Contributors

Francisco García Sánchez

Assistant Professor in Urban Planning, Universidad de Cantabria

Assistant Professor in Urban Planning, Universidad de Cantabria

Foivos Savva

Lecturer in Economics, University of Southampton

Lecturer in Economics, University of Southampton

Francis Nimmo

Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz

Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz I am interested in how planets and satellites have evolved to their current states, and what explains the spectacular planetary diversity we see. For instance, why do the Earth and Ganymede possess magnetic fields at the present day, while Venus and Europa do not? Why is tiny Enceladus geologically active, while its neighbour Mimas is dormant? To answer questions like this requires a combination of spacecraft observations and geophysical models. I am spending a lot of my time using observations of the icy satellites of Jupiter and Saturn to work out their current state and history. For instance, the fact that the geologically-active hot-spot on Enceladus is at the south pole may not be a coincidence: the satellite may have rolled over on its side. If correct, this hypothesis tells us about the structure of the interior of Enceladus. One of the factors that makes these satellites more complicated and interesting than the terrestrial planets is that their thermal evolution depends on their orbits (because of tidal heating) as well as radioactive decay. Some of my work involves modeling the thermal evolution of planets through time. One constraint on these models is the presence or absence of a global magnetic field: the core has to be cooling rapidly to sustain a dynamo. The reason Venus lacks a dynamo is that it is not cooling down fast enough (unlike the Earth, Venus doesn't have plate tectonics - probably because it is very dry). This is just a sample of the kind of geophysical problems I'm interested in; to get a more complete idea, take a look at my list of publications.

Francis Hassard

Reader in Public Health Microbiology, Cranfield University

Reader in Public Health Microbiology, Cranfield University Francis's postdoctoral research focused on the study of biogeochemical determinants of water quality and nutrient dynamics taking whole catchment approaches. His PhD research focused on biofilm reactors for wastewater treatment and the study of hazardous micro-pollutants. His first degree was in Marine Biology at the University of Southampton, where he also achieved a distinction in a Masters on the same topic. Before joining Cranfield, Francis worked at Bangor University as a Research Associate and Atkins Global as a technical specialist in water quality and environmental modelling.

Fredrick Kayusi

Lecturer, Pwani University

Lecturer, Pwani University Fredrick Kayusi has been a lecturer and research scientist in Pwani University's Department of Environmental Science in Kilifi-Kenya for more than five years. He has a Master of Science degree in geography from Pwani University and is currently a PhD candidate. He also has a Post Graduate Certificate in Representing the Real World in Geographic Information System and Diploma in Advanced Diploma in Geographic Information Systems from Alison in Galway, Ireland. He researches earth sciences, slope stability, mining, sustainability transformations in post-mining regions, geotechnical solutions, climate change, GIS & GPS services, and sediment dynamics in Kenya's hydrological systems, trying to understand their sources, fate and the biophysical conditions that control sediment deposition and accretion and their possible effects on critical habitats. He is also interested in mainstreaming geoscience as key contributor to ecosystem assessment, management, and the blue economy. He has also been involved in slope stability mapping, specifically generating slope stability maps and satellite imagery (remote sensing).

Felippa Amanta

PhD Candidate, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford

PhD Candidate, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford Felippa Amanta is a PhD student at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford. Her research looks at digitalisation in households, consumption, and climate change. Previously, she worked as Head of Research at a Jakarta-based think tank, Center for Indonesian Policy Studies.