close

Contact us

Taster Lectures: Geography and Environment

Watch our taster sessions to gain an insight into the knowledge you'll gain when studying Geography and Environment at Herts.

Hertfordshire's placemaking legacy

Welcome to a shortened second year lecture about the legacy of placemaking in Hertfordshire. Join us as we look at the issues of a growing population in London and the effect it had on rural Hertfordshire. We explore Sir Ebenezer Howard's socialist vision of town planning, by bringing together town and country and building healthy homes for working people. We look at the principles of building a garden city and in particular, Letchworth Garden City. We also look at the principles of planning new towns in the post war period and how this led to the founding of the University of Hertfordshire. You’ll be able to link what you see here today with what you may have studied in your level 3 geography lessons.

About the speaker

Debbie Pearlman Hougie is a geographer and planner. She has worked in the planning profession and brings a wealth of practitioner experience to her teaching. Debbie is a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and continues her practical role by advising local organisations. For the past 30 years, Debbie has taught human geography and planning at the University of Hertfordshire. She has a keen interest in walking, researching both urban green spaces and the countryside, and analysing the benefits and barriers to walking in those spaces. The significance of this has been highlighted by the covid-19 pandemic. Her research has covered the concept of quiet enjoyment in national parks, the right to roam and the lived experience of family walking in the British countryside.

Glacier hydrology

Welcome to our latest geography and environment taster lecture. In this latest video, we will explore the topic of glacier hydrology, delivered by Dr. Phil Porter. You will also see some spectacular images from the Arctic and the Himalaya.

If you are an aspiring geographer or environmental scientist, this physical geography taster lecture will give you a flavour of the material you’ll learn at the University of Hertfordshire.

About the speaker

Dr. Phil Porter is a Glacier Scientist. For the past twenty-five years, he has led and participated in scientific expeditions to some of the last true wilderness areas on our planet. He has gone to the frozen wastes of the High-Arctic to the high peaks of the Himalaya. Phil researches the response of glaciers to our rapidly changing climate and in particular, the impacts of warming on meltwater production and delivery. With a sizeable proportion of the world’s population directly or indirectly dependent on snow and ice melt for their water resources, never has this subject been of greater significance.