Projects registered at University of Roehampton
River Rights and Representation
Artistic Research on the River and its Communities (two projects)
Project 1: Artistic socially engaged research
Project 2: Artistic research
Supervisors: Heike Salzer, Muriel Tinel-Temple
The river has maintained fascination for artists and storytellers throughout human civilization as a symbolic and metaphoric source for human imagination, as well as being instrumental in nurturing life, work and play. These two arts practice-as-research doctoral projects present a unique opportunity to reckon with the role of human/more than human agency in riverscapes and riverine culture. They will explore the people who live, work, amble and play near, in or on the river, who are in dialogue or dispute with river. The projects will be approached through embodied research, via the disciplines of dance, somatic practice, film and audio-visual practices, cultivating new creative or participatory methods of engaging with the topic. They aim to offer opportunities to connect more deeply to river water systems, cultivating a heightened awareness of self, community, and the environment. There is the potential for both projects to collaborate with local organisations
Potential thematic topics may include: Rivers as a site of (collective) memory, emotion and transformation; Natural elements/non-humans within and beside rivers; The challenge of human exploitation of rivers; Rivers as both ecological and metaphorical landscapes; The connections to, folklores about, and use of rivers by local communities; Participatory methods to enhance awareness of connections to rivers; Eco-biography; Rivers as sites for placemaking; Time, flow and movement of rivers; Rivers as sites of/vehicles for/victims of death, decay and destruction; River relationships of communities, users and groups such as swimmers, fishers, walkers, bathers, gazers, polluters, boat folk; Environmental urgencies, water management, pollution, flood, sustainability and preservation, activism; The river as a living entity with its own “voice” .
Note all practice-as-research PhDs at Roehampton have a written component. In your application please clearly explain whether you are applying for project 1 or project 2 and outline the desired artistic/socially engaged approach and methods taken, along with a sense of how the project might partner with local organisations.
Development and assessment of a computer game designed to improve children’s understanding of flood management
Supervisor: Rogerio Da-Silva
There is a direct correlation between the amount of water extracted from, and discharged into, a river and the size of the urban areas exploiting that river. This project aims at developing a tool to increase awareness around this issue by means of a serious game that explores the effects of unregulated urbanisation (e.g., larger cities = higher water consumption = more water pollution). The main goal of this project is to design and implement a simulation game that allows the player (acting as a city planner for the city hall) to build their own city around a river (or other similar body of water), and by doing so understand its effects on the river discharge and pollution levels. The game will allow the player to interactively build the city (e.g., residences, schools, hospitals, water treatment stations, etc.), then the application will estimate the effects of those choices on the river and its floodplain in terms of flood management and pollution. During the project a way of assessing the impact of the game on the player in terms of perceptions about urbanisation and discharge will be devised and employed.
Sacred waters: faith and folk traditions and their role in conservation and management of natural water sources
Supervisor: Nick Mayhew Smith
Natural water has attracted veneration, worship and a wide range of ritual activities for millennia, cultic practices even surviving transitions between different religions and changes in dominant cultures. This programme of research will examine some of the very long narratives that have developed around sacred water courses, including springs, wells, lakes, rivers and the sea, examining their lingering cultural footprint in the 21st century. It will focus on the extent to which popular imagination and memory can help efforts to conserve and restore these natural phenomena. Ritual activities and communal attachments include bathing traditions, the presumed health-giving properties of natural water sources, legends of aquatic creatures and spirits, and water as a place of healing and rebirth. The researcher will select a range of springs, ponds and other natural bodies of water and examine both their long history of devotional use and their ongoing significance to their local community today. This will involve historical research, including local history archives, which will be set alongside field studies of the cultic and ritual practices that have developed today, including site survey, observation and interviews with devotees and more casual site visitors. The project takes an innovative approach in placing traditional cultic rituals and folk attachment to sacred sites in dialogue with modern perceptions and practices that continue to cluster around natural water sources and bodies. Discerning some of these long narratives that connect people to place will ultimately shed new light on the enduring influence spiritual concern can have on efforts to conserve and value natural heritage.
Projects registered at Cranfield University
Quantifying reciprocal ecological flows across riparian zones
Supervisor: Alice Johnston
Riparian zones are dynamic transitional spaces between terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. They are important habitats, which influence the flows of energy, nutrients, and organisms between land and water. This exciting PhD project will quantify and model the reciprocal ecological flows between riparian zones and freshwater systems. The research will push the boundaries of current science by examining how riparian zones influence freshwater trophic networks while simultaneously considering how aquatic processes shape riparian functioning.
The PhD researcher will use innovative field techniques to quantify carbon and energy flows with a specific focus on how riparian zone features enhance or disrupt biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. These findings will underpin the development of a cutting-edge agent-based model, integrating dynamic behaviours, life histories, and spatial feedbacks to predict how freshwater trophic networks respond to gradients of riparian complexity. Application of the tool to quantify evidence-based trade-offs between riparian habitat quality and human influence will set new benchmarks for harmonising land and water management priorities in a rapidly changing world.
An aquatic ecological tug-of-war: who wins when conservation and recreation clash in lakes?
Supervisor: Dr Tao Lyu
Global efforts and policies highlight the importance of aquatic ecosystems due to their species richness, unique biodiversity, and vital ecosystem services. However, these ecosystems are increasingly under pressure from human activities. This PhD project will examine the interactions between human-driven management and ecological outcomes in lakes designated for their important aquatic communities.
This project will address fundamental questions about how recreational activities and water quality priorities influence the ecological trajectories aquatic plant communities. The research will involve a combination of fieldwork and laboratory analyses, conducted with a multidisciplinary academic team and a broad collaboration of stakeholders (e.g., local conservation practitioners and sailing clubs). The research will provide insights into the socio-ecological constructs of ecosystem health and how human values affect the resilience and natural progression of these aquatic communities. More practically, the project will provide advice to lake managers on how to balance competing ecological expectations and recreational demands.
Socio-ecological synergies and trade-offs in river rewilding
Supervisor: Dr Robert Grabowski
Rivers and floodplains should be hotspots of biodiversity in the landscape. However, land drainage, intensive land use, and river engineering have separated rivers from their floodplains, causing a loss of aquatic and wetland habitats. To counter this decline, the growing rewilding movement has sought to reconnect rivers to their floodplains, through the work of beavers and stage-zero schemes. In this study, a PhD researcher will investigate how social, economic, political and environmental factors influence the adoption of rewilding approaches for lowland rivers.
The project will combine social science and ecological research to explore the drivers, enablers, and barriers to rewilding, and how the setting and monitoring of ecological objectives is modified for the less predictable trajectories of ecological change. The project would be ideal for a geographer or environmental scientist interested in how humans perceive, interact and influence the natural environment. The successful applicant should feel confident in applying social science approaches (quantitative and/or qualitative) to an environmental setting. Ideally, they should also have knowledge of hydrological, geomorphic and/or ecological processes in rivers and/or knowledge of or experience in rural land management. The PhD research will provide new information to support the wider uptake of river rewilding that benefits people and the environment.
Gardening for aquatic ecosystems
Supervisor: Dr Andrea Momblanch
There are around 30 million gardeners in the UK whose combined area of private outdoor space covers over 4,300 km2. Gardens and other domestic outdoor spaces, therefore, represent a major natural resource, which could support wider ecological recovery and resilience. With the growing demands for water resources and increased uncertainty with climate change, improved understanding of how gardeners affect aquatic ecosystems across the landscape is essential.
In this exciting project, in collaboration with the Royal Horticultural Society, a PhD researcher will use a combination of data analysis, monitoring and modelling to develop an improved understanding of the water balance of domestic gardens and evaluate how the ‘green infrastructure’ benefits of gardens can be improved to increase the resilience of aquatic ecosystems. This PhD will suit a student with a hydrology, physical geography, environmental science or similar background, given the monitoring and modelling components. However, depending on the student’s background, training can be provided in soil science, modelling, GIS and remote sensing at Cranfield and/or soil and vegetation monitoring by the RHS Environmental Horticulture team.
Exploring the legitimacy of river health monitoring
Supervisor: Heather Smith
Environmental monitoring programmes are at the heart of how we understand the health river ecosystems. But questions over which parameters are monitored, how they are measured (and by whom), and the interpretation and transparency of the evidence generated, can significantly shape the legitimacy of monitoring programmes. Drawing on a political ecology approach, the aim of this project is to explore the processes through which river monitoring programmes can become legitimised (and de-legitimised) among different communities, how the evidence is mobilised to construct different meanings of river health, and the implications this can have for river governance. The research will be associated with an existing ESRC research project, and will use case studies in the UK, Norway and Canada, with potential for travel to study sites for field work. Ideal candidates should have a background in an environmental discipline and knowledge of both river monitoring techniques (especially for biodiversity) and qualitative social research methods.
Development of origami-paper eDNA sensors for real-time surveillance of freshwater ecosystem
Supervisor: Professor Zhugen Zhang
In this exciting PhD project, a researcher will develop and validate innovative origami-paper eDNA sensors for the early detection of chemical and microbial contaminants and non-native species in river ecosystems. The selected candidate will work collaboratively within a dynamic team, utilizing cutting-edge technology to create user-friendly sensors for deployment by citizen scientists. The project will involve co-designing the sensors with public stakeholders to ensure usability and accuracy, as well as conducting field tests to validate their effectiveness. Ideal candidates should have a strong background in environmental science, biology, or a related field, along with experience in molecular techniques and fieldwork. Excellent communication skills and a passion for biodiversity conservation are essential. This studentship offers a unique opportunity to engage in groundbreaking research with practical applications, promoting community involvement in detecting chemical and biological contaminants and monitoring biodiversity.
Student-led studentship competition
Deadline: 6 February 2025, 4pm
- Students work on a research project they have come up with themselves.
- They will be guided in this work by an expert academic supervisory team.
- The project may also involve working with a collaborative partner (for example, a business, charity or think tank) who provides researchers with access to data, equipment or participants for a study, additional funding for their studentship, or an additional supervisor.
What are we looking for?
- Interesting research ideas that fall within the remit of the Connected Waters This programme aims to develop a deeper, holistic understanding of the interactions between humans and the environment to support sustainable solutions to the environmental challenges affecting our river, lake, wetland, and groundwater ecosystems.
- A good match between applicant researchers and Roehampton University or Cranfield University and supervisors.
We are especially keen to receive applications from individuals from underrepresented backgrounds for a Masters plus PhD scholarship.
Here is more guidance on how to complete your student-led application.