

It’s far too easy to pity refugee children whilst obscuring their personalities – to objectify those suffering as helpless victims of war. We find ourselves so desensitised by the stream of heartbreaking images in the news, perpetuating labels of despair and helplessness. In many narratives, refugees have almost taken on a disembodied, dehumanised existence. But I was lucky enough to meet and play with these bubbling, creative, individual personalities – to see the child behind the sad eyes we see in pictures. The Flying Seagull project wants to provide something beyond a plate of food or having a bed – something catering to personality, to their sense of belonging and mattering.

The urgency lies in providing emotional support and moral lifting – which are absolutely necessary if the kids are to grow up without deeply rooted psychological disorders. Living through such trauma aged 6 does not represent a happy childhood.

For us here in the UK the refugee crisis can feel overwhelming and it can be difficult to know where to start with development and assistance programmes.

The Flying Seagull Project illustrates how we as individuals can engage with development thinking that emerged in the 1980’s, putting happiness at the forefront of what is important. The Seagulls, along with Amartya Sen and the King of Bhutan, believe it is a right to simply be able to smile.

Grass Roofs in Torshavn.

PHOTOGRAPH: ELLIE BRAIN

A GUIDE TO SUSTAINABLE LIVING

THE FAROE ISLANDS

BY ELLIE BRAIN

T

he Faroe Islands consist of an archipelago of 18 mountainous islands, located halfway between Scotland and Iceland in the unforgiving North Atlantic. The Islands are self-governing under the Kingdom of Denmark’s sovereignty. I speculated and was doubtful about National Geographic’s claim that the Islands ranked as Number 1 among 111 islands for sustainability in 2007. However, my visit to Torshavn (the Faroese capital) in July confirmed to me that there is something special about both the Islands’ dramatic landscape and the people. I would like to make the case that the Faroe Islands may appear to be behind much of Europe; however, the reality is that the humble, happy, and healthy lifestyle of the Faroese people is a model from which the world can learn lessons.

I observed three significant qualities in the Faroese lifestyle which gave me an overwhelming feeling of admiration. Firstly, when I arrived in Torshavn, I was struck by the grass roofs or ‘sod roofs’ which topped a large proportion of the quaint red houses surrounding the port. Not only did the roofs maintain the traditional charm of Scandinavian culture around Torshavn, but a small amount of research highlighted multiple environmental benefits. Grass is an efficient insulator, cost effective in the long term, and reduces storm water runoff.

Perhaps if such infrastructure was applied to urban areas across the world, green roofs would provide 16 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

the much needed green spaces for wildlife, like the green skyscrapers in Singapore. Green roofs may also help combat the urban heat island effect, which is currently making cities at least 4 Degrees Celsius warmer than surrounding areas.

Secondly, after strolling down the picturesque central street of Torshavn, we approached the bus stop to find that all buses throughout the Faroe islands are free. When I asked why, the driver laughed and replied “we don’t like cars here!” In the Faroe Islands, it was not only proved to me that the people care about their environment as well as noise, light and air pollution, but that environmental protection is not difficult. If we are going to commit to tackling climate change, it is essential to provide an incentive for local people to do so.

Finally, our bus journey took us past the back gardens of the town, and I was taken aback by the large proportion of homes which had patches of potatoes, turnips, rhubarb, and kohlrabi. This traditional lifestyle of self-sufficiency may be considered regressive since most economically developed nations are fed on mass production.

However, I’d argue that the Faroese lifestyle is more pleasant, peaceful, and environmentally sustainable.

We arrived at a small beach about a mile south from Torshavn, and one local was overjoyed with his success at catching mackerel, cheerily calling out to us: “The sun’s out! We’re having a barbecue!” I was humbled and in awe of the tranquil, self-sufficient

PHOTOGRAPH: ELLIE BRAIN

PHOTOGRAPH: ELLIE BRAIN

existence which Faroese people seemed to have.

Watching local fishermen cast their fishing rods into the water epitomised the Faroese lifestyle I had encountered.

These three significant characteristics of the Faroes were accompanied by many other factors, which I saw contributed to their happy, peaceful, and sustainable way of life. Wind turbines were commonplace throughout the town. Fast and cost-free Wifi covered every major street, and free, modern (yet still sod roofed) toilets were widely available. Dried haddock hung outside local restaurants, a traditional practice to preserve stocks over periods of limited catch. I saw a consciousness of Hygge and acknowledging a feeling or moment, which perhaps the Faroes adopted from Denmark.

The Faroe Islands seemed tangibly sustainable, but further reading confirmed my love for the Islands, and an appreciation of the way of life there.

The potential for renewable energy is plentiful, with prospects of hydropower, wind, and tidal energy taking over total energy production by 2030. Wind energy is increasing from 5% of total energy production to 24% over the next 2 years.

The Faroese people have lived off the ocean for centuries and have a deep respect for the ocean and the environment. The Faroese aquaculture industry is committed to sustainability and environmental stewardship. The Faroes are also fully aware of the need to strengthen Faroese capacity to deal 17 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

PHOTOGRAPH: ELLIE BRAIN

with the challenges of a globalised world. Hence, the Faroes are stimulating economic diversity to ensure sustainable development and economic independence, instead of relying on their dominant fishing and aquaculture industries. Socially, 70% of childcare costs are funded through the tax system and there is a ‘social safety net’, where people benefit from parental leave, child benefits, and health services which are all free at the point of delivery.

There are more than 50 trade unions in the Faroes (one trade union for every 1,000 inhabitants) who all work together through an umbrella organisation.

All education is free too, including the one university, Fróðskaparsetur Føroya, which is a member of UArctic. This means that it collectively shares resources, institutions, and information with 143 other universities.

Perhaps we should adopt some Faroese societal conventions and incorporate them as our own.

There’s a reason the Faroe Islands scored a 10 out of a possible 10 for life satisfaction on the OECD Better Life Index. The serene nature of the islands, combined with a national agenda which favours living a peaceful, humble existence over economic expansion, has allowed the isolated Faroes to have cold air but warm hearts. If you ever receive the opportunity to visit the Islands, grab it and go. They really are precious jewels in the Atlantic which need to be visited by more than just puffins, in order to influence future society for the better.

REVIEW:

‘CONNECTOGRAPHY’: A NEW GLOBAL VISION Khanna, P. 2016. Connectography: Mapping the Global Network Revolution. London: Penguin

P

arag Khanna’s contemporary book, ‘Connectography: Mapping the Global Network Revolution,’ is underpinned by a central argument: ‘connectivity is destiny.’ This is replacing the old maxim, ‘demography is destiny.’

Connectivity, Khanna argues, is a paradigm for global society, explaining how the world is organised and structured through roads, railway tracks, power lines, communication cables, oceans, rivers, canals, and so on. Even electricity cables join suppliers to customers, uniting people physically, virtually, and spatially, and thus expanding the ‘connective’ networks around the world’s mega-cities. Therefore, Khanna presents that connectivity and geography reinforce each other, where global networks structure the space around them, and by doing so are transforming the global map.

Building on this premise, Khanna argues that global supply chains provide the networks for connectivity to proliferate. Theorising geopolitically, he draws a link between the degree to which a country is ‘connected’ by global supply chains and the level of power and influence they exercise, given their “connective reach”. Whilst Castells (1989) distinguished between ‘space of places’ and ‘space of flows’, today the two concepts are blending together. Khanna believes that global supply chains supersede political borders in determining the power dynamics of the world map. Thanks to global supply chains, products such as the iPhone are researched in America, manufactured in China, and then sold globally, suggesting the economic and spatial power of these hyperconnected networks. Khanna optimistically states that products are ‘made everywhere’ in a ‘non-state’ world, although this claim overlooks the geopolitical and governmental influences acting on global supply networks. Nevertheless, Khanna clearly highlights that ‘connectivity is key’. He even goes as far as revising Halford Mackinder’s dictum to be, ‘Who rules the supply chains rules the world’. The significance of infrastructure in the global system is shown through a series of maps in the book, visually presenting the juxtaposition of physical geography with man-made connectivity.

Another argument Khanna makes is that the proliferation of connectivity in the 21st century is taking place in urban spaces, specifically mega-cities. Already,

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BY HANNAH MENDALL

40% of global GDP depends on the flows of goods, services and capital located in cities, since urbanisation significantly boosts the degree of connectedness globally.

Khanna considers significant urban spaces in the world economy to be ‘urban archipelagos’; there will be as many as 50 urban hubs by 2030, anchoring the global system of connectivity. This resonates with Sassen’s (2001) ‘global city’ hypothesis, focusing on how cross-border dynamics and strategic transnational networks are built around the global urban centres of London, New York and Tokyo.

Given the urban global network, Khanna claims that the nation state is losing its power, particularly as shown by the 2014 Scottish referendum of independence and the 2016 Brexit vote. Instead, he proposes that the nation state is being overpowered by a supranational ‘global society’, where its global citizens have a ‘global passport’ to traverse the world. For example, over one billion people cross borders each year. Khanna therefore claims that there should be a more contemporary sense of ‘globality’, with a new baseline condition: there is a global dimension to everything.

However, ‘Connectography’ can be criticised for providing an overly positive, and at times unrealistic, account of how globalisation is ‘transforming’ global networks. This is particularly true of Khanna’s analysis of ‘flows of people’. In the case of the current migrant crisis, millions of refugees are displaced and are not part of any ‘global supply chain’, with no home, sense of belonging, nor socio-political citizenship. They don’t share in a ‘global sense of place’ (Massey, 1994). Furthermore, Khanna overstates globalisation’s new “scale, depth and intensity”, and its prospects for changing the world map.

He argues that connectivity is buffering civil conflict and ethnic strife globally. For countries such as South Sudan plagued by tribal and regional conflict, the country has no effectual government nor sufficient means of accessing global supply chains through trade. The current clashes have led to the contraction of South Sudan’s GDP by 6.3% in 2015 to 2016 alone (World Bank, 2017). Therefore, in contrast to Khanna’s positive vision, global connectivity often doesn’t produce transformative effects, showing that globalisation creates ‘winners and losers’ (Wes, 1996).

Overall, ‘Connectography’ provides an engaging read, presenting alternative and at times radical ideas about the evolution of global economic systems in an interconnected and interdependent world. To his credit, Khanna considers these processes and systems through a contemporary lens, by synthesising and intersecting geopolitics, urban, cultural and historical geographies.

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PHOTOGRAPH: ESHA MARWAHA

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

HURRICANES AND CLIMATE CHANGE: WHAT’S THE VERDICT?

A

fter a relentlessly devastating series of hurricanes in the Atlantic this season, questions have been raised about the role that climate change had to play in the making of these terrible disasters. The three bighitters – Harvey, Irma and Maria – unleashed record wind speeds and rainfall on the Caribbean and USA, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. Harvey drowned Texas and Louisiana with 27 trillion gallons of water in just six days, Irma was the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic (outside the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico), and Maria followed close behind, wreaking more havoc and delaying recovery efforts to suffering Caribbean nations.

The media storm during and following these disasters was almost as intense as the storms themselves; climate change was being touted as the bearer of all destruction, scientists fought to stop people jumping to conclusions, and Trump… well Trump called Irma a ‘big monster.’

Now that the winds have quietened and extensive restoration projects are underway, the conversation is turning to the question of what made this year’s Atlantic hurricane season so intense. Was it a sign of human-induced climate change rearing its ugly head, or was this year’s intense season just part of natural cycles or random variability?

Before delving into this debate it’s important to understand how hurricanes form in the Atlantic. The ingredients required to make the swirling cocktail of a hurricane are warm water and relatively stable winds in the air column. They start off as a dark and stormy (an excellent cocktail) build-up of thunderstorms known as a tropical disturbance. Fuelled by energy from the warm seas, the low-pressure system can intensify, moving from a tropical depression, to tropical storm, and finally to a hurricane when its wind speeds reach 74 mph. Along the way the hurricane picks up a ‘name’ and is given a category rating on the Saffir-Simpson scale from 1 to 5, with category 5 being the most powerful. If a hurricane makes landfall, it often unleashes a storm surge and can release staggering amounts of water in rainfall, leading to flooding. Tornadoes and landslides are also a threat, which combined with intense wind speeds can rip apart houses and flatten whole communities, as was the case in Barbuda during Hurricane Irma.

Despite being one of the most dangerous weather 20 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

BY FIONA DOBSON

phenomena, hurricanes play an important role in the Earth’s circulatory system, helping to transport heat poleward to attempt to level the energy imbalance between the equator and the poles.

From year to year, conditions that facilitate this vary, due to both natural cycles such as the El Niño phenomenon, and random variation.

This year, National Geographic described the atmospheric conditions in the Atlantic as ‘hurricane-friendly.’ This is because the region of the Atlantic where hurricanes form was warmer than average, the West African monsoon was particularly strong, and it is a ‘neutral’ El Nino year which means that there is less wind shear in the Atlantic which can break storms apart and weaken them. The combination of these factors meant that there was plenty of energy available for the formation of powerful storms, with little to hold them back.

But in the midst of an era of climate change which is sparking intense political debate, the question remains as to what extent humans are affecting the natural variability of the Atlantic hurricane system. The US National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) turned to the evidence at hand in order to investigate this question. They analysed Atlantic tropical storm and hurricane records since the late 1800s to see whether rising sea surface temperatures were correlated with a rise in Atlantic hurricane activity. While the initial analysis of existing records showed that there was a positive correlation, once this had been adjusted for the changing methods of data collection and monitoring over the period, it was found that in fact there has not been a statistically significant increase in Atlantic storm activity over the past century. NOAA therefore state that it’s ‘premature’ to conclude that this year’s intense hurricane season is a result of human-induced climate change. But this is not to say that global warming is not having an effect, it’s just that the system is so complex that it’s difficult to draw conclusions to explain the full picture.

What is slightly better understood is the way that the effects of climate change are likely affecting the impacts of hurricanes, especially in terms of heavy rain events and storm surges. Warming ocean temperatures provide more ‘fuel’ for the storm and warmer air increases their capacity to hold moisture.

This can result in stronger hurricanes that can

dump catastrophic amounts of rainfall, such as during Hurricane Harvey. Rising sea levels can also exacerbate the effects of storm surges and increase the extent of coastal flooding. There is evidence to suggest that anthropogenic warming by the end of the 21st century will likely lead to an increase in the occurrence of very intense tropical cyclones, and it is thought that the next IPCC report will assign greater confidence in this area.

With all this science and uncertainty, it can be all too easy to forget the people themselves that are caught in the midst of these brutal disasters. Arnaldo Toledo, 29, shared his experience as Category 5 Hurricane Irma struck his small home in Cuba:

‘All was silent but the sound of the wind, and this was so strong you could almost see it, thanks to the rain that was flying within. The air was sweeping the land, bending and dragging everything in its way, except for a horse standing in the middle of that chaos, eating quietly.’

As the threats that a warming world could bring are revealed in an all too real manner, important questions are being raised about the effects of human interference with the planet. Perhaps the climate sceptics will stop being like Arnaldo’s horse, and will wake up to the reality of the metaphorical storm that’s brewing for our planet.

21 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017 PHOTOGRAPH: NOAA.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

A SUMMER WELL SPENT:

SIFTING THROUGH CANADA’S LAKES

T

he opportunity to visit a foreign country, spend a summer in the great outdoors and experience the wildlife of Canada would, I’m sure, be the ideal summer internship for many. I was lucky enough to spend 10 weeks doing just this, working with Cambridge’s very own Plant Sciences department to help with the third and final year of the ‘TerrestrialAquatic Linkages Project’ in Ontario, Canada.

Canada is home to just over a quarter of the world’s boreal zone, and this forested wilderness has long attracted nature lovers like myself. Boreal ecosystems play many roles in the story of our planet’s biogeography; they are not only considered one of the ‘lungs of the planet’ but they also act like a massive sponge, holding over 60% of the Earth’s usable fresh water. Recent research has also discovered the importance of boreal forest watersheds to nearby lake ecosystems. The flow of energy through lake food webs has been found to be reliant on the quality and quantity of organic matter derived from local terrestrial vegetation. However, Canada’s forests are currently being threatened by anthropogenic activities, such as logging, mining, oil 22 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS

BY ALICE COPPOCK

extraction and hydroelectric development - not to mention climate change beginning to create a shift in the coniferous / deciduous vegetation boundary.

It’s estimated that planned industrial developments span across more than 30% of the Canadian boreal forest. A pressing concern is the extent to which these disruptive anthropogenic activities will affect the ecosystem services provided by the forests and linked aquatic ecosystems, such as the provision of clean drinking water and productive fish populations.

The project that I was helping with has been addressing these concerns through carrying out large field experiments (mesocosms) to test whether the removal of terrestrial plant biomass affects the quantity and quality of organic matter in aquatic ecosystems, and importantly how this affects the productivity of food webs. All of this is then related to the larger-scale picture of ecosystem services to assess what consequences there will be if the ecosystem productivity changes.

My role on the project was working as a Research Field Assistant with my supervisor, a recent Masters graduate from Laurentian University in Ontario,

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Canada. Between the two of us we monitored and took extensive samples from two lakes for the duration of the summer. As part of our data collection, we set zooplankton traps (effectively upturned buckets that the zooplankton can swim into) to help us figure out the community responsible for breaking down the different proportions of terrestrial material present in both lakes. This involved setting the traps late in the evening, returning early the next morning to collect our overnight samples, processing them back at the university laboratory, and then repeating it all over again, alongside our other research. Working to collect such a large amount of data over such a short field season was certainly intense – 10 to 12 hour days often being the norm!

Part of the reason for the high workload was due to the project having already been delayed for several weeks when we arrived as the summer was wetter than average, which in turn meant that the water levels were far higher than anticipated.

Of course, problem solving is part of the joys of fieldwork, and we managed to raise the ‘docks’ above the water so that we had a dry platform to work on 23 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

when collecting the samples. However, it wasn’t the perfect solution as it came with the caveat that the platforms were now slightly too high to lie on to reach the lake bottom, so we had to effectively dive off the docks to collect our samples. This definitely made forgetting to bring a spare pair of clothes to the lab afterwards a bit of an issue…

Needless to say, despite long working days, awkward tan lines and a few unpleasant encounters with leeches, my time in Canada was awesome, as were all the people I worked with. The opportunities outside of the project to go hiking, camping and to explore the local area were numerous and I really feel I began to appreciate what it’s like to work in the field long-term. If you’re thinking of doing an outdoor research internship or fieldwork over the summer, be it abroad or at home, I honestly can’t recommend it enough – you’ll get to experience the nitty-gritty joys of data collection, learn a lot about your project and yourself, and get the chance to really appreciate your surrounding environment and nature.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

WATER SCARCITY IN THE HIMALAYAS

I wrote a blog on my personal experience while out there, read the whole story on my website: travelsoftomorrow.wordpress.com.

BY SIOBHAN EASTMAN, CAMBRIDGE GEOGRAPHY GRADUATE 2017 BACKGROUND Water scarcity is the lack of sufficient available water needed to meet the water requirements of a region. In Nainital, a small hill-town founded during the British colonisation of India, there is an excess of water in the monsoon season, but the amount available for practical use is dwindling. Drinkable water is often contaminated by flooding monsoon rains, and flushed away by sluice-gate systems when the sides of the lake overflow. This mismanagement leads to water scarcity problems throughout the year.

Camvol and CEDAR I worked with the Centre for Ecology, Development and Research (CEDAR) Himalaya for two months, publicising water scarcity issues in Nainital, Uttarakhand. My role at CEDAR was to compile all academic literature written on the subject of water scarcity at Nainital. I then summarised this data into an academic-style report, and a simplified document for the local residents, in the hope that these reports would raise awareness of these issues and lead to change. The overall aim was to widen the participation of those involved in projects to reduce water scarcity.

NAINITAL AND WATER SCARCITY Nainital is a hill-station of the British Army, with most of the district reliant on Naini (Nainital) Lake, and a town built on the banks of the lake. Over 500,000 people rely on direct water extraction; this increases with 400,000 visitors annually, clustered in the summer months. The lake is situated at an altitude of 2,084m above sea level and is surrounded by mountains. An estimated 15.45 million litres of water per day is extracted from Nainital Lake to serve the local population.

40% of this is extracted directly from Nainital springs, and the rest is provided by the surface flow to the lake. With increased extraction levels, the water level is ever-decreasing, with the volume of the lake decreasing by a rate of 70m3 per year. After ‘discovery’ by an English tea merchant, heavy construction was carried out throughout the town from 1841; this, coupled with regular landslides that have destroyed clean water routes, means water scarcity is a constant issue in the area.

PROBLEMS WITH WATER There are a multitude of issues that are causing water scarcity in Nainital. ‘Natural’ causes include the silting up of the lake, which reduces its area; landslides that obliterate clean water paths and allow contamination of water sources; a lower amount of precipitation, and other intensifying impacts of global warming, which act to intensify worsening situations.

The intensity of continual construction in the area is also causing major problems. While there are some regulations regarding new construction sites, decades of illegal construction and intense building regimes mean that the area is overpopulated and overusing the resources provided by the lake. Building on the floodplain increases concretisation and reduces lake surface area, leading to higher surface runoff. Increasing construction means that the sluice-gates are being used more frequently to avoid flooding, which leads to the flushing

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CEDAR Himalaya: http://cedarhimalaya.org.

away of water that could be stored as a resource for the dry season, furthering water scarcity. Sukhatal is the major feeder lake that contributes year-round, but it is being encroached by human activity. Anthropogenic activity is the main contributor to increasing water scarcity in this area. Due to overcrowding and a large surrounding population, contamination levels of the lake are also high. Organic and chemical pollutants are rife in the water, combined with physical waste that all act to reduce the water quality. A lot of the issues here arise from the human population surrounding the lake; higher population density leads to increased rates of water extraction, and tourists increase the strain on already dwindling resources.

WHAT I DID While a lot of field-assessments had already been done in Nainital, my role was to compile these studies into two documents, one in an academic-style report and the other for members of the local area. The studies previously done are not currently being acted on in a practical way, so essentially, I wrote reports to get the message out. The time for which the lake is predicted to still be viable (the useful lifetime of the lake) varies between 39 and 2,681 years, which is a huge gap, but many studies favour the earlier estimates. This would prove disastrous for the local people living there, as their only regular source of water would be reduced to nothing. Distributing this information to a wider audience is a necessity, so action can be taken to prevent continual degradation. By highlighting the increasing demand for water in the local hill stations of Nainital, it is likely that CEDAR will be able to work towards forwarding relief efforts and conserving the water resources for the future.

THE FUTURE In the past, there have been multiple attempts to intervene in local management of water in the area, with the Department of Tourism and Environment instigating legal action from 1989.

Initiatives run by the Forest Department had been ineffective before the Department of Tourism and Environment gained control, meaning issues have been indirectly addressed for an undocumented amount of time. The lake is heavily polluted (as indicated by high fish mortality rates) and without severe intervention, the 30 remaining springs of the 250 measured in 1950 will soon be entirely dried up, and the lack of drinking water will be an acute issue.

So, what are the solutions to these issues? As the population of the area is predicted to increase, the issues of water scarcity will intensify if not addressed. The lake has a direct impact on the daily lives of residents, which makes lake hydrology a public issue. The local residents are aware of the threat to them, made evident by a letter written to the District Magistrate of Nainital, signed by the citizens of Nainital; but academic interest is not leading to tangible change here, which leaves the local people vulnerable in the face of water scarcity. Writing this report will hopefully raise awareness of the detrimental impact water scarcity is having on the local population, as well as the local environment.

A SUMMARY OF THE STRATIGRAPHIC SURVEY & POLLEN ANALYSIS OF MIRE DEPOSITS ON

BY TONI WATT, COUNTRYSIDE RANGER, NATIONAL TRUST FOR SCOTLAND THE CASTLE FRASER ESTATE Castle Fraser Estate is a National Trust for Scotland (NTS) property located in Aberdeenshire. Owned by the Fraser family for 500 years until 1921, its gardens and farming estate were greatly improved during the 18th century before the castle and lands were sold to the Cowdray family. The Cowdrays, in turn, gifted it to the NTS in 1976. Its mix of parklands, formal gardens and woods makes it a significant resource for environmental research.

A recent development, aimed at protecting damselflies in their flight pond, is the digging of a completely new pond.

A stratigraphic survey and pollen analysis related to this produced some remarkable results.

The flight pond was dug in the 19th century in an area of low-lying bog, for wildfowl shooting. Now, set in mostly coniferous woodlands, it is home to frogs, newts, and a range of insects. This in turn attracts swallows, swifts and Daubenton’s bats. Past research had already demonstrated the flight pond’s importance as a habitat for freshwater invertebrates. There are 10 dragonfly and damselfly species recorded here, an exceptional phenomenon in the north-east of Scotland. Notable species are the Northern Damselfly (a Red Data Book species, only recorded in Scotland and at less than 10 sites), and the Azure damselfly. The Azure is not uncommon in the UK but this is its most northerly record.

There are however threats to the damselfly habitat.

Goldfish in the flight pond prey on damselfly populations starting life as larvae in the water. Also, nearby spruce trees are reaching maturity and their removal will affect conditions in the pond. Other threats such as pollution and unsuitable weather conditions for the damselflies, all led to the idea of digging a second pond 80m away from the original. This was done to try and increase the suitable habitat for the damselflies and dragonflies, thus hopefully augmenting their populations.

Before creating a second pond, NTS archaeologists and ecologists managed to secure funding for a peat core to be taken and analysed by the University of Aberdeen. This work was done before the peat layers were disturbed.

The University found peat with a maximum depth of 1.7m in a shallow basin in the area of the new pond, resting on a bed of sands, silts and gravels. A 1.35m core of peat was taken in the best place, and returned for analysis.

The aim of the analysis was to record the sequence of sediments in the area of the new pond and then to use pollen grains to establish a history of vegetation cover. Twelve pollen samples were taken from the lower 1m of the core and analysed.

Results can be summarised as follows.

14,000-13,000 years ago: Start of peat core – lowest point approx. 14,000–13,000 years ago. Probably early in the Lateglacial Interstadial (i.e. during the period of climatic improvement shortly after the retreat of the last major ice sheet).

This is the beginning of what is called the Devensian Lateglacial period – the ice retreats, peat accumulation begins and an open treeless habitat is formed, on unstable soils dominated by grasses and sedges.

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12,000-11,000 years ago: Emergence of birch woodland or scrub and crowberry heath, but still with open patches of grassland, shown by the high frequencies of pollen from sedges and grasses. Low frequency of sphagnum mosses, implying a wet, acidic habitat in a poorly drained hollow or small basin, and hence peat accumulation.

11,000-10,000 years ago: Colder period – a period of climatic deterioration called the Loch Lomond/Younger Dryas Stadial. Sands are washed into the basin from surrounding slopes and appear as a layer of coarse grey sand in the peat core. Immediately after the sand layer, high sedge pollen frequencies appear, with nearly no trees or shrubs, showing the environment is reverting back to more open steppe-like vegetation and soil destabilisation. (No Meadowsweet found in this sample as it requires warmth, but it is found in all other samples; Mugworts, which are more cold tolerant, are present.)

Microscopic charcoal is most abundant in this period implying an increase in fire frequency. The most common cause of fires is lightning, but also possible Palaeolithic camp fires.

10,000 years ago: Further expansion in woodland, more juniper, implying a warmer climate at the onset of the Holocene period. Also an increase in birch, and crowberry, and a decline in grasses and sedges which is consistent with an increase in woodland. Sphagnum mosses also increase, implying a nutrientpoor, acidic boggy woodland. Traces of Coprophilus fungal spores found, above the environmental baseline – these are from fungi that feed on herbivores’ dung – this is expected on the dung of small mammals but may indicate grazing from larger herbivores; however the fungus also grows on dead wood – more research needed.

10,000-8,000 years ago: Dominated by birch pollen but also emergence of pollen from deciduous trees and shrubs typical of the early Holocene i.e. elm, oak, alder, hazel or bog myrtle, suggesting a wet woodland and more fern pollen, implying ferns moving onto the woodland floor.

8,000 years ago: Last 40cm of core – condition of pollen grains deteriorates. The early historical records in the peat core are very good – but peat core stops in the Mesolithic period (approx. 8,000 years ago). The more modern history has either been removed by peat cutting or is tightly compressed at the top of the core – in the last 30cm or so. The 12 samples were quite spaced out (due to costs), so stopped at the last 30cm. Again, if possible, depending on quality of pollen grains, further research needed.

Present day: Before the new pond was dug the vegetation at the site was open wet grassland with grasses, sedges, sphagnum and other mosses, kept open and tree-less by rabbit and deer grazing, although there is quite a lot of young birch regeneration coming through.

Post script: The new pond was excavated in 2011, and allowed to develop naturally. Two years later, Northern Damselfly exuviae were found there, suggesting that it is fulfilling its hopedfor role as a new habitat for this and other species.

FROM THE CENTRE OF THE CRISIS WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPH BY CLARE MARSH

T

he sound of two gun-shots echoed through camp. Throwing open the door to the room I was in, I stuck my head out looking for answers. All I saw was a stream of people running; without a thought I jumped through the door, my feet landing heavily on the concrete road and ran with them. The noise of a fight, a face full of teargas and a few moments later I was out of the camp, safely watching from afar as a column of smoke rose slowly, blocking the sun and plunging us into semi-darkness.

Moria Refugee Camp is located on the eastern side of the Greek island of Lesbos. Its inhabitants, from Syria, Afghanistan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, to mention a few nations represented, are not only growing in number but also in frustration. As a 2nd stage camp, refugees are only meant to spend a maximum of two or three weeks behind its walls, but many have been there a year waiting for their asylum claim to be processed.

The Greek authorities are stretched beyond coping by the sheer number of applications and the camp bursting at the seams due to the ever-increasing number of residents. Inside the concrete walls, the camp was bubbling over with conflicts between ethnic groups, frustration at the asylum system, and extreme boredom.

The two gun-shots were the sound of the camp exploding, the frustration no longer contained and the consequences severe. It was lunchtime on 10th July 2017 and I was halfway through my shift for that day, two weeks into my month in Moria.

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There was a protest in progress; the refugees were objecting against the detention of a Haitian man in preparation for deportation by throwing rocks against the camp’s detention centre. In response the police fired teargas to try and disperse the crowd.

The teargas had some effect, but floated down the hill in the lower areas of camp which house the most vulnerable people, namely the single women and unaccompanied children, as well as some families. In the melee that ensued a couple of refugees set fire to an adjacent building, burning it to the ground. This fire was the one that darkened the sky and which I observed from safe distance, and the building which burnt was the headquarters of the charity I was volunteering for. Down with the flames went valuable resources as well as volunteers’ possessions, including phones, passports, and money.

Headlines appeared in the UK news later that day; one in the Sun read ‘migrants set fire to Greek holiday island of Lesbos’, painting a picture of the refugees as a danger, angered by the threat of deportation. They were not wrong. But, they only told part of the story. They portrayed the refugees as angry, as frustrated, by the system, by their living conditions, even by each other. They are, and I don’t aim to deny it, they are frustrated, as I would be if I were in their situation. But this is only one picture of them, it hides the joy, kindness and the love shown by these people. I have so many stories I could tell of the joyful moments I had in camp, from laughing with the volunteer translators over attempts at British accents, to being jumped on by swarms of laughing children or seeing refugees volunteering to help clear up after the second riot that occurred while I was in the camp. But I want to tell one story, of a group of women, and their young children, with whom I spent a wonderful evening.

It was my final week in camp, I was working an evening shift and I was tasked with guarding the shade structure, an area where the new arrivals are held until housing can be found for them. As I walked

GEOGRAPHERS IN ACTION up the hill at the beginning of the shift I was not at all excited. Spending an evening in one place was never my favourite, I like to be active, doing things, solving problems, and completing tasks. Yet as I arrived to relieve another volunteer, I was greeted by these women as a friend. They welcomed me into their group, fed me cookies and crisps, taught me games, and trusted me completely with their young children. I watched the children, shy at first, slowly warm to my presence, coming over to sit on my lap and allowing me to tickle them. The women tried to teach me Arabic, laughing at my attempts and I, in return, tried to teach them some more English. One young girl, Sara, encouraged another child to grab a piece of cloth from the fence. Slightly perplexed, I was curious to see what was about to happen. Next thing I know I am having a hijab put on me, finished off with my sunglasses and the laughter of ten or so children who gazed up at my beaming face. However, my highlight of this particular evening was a game which I played with another young girl. She carefully picked up a stone, put it behind her back and then thrust her hands towards me with clenched fists,

gesturing for me to guess which hand the stone was hidden in. I guessed, and if I got it right she would pass me the stone and she would guess. We played this for a few minutes, sharing few words, but many smiles and the occasional noise. I turned around briefly to discover a lady behind me gesturing to the hand I just placed the stone in; she had been there all along and I had been completely oblivious. Upon my discovery, the women once again broke out into hysterics, which I had little choice but to join. It was a humbling evening, to see women whose lives are far more troubled, broken and difficult than my own find joy in the simplest, even childish, things.

On the other side of everything we study as geographers are the people whose lives are the reality of the things we read. We need to look beyond what is immediately in front of us, what dominates the headlines, social media, even our lectures; to see the gaps, to see the individuals whose agency has been lost, whom the system does not benefit, and whose hope relies on the voice of others. If not our voice, then whose?

CUBA: A BIRDS-EYE VIEW

BY FIONA DOBSON

T

he great thing about geography, is that it’s so incredibly broad that no matter where you are or what you’re doing, being a geographer gives you the skills to think about things a little differently. I found this out in the summer when, thanks to various travel grants, I was able to visit Cuba to attend a conference on Caribbean bird conservation.

Cuba is the most interesting place I’ve ever visited, and unlike anywhere else. Before travelling, I was reading up about the country in my Lonely Planet guide and was struck by the section that read: “Cuba is complex, and not always portrayed accurately in the international media. Travel with an open mind and be prepared to be regularly surprised, confused, confounded and astonished.” I did my best to heed this advice and certainly experienced all these things.

Thanks to two years in the Cambridge Geography department, I’ve gotten used to attempting to work through confusion with critical analysis. However, what I hadn’t been prepared for was meeting so many incredible local people working on such inspiring research projects, with a real passion for their local environment.

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Bee Hummingbird.

PHOTOGRAPH: ANDREW DOBSON

The political system of Cuba makes it seem worlds away from the society that I’ve grown up in, and yet after spending two weeks there with people who shared a similar passion for nature and conservation, I was able to draw more parallels than I could count. Just as interesting was growing to understand how our way of life differed; Cuba is a place where incredibly every citizen is guaranteed a house, a job and basic rations, and yet things that I take for granted such as freedom of speech, transport, and many general supplies are limited.

Its turbulent history and its current position on the brink of possible major change make it a fascinating place for a geographer to be dropped in the midst of.

Of course I wasn’t there just to ‘experience Cuba’ but to take part in a conference, run by an incredible NGO called BirdsCaribbean, which is

GEOGRAPHERS IN ACTION

BirdsCaribbean Conference PHOTOGRAPH: BIRDSCARIBBEAN

an international network committed to conserving Caribbean birds. The conference brought together 240 students, researchers and professionals from 30 countries to discuss strategies to protect and raise awareness of Caribbean bird life. Coming from a busy year of geography at Cambridge, I thought I might be a little tired of attending lectures, but the sessions were so interesting that I couldn’t help but be captivated by it all. I even gave a presentation along with my sister in the session on education. We were saved from being asked questions when the room was evacuated during a thunderstorm, which caused water to start flooding a power socket!

After the conference finished, there were organised fieldtrips around Cuba to see its special birds. We travelled to both Cayo Coco and Cienaga de Zapata, spending two nights at each location and exploring various nature reserves. I discovered that without a doubt birdwatching is one of the best ways to really see a country; birds won’t take you to the cliché tourist hotspots, but will show you the real essence of everyday life, sometimes taking you to the most unexpected of places. A highlight for me was travelling to a little village not far from the Bay of Pigs and visiting a lovely elderly man’s house.

He’d discovered the native firebush trees in his back garden were attracting endemic Bee Hummingbirds – the smallest birds in the world at only 5-6 cm in length. Seeing this tiny miracle of life and the beaming face of the old man who was so proud to have it sharing its home with him was beyond special. Travelling around between birding spots by coach was also a great way to see the country with its sprawling fields of sugar cane and rice, interspersed by settlements of small brightly-coloured homes, or larger housing blocks complete with murals depicting Castro and Che Guevara in battle.

My last two nights were spent in Havana, where there were admittedly fewer birds around, but it 28 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

was just as interesting from an urban and cultural perspective. We stayed in a ‘Casa Particular’- Cuba’s new equivalent of an Airbnb - and the taxis to get into the centre were a surreal blast from the past; the cars were either classic American models or vintage Russian pieces that looked like they’d driven straight off a film set. I soon learnt about their astonishing value, as the number of engines brought into the country are limited by the government.

Consequently, anyone with a car keeps it running for as long as possible, and can make a real profit by carting around excitable tourists living their dream of starring in an old movie.

Exploring Old Havana was like a whole different trip in itself; the place is full of such history and charm, and so different from the parts of Cuba I’d seen so far. Unlike many old city centres, its streets were lined not only with shops, museums and cafes, but also with people’s homes – their washing draped over the balconies and children playing noisily in the streets. It was fascinating to learn about the restoration projects underway to save the city’s many historic buildings which have been in decline ever since the revolution in 1959. The projects not only aim to preserve the historical legacy of the city and promote tourism, but they are also social projects, aiming to create ‘living’ centres to benefit the local people, with the creation of schools, carehomes and neighbourhood committees.

My experiences attending the conference and exploring Cuba were incredible, and I’m only realising in hindsight that approaching them with a geographical mind-set made it all so much more special. Geography’s inherently practical and relatable nature means that a geographer’s curiosity doesn’t need to remain locked in the supervision room, but can be taken out beyond the Cambridge bubble to change the ways that we engage with the world.

FOR KENINGAR, AFTER A YEAR

BY ADAM BOBBETTE

I

lived in Keningar, Indonesia, for a year. Well, not exactly. I was there often over the course of a year. The rest of the time I stayed in a house I rented in town, where I could have privacy. When I was in Keningar though, I stayed with Suparno and his family, his wife, three kids (one toddler) and mother (who was in her 80s). Or, I stayed at Giyono’s uncle’s house. He had an empty place just around the corner, and I could be there alone and undisturbed as he had long ago moved to

GEOGRAPHERS IN ACTION the city for work. In that house I would often spend my days writing on the floor of the living room. Giyono’s aunt would leave breakfast for me in the kitchen before she left for the day to teach at the local school, then she would make dinner in the evenings. She insisted. Even if I resisted, and went and bought my own meals, hers would keep appearing on the counter and I would have to eat twice. Sometimes, the neighbour’s kids would come and peak through the windows, and whistle and yelp to distract me from writing. I would try to chase them off, they would run, then come back, and we would do the whole thing over again like it was a slap-stick routine.

Giyono and I would hang out and talk for hours. In the evenings in the village–it was what men did if there was nothing else happening–we would sit and drink over-sweet coffee, snack, and smoke clove cigarettes. The sitting rooms were like revolving doors for old and young men, coming and going, wearing sarongs, chatting, texting, chatting, snacking. I got to know them, their families, their sitting rooms, front stoops, and kitchens. They got to know how I took my coffee: black, without sugar, never sweet, just black. The joke that got told every time, even when the humour had faded, was: “bitter, you know, like life”.

In the ravine to the west of the village there was illegal sand mining and Giyono, Suparno and others had been trying to figure out for years how to stop it. It was connected to corrupt politicians in the village and all sorts of shady stuff. Repeatedly, over a few days, we slunk through the woods to a high point on the river bank and I used my fancy camera to take long range photos of machines digging into the river bed. They used the photos in the case they brought to the regional authorities and at the end of August, Giyono sent me an email with the subject line “Arrest of Miners in Senowo”. He included a link to the local paper with an article, and photo of one of the big mining machines with police tape wrapped around it.

He always addressed me as brother, which is usual for Indonesians (“we are all brothers and sisters”, I remember reading on a billboard) but he used an old fashioned honorific, Bung. It was what people used to call each other in the 1930s and 1940s, the time of independence and anti-colonial struggle. In fact, all the men in Keningar called me Bung Adam, because it was fun, anachronistic, and brazenly socialist. It recalled a complex past in which people in Keningar had witnessed bloodshed and were killed for being communists, on the very same paths that I walked with Giyono, through the rice paddies, and in front of the village mosque. For he and I to be Bung’s to each other was a comedic act of resistance, and a celebration of the liberal, 29 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

communalist, and cosmopolitan legacies in the village.

A year, that is enough time for a person to change. When I first went to Keningar, I was open and ready to learn. I had a PhD project, research plans, a new language to study, papers to write, supervisors to satisfy, with funding bodies giving me exorbitant amounts of money and stuff packed in storage; I wanted to learn about a world I didn’t know. Giyono and Suparno welcomed me and almost instantly, after a few trips and showing them that I was interested in the long haul, called me brother. A year is long enough to make friends, long enough for a child to begin to remember your face, long enough to build a sense of gratitude and debt for what people have given you.

Now, here I am, in Cambridge, a few weeks from submitting my dissertation. One of the chapters is a long (and I hope, kind of fun) discussion of what Giyono, Suparno, and Sukidi taught me in Keningar. But they will never read it – not only because they don’t read English but also because the kind of scholarship that I do would bore them silly. I am trying to understand, for all the free breakfasts, motorbike rides, saunters, evening chats, and illuminations, what did I give them? My work will have no impact on their lives, there is no need to pretend it will do much more than advance my career and give a handful of people something interesting to read and think about. Somewhere in the behemoth that is Knowledge and Wisdom, there is a miniscule dent the size of my dissertation.

Giyono’s sister had a baby, and I suspect that any day now, I’ll get news that Sukidi has passed away – he’s in his 80’s, still tough as nails though. I’ll try to make it back there to visit in the new year, maybe I’ll be back for longer for post-doctoral fieldwork.

Maybe not.

Sometimes I think about how, at this moment, Giyono could be climbing a tree to shake out the avocados, and Suparno is fidgeting with one of his hideous, macho, gemstone rings while telling a funny story. The call to evening prayer has just ended and people are sauntering through the streets back to work. Giyono’s mother is stoking the wood fire in the kitchen. Suparno’s sister is in the paddy field harvesting the long, red, viciously hot chillies.

And it all continues, and changes, and goes on.

GEOGRAPHERS IN ACTION

CAMBRIDGE: THEN AND NOW

Simon Preston graduated from Cambridge University in 1982. He is currently the CEO and Founder of Rise, a consultancy company aimed at growing organisational capacity and leadership. Additionally, he is Chairman of World Merit - a global youth movement focused on finding innovative ways to tackle the SDGs. In this edition of Cambridge: Then and Now, Compass sits down with Simon to talk about his experiences as a Geography undergraduate.

Were you more of a human or physical geographer?

I was definitely more of a human Geographer, that’s what most of my final year choices were. I did a physical Geography dissertation because it was an excuse to go to the Seychelles for a couple of weeks and get a bit of guidance from a supervisor at the department.

What was your dissertation on?

It was on granite fluting in the Seychelles. So, you know when you get that limestone cast scenery in the Seychelles symmetrical lines coming down the rock face, as water seems to get channelled in regular flows. In the Seychelles granite’s been in that tropical environment for millions of years and you see the cast limestone scenery showing up. It happens in other places as well but particularly in the Seychelles. So, I went to do a morphological study and generate a few hypotheses…but it was really an excuse to travel.

What did you do after you graduated? Did it run along a similar vein as your dissertation?

Some people really know what they want to do, but for many that’s an emergent thing that changes as they grow through life…

When I graduated I thought ‘well, I could go and do a PGCE’.

I wasn’t against teaching, but it was a good backdrop, I didn’t know what I really wanted to get into. I applied to Bristol to do a PGCE, then some friends suggested I get a job. So, I was a bit more strategic and I thought ‘the energy industry has a lot going on’. At the time my brother worked for Shell so I applied to that, the National Coal board and BP. BP closed their vacancy, as there was a recession in 1982. I had interviews with the others and had offers from the Coal Board and Shell. I chose Shell.

There I went into HR. That was where I was at around the time of graduating and I charted my way forward from there. Thing is you never know how life is going to unfold. It’s about putting yourself into positions where you can have experiences, learn from them and recalibrate.

Do you feel like studying Geography gave you a different perspective from those around you?

It’s difficult to separate my natural orientation from what the Geographical degree did for me. I’m someone who is a Jack of all trades, master of none. Geography as a degree is multidisciplinary and integrates human activities across time and space. I chose a subject that fitted my holistic orientation.

Although, I wouldn’t have expressed it that way at the time. I definitely feel like studying Geography further developed that strength I had, to look at the whole and try and see parts in relation to one another.

I feel, that’s something Geographers think about a lot – how we best position ourselves in the world.

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How are the skills of a Geographer relevant?

I think it’s this helicopter perspective, this integrated perspective that many people who study Geography develop it’s a great attribute in many fields, particularly in work that has unlimited boundaries and quite a lot of diversity and complexity to process. Geography is good about seeing the whole, processing complexity and trying to make sense of those patterns. Those are things that I liked, but I think they are also part of the attributes that kept growing through my career. I mean I did think about doing a PhD in the states in Development Economics, but it was more of a flirt than a serious consideration.

How did you make the transition from the energy industry to consulting?

Messy. Once at Shell, I was moved out of HR into Marketing, looking after a branch in the Northwest. But, one of the reasons I’d joined was to travel overseas and they wouldn’t send me overseas. So I left, and joined a recently privatised water company - which has a very strong Geographical context to it. I did HR jobs there then went into some of their more international business, travelled around the world, lived in Argentina for a year.

I eventually left that company as well. I then started a venture with my next door neighbour, in internet and telecommunications - which we sold in the early 2000s just before the market tanked.

That’s when I got into the Leadership Development arena, especially focusing on COs. In the ten years (2000-2010) of observing and working with COs, seeing how their abilities as leaders accelerated business but also had impacts on family and community, I was led to think of global sustainability. I saw how so many people were just interested in optimising the benefits of their own operations without a greater global context, which you need to solve a lot of systemic issues. I thought ‘what can I do’, and a consulting business emerged from thinking about how human beings collaborate on complex issues across diversity.

That is the challenge that sits behind the consulting.

What advice would you give to undergraduates now?

Firstly, you maximise your own growth by putting yourself into a number of different experiences. If you don’t do that, you reduce the conditions to accelerate your own potential.

The other variable is to get better at how you learn from your experiences. Both in the day-to-day and in the long term. How do I go into an experience and how do I triangulate what I have learnt coming out of it? Think about what you want to invest in and what you should quit because some of the undercurrents aren’t quite right. Everything becomes about what you are learning from your experiences. So make informed decisions, but more importantly learn from them. That would be my advice.

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PHOTOGRAPH: CATHERINE CHANG

TRAVEL

PHOTOGRAPH: MOLLY COOK

MY THREE WEEKS WITH DELILAH MOLLY COOK reflects on her trip across India in a rickshaw, funded by the Cambridge University Geography Society Research Europe travel grant

I

haven’t been asked to write a report about my summer holidays since I graduated primary school ten years ago, and even then I didn’t write about anything overly exciting. Oh, how times have changed! This summer I boarded a flight to Cochi, India, with two of my best friends from school, and we spent two and a half weeks driving a rickshaw up the west coast of India. This experience was like no other I have ever had. In the month I spent in India, I learnt to drive and fix what is basically a fortified lawnmower, while navigating the truly treacherous Indian roads.

We would wake at 05:30 every morning, in order to make the most of daylight hours and quiet roads.

Our rickshaw never much liked starting in the mornings, and on a number of occasions we had to hail a commercial rickshaw down to help crank the rusty lever that breathed life into the hagged machine. We soon learnt that blowing into an oil covered tube in the engine of the rickshaw would solve almost all of our problems.

Our route took us predominantly along the coast of India. We took as many opportunities to leave the bigger roads as possible, which is when we had our biggest adventures. On one particular day as we headed towards Mumbai from Gokarna, we found ourselves down a farm track turned bridle way.

With incredibly unreliable brakes we tentatively chugged down at the time seemed like a neverending hill until we entered a very rural settlement, which didn’t even seem to be attached to the main grid. The locals looked at us in complete bafflement as three foreign girls processed through their village in a brightly decorated rickshaw.

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Delilah, as we came to call our noble steed, struggled on our 3500km journey to say the least.

We burnt through two head gaskets and two spark plugs, as we battled on through horrendous flooding around Mumbai, up Mount Abu and into the deserts of Rajasthan. Hills really were our nemesis, and the two passengers often had to abandon ship and run alongside Delilah as she struggled onwards and upwards.

The best part of our trip was undoubtedly the locals we met along the way. We had to stop driving every two hours to let the engine cool down, and we were often invited for breakfast or given bananas by many curious locals. Towards the end of our trip we nearly joined a Hindu pilgrimage and were invited back to a wedding next summer!

Travelling India independently in this way was a life-changing experience. It was indescribably humbling to see snapshots of Indian life as we drove through what is an incredibly rich and happy country.

We do plan to go back and purchase a Delilah No. 2 in order to explore the Northern territory and the Himalayas, but for anyone who is planning a similar trip in the meantime, bear these things in mind…

1. Roundabouts do not function as roundabouts.

Other vehicles will very happily pull out in front of you, and we learnt that it was just easier to give way in the middle of the roundabout than try and get all the way round.

2. Beware of buses! They will try and kill you, and they have deafening horns.

3. Waterproof trousers are the key to happiness.

We experienced five days of non-stop rain around Mumbai, and were absolutely soaked through. Our windscreen wiper broke on Day 2, and we soon found out that our canvas roof was littered with tiny holes. Water comes in from every angle, and everyone is just as keen to get out of the rain as you are. This led to many hours sitting in gridlocked traffic, simply because when the oncoming traffic got bored of sitting in a jam on their side of the road, they decided it would be quicker to drive the wrong way down our lane!

4. Potholes! You will get lost in them. Have someone on pothole duty, and avoid at all cost.

5. Learn how to play the petrol funnel. It sounds a lot like a trumpet and provides many hours of entertainment.

So four breakdowns, three near death experiences (your rickshaw won’t like you if you mount a bollard), 2 scrapes (1 with a cow) and we made it to the golden city of Jaisalmer. I will never stop being proud of our adventure, and it is safe to say that we miss Delilah greatly!

TRAVEL

Guilin Mountains Guangzhou

PHOTOGRAPH: DAN SMITH

GUANGZHOU

THE CAMBRIDGE SUMMER SCHOOL IN CHINA

BY DAN SMITH

N

owhere has ever felt so far from home for me - so different - as China did when I went there this summer.

I made the 6000 mile trip to Guangzhou to take part in the Cambridge Summer School in China project, teaching English and helping to run a summer camp for 350 children in the Guangzhou Number 6 Middle School. It was one of the most exhausting yet fun experiences of my life, and, importantly, it allowed me to explore a part of the world that is so contrasted to my own here in the UK. I barely scratched the surface of China during my three and a half weeks there, staying only in the south-eastern provinces, but what I saw has drawn me in and tempted me to go back.

The majority of my trip was spent in Guangzhou, the third largest city in China. It is a bustling centre of activity, and no matter where you are people seem busy. Though it is such a huge place, it is not always very friendly to tourists – the places that have (somewhat questionable) English translations use this as an excuse to charge more, so having people who spoke Mandarin with us helped hugely. Guangzhou does not offer a lot of unique experiences, as it is quite a functional and pragmatic city, but there are gems to be found. A typical local restaurant in the backstreets will serve delicious teas and an impressive variety of dim sum, and you can sit in these places for hours eating and watching the city pass by. The Pearl River makes its way lazily through the centre of the city and we took an evening cruise along it, offering us some great views of the talismanic Canton Tower lit up colourfully against the night sky.

For the last few days of my stay in China, I ventured inland to Guilin, a breath-taking city 33 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

PHOTOGRAPH: DAN SMITH

surrounded by dramatic mountains. Staying in an international hostel in the centre of the small but packed city was perfect as it put many things within easy reach of us. As soon as you stepped off the bullet train that we had taken to get there you saw green mountains sharply rising, looming over and dominating the sky all around. The city itself was lively, especially in the evenings when all the market stalls came to life, and you found yourself following the music and the smell of freshly grilled fish through the quaint and understated streets. During the days one can climb some of the surrounding mountains, which offer views of a landscape that really takes you back. The landscape stretches out for miles, interrupted by the hills jutting out, looking like something out of a movie. You can also delve deep into the mountains through some of the caves that are accessible to tourists: we visited the ‘Dragon Cave’ which formed an intricate network through part of a hill. Unfortunately, this cave had been quite commercialised which ruined much of the mysterious effect that it should have had.

The local restaurants specialise in what they loosely translated to ‘Beer Fish’. It is a whole carp cooked in beer and prepared with a spicy soup of fresh local vegetables, and is considered a delicacy in the Yangshuo region. Importantly, it is cooked using water from the local Li River.

We took a trip along this river to the ancient Xingping fishing village, going part of the way on bamboo rafts. The owners of the rafts offer water guns to make things a bit more exciting, all set against the backdrop of the vast countryside. Once we reached the fishing village we took some time to explore the local shops, which are thrilled to have western tourists come through their doors, then we went on a ferry along the most idyllic stretch of the region. This place is truly unique, so much so in fact that it features on the back of the 20-yuan banknote.

Visiting China was truly an amazing experience, and never has somewhere felt so far-flung for me.

There are a few schemes run by the university that give you the opportunity to go to such interesting and diverse countries, so this is a really fun and easy way to travel. I wish I’d had more time to spend in the stunning Guilin, and I can’t wait to go back to explore more of China and the rest of East Asia!

TRAVEL

Ahsan Manzil

PHOTOGRAPH: NILUFA AHMED

Traffic in Dhaka

PHOTOGRAPH: NILUFA AHMED

PHOTOGRAPH: NILUFA AHMED

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DHAKA, BANGLADESH

BY NILUFA AHMED

Dhaka, home to 8.9 million people, is a city steeped in a history of Mughal Emperors and British colonial rule.

Every inch of the city echoes something of its past, yet vivid signs of modernism and globalisation are stark as the city strives to find its own voice, post-independence. Built during Mughal rule, with elaborate designs, well laid out gardens, tombs and palaces, it is no surprise that the City of Mosques rapidly became known as the Venice of the East.

M

y number one piece of advice when travelling to Dhaka is to plan ahead for the traffic; a typical twenty minute journey by car can take up to 2 hours. This is primarily due to two factors: urban sprawl and a lack of public transport.

Dhaka is a megacity and the population is rapidly rising each year. Combined with no formal bus and metro system, everyone travels by private hire-cars, taxis, rickshaws, or coaches. In addition, the scarcity of traffic control systems means getting round the city becomes an obstacle for many. However, on Fridays and Saturdays (the Bangladeshi weekend), traffic is considerably better, with most families and workers sleeping in, allowing tourists to see the city in a new light. Increasingly, Uber has become a popular option in Dhaka, due to how cheap it is: a typical journey that may charge £10 in the UK can be taken in Dhaka for as cheap as tk300 (£3!).

The influence of the Mughals resonates throughout Dhaka. Nawabs (Muslim princes), similar to the British peerage, resided at Ahsan Manzil for several decades, until the decline of the estate when it was sold to the French in the 1740s.

It was then used as a trading house until 1785, when Ahsan Manzil became a place of great economic and colonial importance in Bangladesh. After threats of British takeover, the French were forced to leave the subcontinent, handing the mansion over to the affluent landlord of Dhaka, Khwaja Alumullah. In 1888, however, a tornado left the city and buildings in ruins. Efforts to restore the mansion drew the 34 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

attention of an English engineer from Kolkata, who payed a visit to suggest some new design layouts. The most significant of these was probably the central dome, now a quintessential part of the building. Like the fate of many historical Mughal families, internal family quarrels over lineage and succession led to the end of Khwaja Alumullah’s reign in 1901. In 1985, Dhaka National Museum acquired the property and placed it under a massive restoration plan.

In between dissertation work and volunteering, my cousin took a trip to the capital to pay me a visit. That weekend we visited Sonargoan, the City of Gold; this was the most breathtaking experience of my entire stay. Sonargoan was a historic administrative and commercial centre in the Bengal region. Situated in the middle of the Ganges Delta, the city played a pivotal role in the medieval reign of Muslim rulers. In the middle of the 13th century, a Buddhist ruler shifted his capital to the present state of the Sonargoan Upazila. Muslim settlers then began to arrive in the city around the year 1281 and it is often told that the Sufi saint, Sharfuddin Abu Tawwamah, settled in the region, spreading Islam. After a very intensive period of war between the Delhi Sultan and Bahadur Shah, independent Bengal was declared in 1328.

The rule of the Muslim emperors in Dhaka is still very prominent today. With a Muslim majority population, the city is in a paradoxical situation: the clash of religious authority with modernity. This is not to suggest the two are not mutually compatible,

TRAVEL

Lalbagh Fort.

PHOTOGRAPH: NILUFA AHMED

but as often seen throughout history, tensions and conflict are inevitable. This was evident at Lalbagh fort - construction here began in 1678 by the Mughal Subahdar, but the building was left unfinished. After the death of his daughter, Pari Bibi, the Mughal of the time left buildings work incomplete, considering the fort to be unlucky. The tomb of Pari Bibi remains at the fort to date and has become a popular tourist destination amongst foreigners.

Despite Islam being the state religion of Bangladesh, Dhaka is somewhat of an exception to the prominence of religious authority. Young couples are often seen in westernised clothes escaping the eyes of their parents and neighbours in new Dhaka, and utilising many of the spots in Old Dhakar. However, in recent years, there has been an increase in the number of Islamic scholars and a spread of a more practicing version of the religion, compared to the early days of post-independence when the country built in secularism as one of its founding pillars. In contrast to the dress of many youths, a particular form of Islam (partially inspired by the Middle East) is becoming increasingly popular. As a geographer who is so connected to the country, it is hard to sugar coat this matter. It leads one to ask whether modernity and religion are mutually compatible. Moreover, one is compelled to ask whether this modernity is globalisation or a western cultural imitation, and whether the rise of Islam is an infiltration of the Middle East or in fact a misinterpretation of beliefs.

Not far from Lalbagh fort is the only state funded Hindu temple, Dhakeshwari Mondir (Temple of the Goddess of Dhaka). Given its stateowned status, the temple is often referred to as the ‘National Temple of Bangladesh’. Built in the 12th century by Ballal Sen, a king from the Sena dynasty (Hindu dynasty ruling most of Bengal) to glorify his birthplace, many people believe Dhaka was named after the temple. During the 1971 Liberation War between East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (present day Pakistan), the temple suffered severe damage, with over half 35 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

Dhakeshwari Mondir (Temple of the Goddess of Dhaka).

PHOTOGRAPH: NILUFA AHMED

the original temple destroyed. Partly fuelled by the religious tensions of Islam and Hinduism between the two states, and partly by geopolitical reasons, the Pakistani Army took over the temple until Bangladeshi independence. Today the temple plays a pivotal part in the history and culture of Bengali Hindus, the largest religious minority in Bangladesh. The temple is the hub of socio-cultural activities and is host to the largest religious event on the Bengali Hindu calendar, Durja Puja. What is interesting to note is the continuing decline of the Hindu population in the entire nation. Partly due to the division of British India into two separate states based on religious lines, many Bengali Hindus in East Bengal migrated to present day West Bengal, India. But more importantly, the continuous discrimination and attacks faced by the minority from various rebel groups have resulted in many undeclared Hindus in Bangladesh. Despite the immense contribution the Hindu community has made to Bangladesh, they still face extreme security threats.

Although this is only a small glimpse of my time spent in Dhaka, the city definitely provided some amazing scenes and created many incredible memories that will last a lifetime.

TRAVEL

GUNUNG BROMO Gunung Bromo is an active volcano on the Indonesian island of Java. Its peak reaches a height of 2329m, and its smoking, rumbling crater and utterly unique surroundings make it a popular tourist attraction for Indonesians and foreigners alike. The location of Bromo, inside the caldera of the ancient supervolcano Tengger, is astounding, and a visit is something I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone lucky enough to travel to East Java.

The Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park is only two hours from the city of Malang (a Jeep and a driver can be easily organised for the day, for roughly £40 per person from Malang, although different trips run from Jogjakarta too). The drive offers an interesting (though somewhat sickening) journey up to the

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BY ANJALI GUPTA

base of Mount Bromo, winding steeply up through a vast and changing range of human and physical landscapes. The environments contrast starkly and suddenly as you drive: transitioning from bustling city, to paddy fields, and onwards to steep deforested and cultivated slopes. After this, the full rainforest comes into view, but it disappears as quickly as it arrives giving way to a savannah, known as ‘Teletubby Land’ because of its small but rolling green hills. Your first view of Mount Bromo and the black sea of sand from which it rises comes as you skirt round the corner of these hills. I’ve heard that making this journey in the dark to see the sunrise over Bromo is a truly spectacular sight… though it also involves getting up at 2am so was definitely not my cup of - Javanese

TRAVEL

vanilla - tea.

Bromo is nowhere near the highest peak in the vicinity: it is shadowed by two others, and it has had its top completely blown off in a previous eruption.

The altitude makes the reasonable climb quite tough (or maybe this is a reflection on my own laziness), and takes you to the edge of the crater, looking down into a hole that bellows a bright white steam smelling lightly of sulphur. There is a fence that’s about 2ft high, providing a primarily psychological barrier between you and the certain death that awaits you with a few wrong steps in the crater’s direction. Indonesian health and safety is limited to say the least, but that’s what allowed us to experience something so breathtaking. We even met some French people who had just walked around the entire crater - which at times is unfenced and less than 50cm wide – you could see the relief on their faces when they had made it through alive.

The people we saw on the ascent were revealing, and showed me how vital tourism can be in supporting small communities who otherwise may be quite isolated. While tourism consumes often scarce

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resources and overcrowding leads to environmental degradation, it is important not to forget the sharing of cultures it nurtures, as well as the obvious cash injection to an area that tourism provides. The small industry surrounding the volcano’s base supports the local Hindu Tengger Tribe, for which Bromo also has a large cultural significance - featuring in old legends and being the centre of an annual festival which involves throwing offerings into the crater.

Local men sell bouquets of flowers, and makeshift stalls line the path to the top - offering drinks and snacks to aid you on the breathless, twenty minute climb. Perhaps the saddest sight, however, were the men offering pony rides up and down the slopes, desperately hawking their wares despite the walk being undeniably manageable.

I saw this tremendous experience as a representation of Indonesia as a whole; it was aweinspiring and the changing landscapes surrounding it highlight the diversity of the country. Never before had I been so humbled by nature and felt so privileged to be able to experience it.

Sulfur gases from the volcano’s crater.

PHOTOGRAPH: ANJALI GUPTA

THE BEST SUPERPOWER: SUPERVISION

BY STEPHANIE ANDREWS Love them or hate them, supervisions are a vital part of the Cambridge learning experience. That said, no one ever actually tells you how to do a supervision. Half way through Week Zero you’re bombarded with pages and pages of reading lists, mystical sounding question, and a term’s worth of deadlines.

As Geographers, we’re blessed (cursed?) with relatively few supervisions compared to other subjects, but that doesn’t make them, or the work we have to do for them, any less stressful. Certainly, you get better at managing essay workloads and managing the supervision itself, which is why we spoke to third years and Dr Iris Möller to get their top supervision tips.

STUDENT TIPS Signing up for supervisions is a headache, but if you do it well, it can ease organisational stress throughout term. A nice spacing of supervisions is ideal, aiming for one a week, so this requires a sit down with a calendar. Bear in mind that deadlines are usually 48 hours before the supervision day itself, so be wary of coinciding supervisions and deadlines.

Don’t just sign up to supervisions with your friends, sign up to supervisions which fit your schedule; it’ll be better for you in the long term!

That said, tactical picking of supervision partners is completely acceptable. If you know the people you’re in a supervision with, you’re likely to be more relaxed, and less concerned about what they’ll think of you if you ask a stupid question, which means you’ll enjoy the supervision and (hopefully) get more out of it. If you don’t know your supervision partner, do communicate with them in advance. Either way, it’s probably a good idea to swap essays with your supervision partner beforehand. If you’ve done different topics, this prevents the embarrassment of being lost when talking about subjects discussed in their essay, and you’ll be in a better position to ask questions.

There are the obvious things which can get a supervision off to a good start, like not being late and writing a decent essay. As good as it may seem in the short term to cram an essay into the three hours before the deadline, that’s not going to be helpful in the long term. Supervision essays are an invaluable revision tool at the end of the year. They’re the only feedback you get from the people who set the end of year exams (and mark them), so use them wisely.

It sounds clichéd, and is hard to believe that anyone is ever this organised, but if you come to the supervision armed with questions about the supervision and the lecture series, this will make sure you get the most out of the hour. If you don’t have any prepared questions, but come up with some during the supervision, ask. Be honest with yourself if you don’t understand the content. Ask and get it explained, that’s what supervisors are there for!

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SUPERVISOR TIPS Most supervisions are essay based, and it’s understandable that you’re tight for time when trying to work your way through a pile of essays during term time. Hence, the importance of time management cannot be overstated. Make sure you manage your time well so you can give each essay the amount of time it needs.

Potentially the single most important thing students want to know when writing an essay is how much reading you actually need to do. Dr Möller suggests that the minimum is probably the key texts. Start by deconstructing the question, identifying key words and the sub-elements. Target these sub-elements, and read one or two key texts which relate to these.

If you have more time for reading, try to fill in these sub-areas with more readings, which should provide a bit more breadth. In physical geography essays, this means looking at papers which have different ways of constructing a study, different results, and different perspectives.

The main thing in supervisions is that you talk. Be confident enough to talk, even if you think what you’re saying is rubbish. Don’t be worried about appearing ignorant, or silly; it won’t be held against you, you’re not examined, and it will stimulate a discussion. If you found the essay difficult, that’s not a bad thing: essays are meant to challenge you, and if you found it easy, it might be because you’re not understanding the complexities of the question. If you did find the essay difficult, explain to your supervisor why you found it difficult, at the very least it will start discussion, and may help clarify any confusion.

A bit of preparation for a supervision goes a long way. Be critical of the things you read, and be prepared to share these criticisms with your supervision group.

Finally, it’s important to remember that we’re paying for supervisions, and they’re almost certainly the best opportunity you’ll have to iron out any problems or clarify any misunderstandings. Supervisions aren’t graded, so what have you got to lose from asking that ridiculous question?

STUDY TIPS Aidan Thomas sits down with Dr Francesca Moore, historical-political geographer, lecturer and Director of Studies at Homerton College, to discuss tips for supervisions: What, in your opinion, is the main purpose of a supervision essay? How should students view them as part of the wider Tripos, rather than just something they have to do every week?

The supervision essay is where you have the opportunity to ‘chop up’ and organise the field you’re reading in. It gives you the chance to process the literature so that you’re comparing and contrasting different ideas and thinking about where the big interventions in the field are. It’s a chance to manipulate the literature to think about where the gaps are and what the big questions in the field are – what is the key ‘nugget’ of new information that each reference gives you? All academic work is published because it says something new, so writing an essay is about picking out those nuggets of new information in every paper or book and trying to evaluate what it means for that field. But essays are also about answering the question! Those questions are designed to give you an overview of the big puzzles in each academic field, so the essay is, first of all, about processing the literature and, second, about understanding the big questions in the field.

How should students best engage with a piece of literature on their reading list?

My top tip for reading is to look for that nugget of new information that the piece conveys and think about what the evidence is for this. In an academic journal, you’ll find that new information in the abstract, 39 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

then again in the introduction and conclusion.

They’ll use it two or three times throughout to make it very clear. Tackle your reading by dividing up your reading into different perspectives – so in Historical Globalization, for example, you can think about the anti-globalists, the hyper-globalists and the moderate globalists. Try to chop up the field into these categories and organise the literature – that will help you answer the essay question.

How much extra reading should students ideally be doing during term time?

That’s a tough question! It varies by year. In the first year, it’s very important to get to grips with everything on the reading list – first year is very much an introduction to the subject as a degree course. In the second year, as you begin to pursue your specialist interests and think about a dissertation, that’s when extra reading becomes very significant – you need to be able to search for, read and understand literature in a variety of fields and understand how it’s pertinent to what you’re working on. Whilst I think it’s always good to read around – we would never discourage you from reading! – it’s very important to see what you’re reading for and what you’re trying to get out of it. In the second year, it’s about pursuing an area of interest for your dissertation and beginning to delve more specifically into issues in your thematic papers. By the time you’ve hit your third year, I think extra reading can be absolutely transformative. It’s in the third year that we’re teaching at the cutting edge of what we know, so extra reading gives you all the information about what’s going on in your field and it can help you understand the big questions we ask at Part II. What do you as a supervisor consider to be a successful supervision?

I think a supervision is a discussion – it’s important that everybody feels comfortable and that everybody feels able to contribute to the discussion.

It’s important that the supervisor doesn’t talk too much and that there are lots of interesting questions

STUDY TIPS that cover all the different perspectives in the literature but, crucially, also cover the perspectives of the students and what they’re interested in. Where the supervision works really well is where everybody feels comfortable - not only to contribute ideas but also to ask questions, and where the supervisor really facilitates that. Very crucially, I think it’s important for the supervisor to recap the significant themes – it’s not about having an answer to the question, it’s about thinking what the most significant ideas in the literature are and how they help us to deal with the big questions in our field at the moment. Discussions can be very wide ranging – that’s the beauty of the supervision system – but I believe we should also condense them down a little so we have a ‘Top Five’ points to take home for when it comes to revision or using those ideas in another essay. So, a supervision should have wide ranging discussion, then a more focused distilling into key themes. But crucially, lots of discussion – it shouldn’t be a mini lecture!

What would you say to a first-year human geographer struggling to grasp physical topics (or vice versa)?

Don’t worry. Geography is possibly the widest degree course you can study, which means we ask you to have the skills of a natural scientist as well as the skills of someone doing a humanities degree.

Because of that, it’s inevitable that you will develop preferences and you’ll find that there are particular things you’re interested in. I would simply say ‘bear with it’ and use the first year to explore the range of topics we offer in Cambridge and think about the kind of geography you’d like to know more about.

AN ESSAY A DAY? WITH JAMES WOODALL

BY STEPHANIE ANDREWS Essay-writing is an integral, annoyingly timeconsuming, and often daunting part of Cambridge life. Interacting with published texts and complex questions, and then having to form your own succinct and coherent argument, is no small task.

There isn’t a secret recipe for writing the perfect essay (but if there were, it would not involve Sunday Life), and often what supervisors want will vary.

However, there are some things that you can do in every essay to give you a firm frame around which to construct your arguments.

James Woodall, a Royal Literary Fund Fellow for Teaching Writing, gives five general essay-writing tips to help you produce solid work every time.

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I found physical geography very difficult in my first year – and the exam was on my birthday! I found it very hard and frightening. What I did wrong was to become very negative about it and assume I couldn’t do it. Don’t become defeatist about it – you’re here because you’re bright. Approach your supervisors and DoS, explain what you’re finding hard and ask what you can read to make things easier. In Human Geography, for example, I always recommend The Dictionary of Human Geography and I imagine physical geographers have plenty of textbooks that they’d recommend too. Just know that lots of geographers have trod the same path before! The great joy of second year is that you will get choices about the kind of geography you’re interested in.

In the third year, the specialist papers based on research carried out here in the department are superb – so there’s much to look forward to!

WRITE A CLEAR INTRODUCTION In your introduction, it’s crucial to display that you have a clear understanding of the essay title or question. This is the first thing a supervisor or examiner will read, so ensure its contents sound measured and assured, and that they show that you’ve thought about what will be in your essay and how you want to present it. If you need to define any terms that are in the essay title, now is the time to do it.

DON’T BE FRIGHTENED OF USING SHORT PARAGRAPHS Don’t be afraid of keeping your paragraphs short – four to five sentences is completely acceptable. Separating your ideas into smaller chunks might make them easier to read and help you structure your essay more effectively. It’ll also make it look nicer. That said, don’t split paragraphs in an unnatural way, and longer paragraphs are also fine (as long as they’re not taking up pages

STUDY TIPS authoritative sources have been published, that doesn’t mean the work there is flawless: be critical of their methods and conclusions!

CLARITY IS ALL The golden rule for any essay is to be clear. The clearest sentences contain only one thought or idea.

Multiple one- idea sentences make it easier to reach a clear conclusion at the end of a paragraph. Writing in this way will also help you think through your points as you write them. Crowded sentences with multiple points can confuse your thought processes as much as those of the supervisor who marks your essay. and pages). Use paragraphs to help organise your ideas. Try to avoid massive, confused chunks of text containing multiple points.

COMMAND YOUR OWN ARGUMENT Make sure that you’re in charge of your argument and not relying on multiple authoritative sources. Using references shows that you’ve done the reading and that you’re able to credit others’ work (as an aside, do make sure you’re referencing properly). However, don’t get bogged down in trying to show off how much reading you’ve done by overcrowding your work with references. Ultimately, supervisors are interested in your opinion, as this displays your ability to assimilate information and reach reasoned conclusions. Even though

RE-READ, RE-RE-READ, AND THEN RE-READ FOR GOOD MEASURE Re-reading your work makes sure you get rid of any stupid mistakes. Re-read while writing and then once again when you think you’re finished. Leave your essay for an hour or so, then come back to and re-read it. Often, you can become so absorbed in the contents of your argument that you forget that commas exist, or that you should not be putting brackets there, or that you really should not be writing a sentence this long because it’s not possible to read it out loud without putting extreme stress on your lungs. So re-read, and check style and content.

Check for typos and silly errors, and be sure that your argument makes sense.

EVERYTHING I DID WRONG AS A FIRST YEAR

BY AIDAN THOMAS GEOGRAPHER In many ways, first year can feel like the hardest year of your degree as you’re suddenly thrust into a world of endless deadlines, intense supervisions and a reading list longer than the walk to Homerton.

It’s also the only year of my degree I’ve actually completed, so I’ll probably regret saying that the moment I’m neck-deep in dissertation planning, and having an existential crisis about how relevant deconstructing landscape will really be to future careers. First year is a period of trial-and-error (emphasis on the error in my case) so I’m here to explain everything I did wrong in my first year in the hope that you might just manage a little better than me.

TRYING TO READ EVERYTHING IN DEPTH Before arriving at Cambridge, I’d obviously heard how intense and rigorous the workload here is; for most of us it’s one of the reasons we applied.

However, no flippant anecdote of “Yeah Cambridge 41 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

is hard but you’ll be fine” could have prepared me for my first late night library session. Trawling through the seemingly endless reading list for my Geopolitics essay with no concept of how long it actually takes to read a densely academic journal article, I proceeded to take handwritten notes so detailed that they’d definitely get picked up for plagiarism. I got through the reading list at a rate of four pages per hour and found myself with irrelevant notes three times longer than the necessary word count and not long left to write it. I wasn’t planning on scheduling my first essayrelated breakdown until at least Week 4 or 5, but, alas, I settled for Week 2. I got it done eventually, but it took far more hours and energy than was needed.

A lot of what you read is not directly relevant, so don’t try to take in every word; if in doubt, the abstract, intro and conclusion will probably have you covered.

That said, you may find uses for that extra reading in your next essay, so don’t despair!

STUDY TIPS exciting, eventful, stressful, and intense eight weeks of my life so, sad as I was to leave my friends, I was ready for a little bit of time to recover. The Christmas break is six weeks, nearly as long as a whole term – perfect length for a couple of weeks of relaxation before catching up on all that extra reading I’d neglected, right? Predictably, two weeks of Netflix binging, catching up with friends and waking up at midday turned into six weeks, and before I knew it the holidays were over. I certainly wouldn’t advocate doing hours of intense revision over Christmas, but bulking up your notes with some extra reading will prove beneficial when exam term rears its ugly head.

As a result of my laziness, I was warned by my Senior Tutor I’d have to work twice as hard over Easter break (spoiler note: I didn’t). A sensible work/life balance is essential to surviving Cambridge, but this applies to the holidays too.

NOT ASKING FOR HELP Halfway through my first term I found myself faced with three essays due in on three consecutive days.

As a naïve and overly optimistic Fresher, I assumed this was a normal Cambridge workload and that it would be totally achievable.

It wasn’t.

Despite slogging away at the first two essays and (barely) submitting them on time, I still found myself with nothing but a few notes and a half-baked plan the night before the third essay was due. Still in my gown from formal, I only began writing my 2000 word essay at 10pm, fuelled by that classic Cambridge combination of white wine and anxiety. I didn’t get very far, to the surprise of literally nobody, and reluctantly submitted a detailed essay plan instead. Still stuck in a sixth-form mindset, I was worried I’d get in trouble with my supervisor for not completing the essay - I couldn’t have been more wrong. Supervisors are, for the most part, very understanding. They know the intensity of the workload and that you’re probably juggling multiple other essays. If you’re struggling and need help, don’t be afraid to ask – your mental health is more important than an essay deadline.

DOING LITERALLY ZERO WORK OVER CHRISTMAS Michaelmas as a fresher is simultaneously the best and worst term of the year. I’d had the most 42 / COMPASS / MICHAELMAS 2017

PANICKING ABOUT NOT UNDERSTANDING PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY No other subject at Cambridge offers the same breadth as Geography and so it’s not uncommon for people to arrive with a preference for either Human or Physical Geography. At university, however, Human slides further down the abstract side of the spectrum, while Physical shifts further towards the scientific. I’d always just tolerated Physical at A-Level but I found myself progressively confounded and exasperated whilst slogging through heavily scientific articles on glacial melt, beach profiles and a host of other things which failed to enthuse me. I briefly experienced the “Should I switch to HSPS?” phase but thankfully lectures on Geopolitics, Cultural Geography and Economic Globalization kept me captivated throughout.

Struggling with a particular topic (or 50% of the degree in my case) can feel incredibly demoralizing when everyone else seems to know exactly what they’re doing. The truth is that they probably don’t; everyone has their own unique strengths and areas of interest, so don’t panic if you don’t love every facet of your subject. First year is all about learning what kind of geography you’re interested in, so once you get to second year you’ll be free to explore your passions in depth.

THANK YOU We would like to thank our sponsors: the Cambridge University Geographical Society, the University of Cambridge Department of Geography, and Research Europe.

We would also like to thank everyone who has contributed to Compass and helped make it possible.

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INSIDE COVER PHOTOGRAPH: PAULA STRUTHOFF OUTSIDE COVER PHOTOGRAH: CELESTE ABRAHAMS

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