Aerial view of Naples with Mount Vesuvius at sunset

The Climate, Hazards and Environmental Change Research Cluster

Focusing on contemporary issues related to the themes of climate change, environmental change, hazards, disasters, resource extraction and sustainability.

A vast flooded landscape of water over fields, with a few buildings and trees emerging from the still waters

About us

The Climate, Hazards and Environmental Change Research Cluster draws on perspectives from multiple disciplines including human geography, physical geography, archaeology, biology, nutritional sciences and philosophy.

Our research has focused on a variety of topics, including:

  • Quaternary environmental change
  • Critical perspectives on climate adaptation
  • Flooding, wildfires, tsunamis and volcanoes
  • Environmental archaeology and paleoecology
  • Public perceptions of environmental change and sustainability
  • Political ecologies of resource extraction
  • Social movements and the environment
  • Environmental education and pedagogy
  • Climate change impacts and vulnerabilities.  

Our researchers have experience of working in numerous locations including the UK, Ireland, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan, Italy, Germany, Russia, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and the United States.

Our researchers

David Simm

Matthew Law

A profile photo of a woman with dark hair wearing a black dress standing in front of trees

Giovanna Gioli

Person with long brown hair wearing glasses and a white sleeveless top smiling in front of purple-flowered shrubs

Margherita Scazza

James Jeffers

A man stands in front of a bookcase

Simon Haslett

Lori Bystrom

Lori Bystrom

Person in hat with long hair smiling at camera in rural setting with fields behind

Kim Davies

An aerial shot of Commons at Newton Park

Informing education

We are committed to research with impact and to collaborations with local communities, policy makers and industry. As university teachers and researchers, we are also committed to research-informed teaching, and to providing our students with opportunities to engage with and participate in research.

Our research informs our teaching contributions to degree programmes across the School of Sciences, including in Geography, Global Development and Sustainability, Environmental Science, Wildlife Conservation and Biology.

We are also affiliated with the University's Centre for Research on Science and Society and the Research Centre for Environmental Humanities.

Research projects

Our international research aims to deepen understandings of complex social, environmental and sustainability challenges.

View of woman holding mobile phone sitting on colourful cloths Digital Climate Futures
Image of greybrown rubble from a building with a fence and tattered flag. Tree in background. Political afterlife of rubble
Erupting volcano Dynamic Risk at Fuego Volcano
Firefighters on a smoky hillside Historical perspectives on wildfires in Ireland
The Last Hurrah: exploring climate change through theatre
Cork flood defences dispute
HiFlo-DAT Hazard Database
People walking around inside the Commons building

Our events

Our online research lecture series is open to the public. To find out more or register to attend an online lecture, please visit our events page.

Recordings of some of our past events are also available on YouTube.

Browse our events
A person sitting in the library uses a touch-screen device

Get in touch

If you're interested in our research, please contact our Cluster Director, Dr Jim Jeffers. Alternatively, speak to any member of our group.

Cluster Director

You might also be interested in...