Island geologic connections: reimagining Guernsey’s spatial dynamics through land–sea–geologic relations, past and present

This paper explores the resizing, reshaping and connectivity of islands by examining ongoing relations between land and sea in the context of the Channel Island of Guernsey. Ideas of materiality, temporality and vertical depth are employed to explore how contemporary tides and past sea-level change impact island–island connections, and island–mainland connections between Guernsey and France. By focusing on the littoral zone as a space of encounter between land and sea, the paper explores some of the processes that challenge the notion of an island having fixed edges, emphasising the island's shape and size as always in flux. The paper then explores how tides alternatively reveal and hide material structures such as rocks and causeways, making the underwater scape temporally visible and differently accessible as an extension of land. It enables connections to be made and remade. This is demonstrated through the example of Guernsey and the tidal island of Lihou. The paper subsequently considers these ideas in the context of Quaternary sea-level change. The land known as Guernsey alternated between literal island surrounded by water, and a steep-sided plateau on the Normanno-Breton plain, coinciding with interglacials and glacials. This connection is referred to as geologic. I argue that by acknowledging Guernsey's former visible connection with France, lack of contemporary visibility in the underwater scape does not render this a disconnection. Rather, the geologic, as further evidenced in the contemporary natural and built environment of Guernsey, continues through an underwater scape. It reappears in other Channal Islands and France, demonstrating ongoing connections at a land–sea–geologic interface. The paper argues for geology as a form of vertical depth. It calls for greater consideration of the geologic in the human geographical study of islands

Transnational Spaces within the European Union: the geographies of British migrants in France

Mark Wise was also Director of Studies to this thesis (2007-2009), prior to his retirement.Tensions exist in the way that the European Union is conceptualised. How do we reconcile the persistence of a Europe of fragmented nation-states and the European integration project based on the principle of free movement? This duality is indicative of different geographical visions: between space defined as places and space defined as unifying flows. While places tend to be associated with fixed territories and borders, it is argued that complex global flows and connections may disrupt such notions. Addressing these theoretical tensions, this thesis examines transnational frameworks for discussing the reconfiguration of borders and spaces within the European Union. The aim of this research is to explore the extent to which European Union citizens, with freedom of movement, experience mobility between member states in a frictionless manner. The thesis adopts a “bottom-up” approach of migrants’ experiences and perceptions of internal borders, as barriers or opportunities to their movement and settlement. This is illustrated through the case of Britons resident in France. The thesis draws on data generated through qualitative methods, including fifty-three in-depth interviews undertaken in an ethnographic setting. The case study demonstrates how a frictionless European space does not exist for ordinary European Union citizens, for a variety of political, legal, economic and socio-cultural reasons. The analysis reveals how Britons recreate (national) state borders, by adapting to French politico-legal structures, and identifying boundaries between “us” and “them”. The thesis also identifies how transnational spaces are created through immigrants’ social networks. By exploring the everyday lives of intra-EU migrants, the thesis contributes to literature on British migrants in France, and provides an original contribution to studies of EU integration, focused on ordinary citizens on the move

Finding the Time: Age-Depth Models in Rockshelters and Their Paleoenvironmental Implications

Rockshelters are capable of preserving excellent environmental records within their sediments. But the matter of interpreting an environmental record from rockshelter sediments presents a significant hurdle in the form of dating. An “age-depth model” is typically used to estimate the age of environmental information extending through the deposit. An age-depth model calculates the changes in time between direct ages (like a radiocarbon age) and can provide an estimated age for any depth. While radiocarbon dating can provide an age for organic remains, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) can provide a direct age on quartz sand deposition and is particularly effective when applied to deposits formed by the wind. This study compares radiocarbon and OSL age-depth models from Last Canyon Cave (LCC) in the Pryor Mountains of south-central Montana. While radiocarbon ages are quite frequently used to construct age-depth models, it is possible they fail to provide accurate ages for the environmental material they aim to date. I re-evaluated the stratigraphy at LCC and then collected OSL samples as well as samples for grain-size analysis from three different sedimentary exposures. Radiocarbon ages had already been produced for one of the exposures (Kornfeld et al. 2012). The OSL samples were most reliable when analyzed on a single-grain level. After creating age-depth models and collecting the grain-size data, I applied ages to all of the grain-size samples according to each of the three age-depth models. Ultimately, the single-grain OSL proved to be fundamentally different than the radiocarbon age-depth model, thereby challenging the current paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the site (Minckley et al. 2015). I conclude that the radiocarbon and single-grain OSL age-depth models were not sufficiently similar, and therefore both dating methods should always be used together when investigating deposits in rockshelters in order to understand how they relate to one another and to the site formation. The use of granulometry also proved to be an important part of reconstruction site formation history. Ultimately, both single-grain OSL and granulometry were determined to be essential parts of studying environmental records in sedimentary deposits in rockshelters

Local electoral rights for non-French residents? a case-study analysis of British candidates and councillors in French municipal elections

The French Constitution restricts local electoral rights to French nationals and EU citizens. Third country nationals have long been excluded from suffrage as France has maintained a stronghold on nationality and republican values. Academics have called for expansive and liberal citizenships that would allocate political rights to all non-citizen residents, independent of nationality. This paper argues that Brexit and cessation of Britons’ electoral rights present a pivotal moment to discuss expansive citizenship and alien suffrage. Taking a bottom-up approach, the paper presents actual experiences of Britons as candidates and councillors in French municipalities. It demonstrates the importance of residency, representation, participation and inclusion, rather than nationality at the local level to underpin claims for expanding electoral rights. These findings foreground an empirical case for further promotion of theoretical ideas that propose expansive citizenship based on effective residency rather than nationality. Consideration is also given to third country nationals

City boosterism and place-making with light rail transit: A critical review of light rail impacts on city image and quality

As an agent in the production of place, transport plays a key role in shaping cities and their wider urban regions. Light rail transit can contribute to city boosterism - helping to enhance a city’s image and quality towards broader development agendas such as economic growth and creation of sustainable and liveable cities. This paper examines the place-making role of light rail (supertrams, light metros and streetcars) through analysis of its material and meaningful impacts in relation to boosting city image and quality. It provides a critical synthesis of empirical ex-post evidence from a literature review of published and unpublished sources on wider economic impacts of light rail. Impacts include a modern image, reinforcement of cultural identity, prestige, social inclusion/exclusion, environmental quality, and physical transformations such as pedestrianisation and ‘greening’ the city. More positive impacts than negative impacts were found, though these vary with geographical location and over time. Some cities deliberately seek to maximise impacts through integrated transport and urban planning strategies. The paper complements existing cultural approaches to transport geography to shed light on the relationship between transit development and city boosterism. The paper makes recommendations for future research

Virtual team leader emergence: a model to objectively measure leader emergence

This research investigates the characteristics of leader emergence in virtual teams. The electronic discussions of sixteen virtual teams and eighty team members were analyzed and applied to a model to objectively measure the relative team member's virtual leader strength. Results indicated virtual leaders emerge in two previously discovered models: 1) a single leader and 2) distributed leadership. The study also found a co-leader emergence model, which becomes manifest when an emergent leader has a "crisis of trust." Both theoretical and practical implications are presented

Political agency, electioneering, municipalities

With the introduction of EU citizenship in 1992, intra-EU migrants were enfranchised at the local level: to vote and stand for election as councillors in municipal elections within their country of residence. In this chapter, the consequences are examined for Britons residing in Alicante, Spain, and South West France. The chapter examines who became municipal councillors, why, and to what effect. The two British migrant groups are compared: what was common, what different, and for what reasons. Across the two locations, morality and social belonging are consequences of migrants’ political agency. It is argued that their habitus remains largely unchanged

Cycling, bread and circuses? When Le Tour came to Yorkshire and what it left behind

In the summer of 2014, there was no way of getting away from it: Le Tour de France was coming to Yorkshire. The message from tourism was that this was great for Yorkshire because businesses would be making money; politicians were also telling local people to feel happy that they had won the right to host Le Tour. In this paper, I will reflect on what happened when Le Tour came to Yorkshire through an analysis of newspaper reports, photographs taken by myself two years on from the two days Le Tour arrived in Yorkshire, and an auto-ethnographic account of what it was like to be there. I will argue that Le Tour allowed local communities to embrace a cosmopolitan European identity alongside their existing northern English or Yorkshire identities, and that the race itself allowed spectators to be proud about the northern English landscape through which the cyclists battled

Technological frames and the politics of automated electric light rail rapid transit in Poland and the United Kingdom

Light Rapid Transit (LRT) systems are often backed not only because they satisfy basic mobility functions, but because they can revitalize urban centers, affirm the legitimacy of state planners, support innovation and even cultivate an image of a city or region as progressive and modern. In this study, we argue that electrified, automated LRT systems can fulfill private functional frames, private symbolic frames, societal functional frames, and societal symbolic frames. In particular, we argue that light rail can fulfill private functional frames (making passengers feel safe, offering a cheap and efficient mode of transport), private symbolic frames (signifying political identity or exclusionary planning), societal functional frames (environmental stewardship), and societal symbolic frames (such as modernism or innovativeness). Essentially, these frames encompass not only what light rail is and does, but what it means and represents, and even some of its failures and challenges. The article then identifies ten specific frames associated with two case studies of automated light rail systems, the established Docklands Light Rail (DLR) in the United Kingdom, and the emerging Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) in Poland. We find that the DLR is not only a vital part of meeting (functional) demand for mobility, it is innovative and exciting to ride, legitimation of a conservative approach to project development, a social injustice (to some), an environmentally friendly alternative to cars, and a perceived magnet for global investment into the greater Docklands area. Similarly, the PRT is not only a reliable and safe mode of transit, but also a technical marvel, a monopoly breaking symbol, a clean and sustainable form of mobility, and a reflection of progressive Polish innovation and entrepreneurship (or enduring failure)

Prospective, multicentre study of screening, investigation and management of hyponatraemia after subarachnoid haemorrhage in the UK and Ireland

Background: Hyponatraemia often occurs after subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). However, its clinical significance and optimal management are uncertain. We audited the screening, investigation and management of hyponatraemia after SAH. Methods: We prospectively identified consecutive patients with spontaneous SAH admitted to neurosurgical units in the United Kingdom or Ireland. We reviewed medical records daily from admission to discharge, 21 days or death and extracted all measurements of serum sodium to identify hyponatraemia (<135 mmol/L). Main outcomes were death/dependency at discharge or 21 days and admission duration >10 days. Associations of hyponatraemia with outcome were assessed using logistic regression with adjustment for predictors of outcome after SAH and admission duration. We assessed hyponatraemia-free survival using multivariable Cox regression. Results: 175/407 (43%) patients admitted to 24 neurosurgical units developed hyponatraemia. 5976 serum sodium measurements were made. Serum osmolality, urine osmolality and urine sodium were measured in 30/166 (18%) hyponatraemic patients with complete data. The most frequently target daily fluid intake was >3 L and this did not differ during hyponatraemic or non-hyponatraemic episodes. 26% (n/N=42/164) patients with hyponatraemia received sodium supplementation. 133 (35%) patients were dead or dependent within the study period and 240 (68%) patients had hospital admission for over 10 days. In the multivariable analyses, hyponatraemia was associated with less dependency (adjusted OR (aOR)=0.35 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.69)) but longer admissions (aOR=3.2 (1.8 to 5.7)). World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies grade I–III, modified Fisher 2–4 and posterior circulation aneurysms were associated with greater hazards of hyponatraemia. Conclusions: In this comprehensive multicentre prospective-adjusted analysis of patients with SAH, hyponatraemia was investigated inconsistently and, for most patients, was not associated with changes in management or clinical outcome. This work establishes a basis for the development of evidence-based SAH-specific guidance for targeted screening, investigation and management of high-risk patients to minimise the impact of hyponatraemia on admission duration and to improve consistency of patient care