Communicating geomorphology: an empirical evaluation of the discipline's impact and visibility

Abstract

Concern among geomorphologists that the discipline's visibility and impact are becoming suppressed are reflected in a series of recent Earth Surface Exchanges (ESEX) commentaries by Tooth et al. This paper from the British Society for Geomorphology (BSG) Communicating Geomorphology Fixed‐Term Working Group (FTWG) reports initial findings from an online survey of BSG members alongside an empirical assessment of the term's prominence in academic output: international peer‐reviewed journals, undergraduate Geoscience degrees in world‐leading institutions and the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) impact statements. Our observations indicate the scientific standing of the discipline has been retained but the term itself is less widely utilised and we offer a series of suggestions actionable by the geomorphology community. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Flash Flood!: a SeriousGeoGames activity combining science festivals, video games, and virtual reality with research data for communicating flood risk and geomorphology

“…The flexibility and complexity that can be afforded by video games has made them an attractive tool for engaging people with complex issues such as climate change (Porter and Córdoba, 2009;Reason, 2007;Warburton, 2003). This has led to the development of "serious games", games where learning is a core objective without losing sight of the entertainment element (Abt, 1987;Charsky, 2010;Crookall, 2010), and there are several studies showing that serious games have been effective in delivering the intended learning outcomes (Amory et al, 1999;Bellotti et al, 2013;Betz, 1995;Chin et al, 2009;Coleman et al, 1973;Connolly et al, 2012;Gosen and Washbush, 2004;Hobbs et al, 2018Hobbs et al, , 2019Lane and Yi, 2017;Mani et al, 2016;Mitchell and Savill-Smith, 2004;Vogel et al, 2006;Wilson et al, 2009). Serious games can be used to create virtual analogues of real world places or physical phenomena for public engagement, such as volcanism (Hobbs et al, 2018(Hobbs et al, , 2019Mani et al, 2016).…”

“…2015), sand mining (Bendixen et al, 2019), and the transport of plastic pollution (Hurley et al, 2018), all of which are of great interest to the public and media; however, the term itself as a distinct discipline is declining within academia and is virtually unheard of by the public, in curricula, and in media reporting of geomorphic events (Clarke et al, 2017).With climate change due to increase the risk of flooding and the geomorphic impacts of flooding, it is unfortunate that practitioners already find themselves playing catch-up in the communication of even present-day risks (Curtin, 2017). Clarke et al (2017) asserts that the responsibility is with geomorphologists, and by extension flood management practitioners, to effectively communicate these risks.This paper presents a case study of the Flash Flood! application, an interactive virtual reality (VR) activity designed to highlight the geomorphic risk posed by flooding from intense rainfall, more commonly known as flash flooding.…”

“…Skinner: Flash Flood! 2015), sand mining (Bendixen et al, 2019), and the transport of plastic pollution (Hurley et al, 2018), all of which are of great interest to the public and media; however, the term itself as a distinct discipline is declining within academia and is virtually unheard of by the public, in curricula, and in media reporting of geomorphic events (Clarke et al, 2017).…”

“…With climate change due to increase the risk of flooding and the geomorphic impacts of flooding, it is unfortunate that practitioners already find themselves playing catch-up in the communication of even present-day risks (Curtin, 2017). Clarke et al (2017) asserts that the responsibility is with geomorphologists, and by extension flood management practitioners, to effectively communicate these risks.…”

Interdisciplinary palimpsest: visual representations of coastal change combining digital craft and geomorphology

“…Naylor also sought to explore whether creative practice and public exhibition was an effective medium for increasing the visibility of geomorphic science (Tooth et al, 2016) and aid communication of geomorphology to a wider audience (Clarke, Schillereff, & Shuttleworth, 2017;Gregory et al, 2014). (3) For both parties, there was a desire to explore creative practice as a means for integrating and communicating complex subjects and providing a visual entry point for conversation.…”