ENABLING GEOGRAPHY TEACHERS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Marcel MINDRESCU (University of Suceava, Romania) works on environmental geography including current and past climate change, environmental risks (hydrological and geomorphic). He is president of the Geoconcept Association of Applied Geography.

Simon HUTCHINSON (University of Salford, UK) is a geographer with research interests in geomorphology, palaeoscience and expertise in the use of Digital Visualisation Tools to enhance accessibility and inclusion in environmental education. His recent projects developing online resources and Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) as Digital Visualisation Tools (DVTs) include the ViPs Project and two NERC funded projects: CULTIVATE and More Inclusive Fieldwork.

Nataliia POPOVYCH (V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Ukraine) is a geographer with research interests in cartography, GIS, spatial planning and sustainable development. Her research background is in providing regional development strategies with thematic maps. Now Nataliia teaches modules on cartography and GIS in Geography at the Department of Physical Geography and Cartography.

Vaclav DUFFEK (University of West Bohemia, Czechia) is a scientific and pedagogical employee at the Department of Geosciences which is part of the Centre of Biology, Geoscience and Environmental Education in the Faculty of Education. He studies mainly glacial geomorphology and paleoclimate in the central European Mountains. He teaches courses on physical geography and deals with an integrating of modern technologies (virtual reality, educational apps, spherical images) into the methodology of teaching geography and also into geography in schools.

Liz HURREL (University of York, UK) is a physical geographer and Associate Lecturer and Programme Lead for Environmental Geography at the University of York and an Associate Lecturer at the Open University. She is particularly passionate about improving Geography education through the creation of inclusive field work and the integration of digital tools to enhance learning. She is an active member of the Virtual Palaeoscience Project (ViPs) and was Co-I on the NERC funded CULTIVATE project. Liz’s research background is in the use of isotopes to reconstruct palaeoenvironments.

Des MCDOUGALL (University of Worcester, UK) is a physical geographer with interests in glaciers and glaciation, mountain geomorphology, and Quaternary environmental change. He enjoys teaching and has particular interests in learning technologies, fieldwork, and virtual reality. An example of the work in this area is the VR Glaciers and Glaciated Landscapes resource, which is used by a growing number of schools, colleges and universities around the world.

Katharine WELSH (University of Chester, UK) is particularly interested in the role of technology to enhance the student learning experience both in fieldwork and classroom environments. Her research has focused on technology enhanced learning, specifically mobile learning, the use of student’s own mobile devices (BYOD), visualisation and blended learning. She is a member of the Advance HE CATE award-winning Enhancing Fieldwork Learning team who formed in 2010.

Lynda YORKE (Bangor University, UK) is a physical geographer. She was the Principal Investigator on the CULTIVATE Project. Lynda is Quaternary geomorphologist, with a principal emphasis on fluvial and pro-glacial histories and sedimentary sequences. She has a strong research interest in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, inclusion and accessibility in environmental science, and the use of virtual technologies to enhance learning.

Julia Cooke (Open University) Fieldcasts: Widening access to fieldwork for large numbers of students with interactive livecasts
Mini-biography: I am a plant functional ecologist with a focus on how plants use silicon.  I taught at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including field teaching. Now I am based at The Open University, UK, where I have been involved in the production of new science modules and pioneering ways of increasing access to field studies for distance education students through remotely-accessed student-led field investigations.

Jana Vojteková is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Regional Development at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia. Her research interests include didactics of geography, land-use/land-cover changes, and natural hazards assessment with the support of geospatial technologies (GIS, remote sensing, global navigation satellite systems). She teaches the courses on Geographic Information Systems, Digital Technologies in Geography Teaching (focus on virtual reality, augmented reality, mLearning, geo-location games, WebGIS, education apps etc.).

Gabriela Repaská  is a scientific and pedagogical worker in the Department of Geography, Geoinformatics and Regional Development, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Informatics, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia. Her research mainly deals with the human geography (the issue of suburbanization, ageing, local identity) and didactics of geography (focusing on microgeography and field research). She teaches the courses on Geographic Information Systems, Demogeography, Geography of cities and rural municipalities, Regional development). Moreover, she solved several projects and she is a member of the Slovak Geographical Society.