American Boys
1 American Boys (Featuring Home Free)2 Thunderstorm Girl3 Stone Cold Gangster4 Truth And Fame5 The Gypsy Road6 I Shall Find My Way7 Mexicali Gal8 Vacant Luxury9 The Ballad of George…
ageographer
Christmas Memories (remixed & remastered)
Blue ChristmasGod Rest Ye Merry GentlemenI Heard The Bells On Christmas Day Let It Snow newOh Little Town Of BethlehemRudolphSanta Claus Is Coming To TownSilent Night Remastered OriginalThe Burgundeon Carol…
Renewable electricity generation capacity now exceeds fossil fuels
The UK for the first time has more installed capacity to generate electricity from renewable sources than from fossil fuels. The following chart shows the total electricity generating capacity by…
Still Playin’ Favorites
01. So Doggone Lonesome (Johnny Cash)02. Greenback Dollar (Hoyt Axton, Ken Ramsey)03. Hide Nor Hair (Morton Craft, Percy Mayfield)04. I Ain’t Never (Webb Pierce, Mel Tillis)05. Little Sister (Doc Pomus,…
2019 electricity generation: fossil fuels vs renewables
Visual data display showing which days renewables generate more electricity than fossil fuels and vice versa.
Principles of fair assessment guidance for academic staff
Addressing student workload inconsistencies: design and implementation of a principles of fair assessment guide for academic staff
Let’s talk guitars with Don McLean
An exhaustive interview from 2003 with Don McLean about all things guitars. Conducted by me and Ron Buck.
Interview for “Classic Albums”
I was interviewed by award-winning director George Scott for the BBC 2 Classic Albums episode about Don McLean’s “American Pie” album. The interview took place at the Sleeper Sounds Studio…
The Rise and Fall of British Coal
Coal mining has been one of the most important industries of industrial Britain, peaking in 1913 with production of 280 million tonnes from an industry employing over 1 million workers…
The “paradoxical relationship between prosperity and nature loving”
A micro-learning task looking at the 'paradoxical relationship between prosperity and nature loving’.
“Peak Death”
A micro-learning activity looking at the most common age of death.
China field class 2019
I was pleased to participate on the first University of Reading Environmental Science undergraduate field class to Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (NUIST), organised by my colleagues Steve…
Essay on American Pie added to Library of Congress
In 2018, the Library of Congress National Preservation Board invited me to contribute an essay on “American Pie” as part of their recognition of the importance of this song in…
Crete field class 2016
Based in Chora Sfakion on the SW coast of Crete the field trip provides a valuable learning experience for second year Human and Physical Geography students. “Observation and analysis of…
Energy subsidies – fossil fuels versus renewables
The costs and benefits of different energy sources for electricity generation is a popular choice for student projects but specific data can be difficult to come by. Following a recent…
London ‘Super Sewer’ approved
Planning permission granted today for the £4.2bn Thames Tidesway Tunnel to assure London’s continued compliance with the 1991 EC Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/11091626/Water-bills-to-rise-by-80-as-London-super-sewer-approved.html Further Information: http://www.thamestidewaytunnel.co.uk/
Historic oil and coal production data – August 2014 update
The Department of Energy and Climate Change has released updated data showing UK coal and oil production, exports and imports 1890 to 2013. North Sea crude oil production ‘took off’…
Robert Howard’s history of typhus
Howard, R. (1844) A history of the typhus of Heptonstall-Slack, which prevailed as an endemic during the winter of 1843-4 ; accompanied by remarks on the sanatory state of that…
Jake Bugg
Jake Bugg has said in many interviews that he fell in love with music after hearing Don McLean’s song Vincent on an episode of The Simpsons. Jake saw Don in…
Crete Field Trip 2013
Just back from the field trip to Chora Sfakion, Crete with 26 students and my colleagues Maria Shahgedanova and Jess Neumann.
Research update
My most recent research collaboration has been with Defu Xu, an associate professor in the College of Environmental Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology. His areas…
Our day at Glastonbury (with Don McLean)
Don McLean came to Glastonbury and sang folk, pop, country and rock. He sang Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and demonstrated his own legendary singer-songwriter status with four of his top-10…
Fieldwork in Nigeria
My research student, Balarabe Getso, is about to commence his wet season field work on the River Kallawa in Kano State, Nigeria. I intend to join him later in the…
New paper on cyanobacteria
My colleague in Istanbul, Basak Guven, and I have had our latest paper published in the journal Environmental Modeling and Assessment: Sensitivity Analysis of a Cyanobacterial Growth and Movement Model…
Mapping cyanobacterial blooms
“Cyanomap” was a small application I wrote to automatically compile and map outbreaks of cyanobacterial blooms and other associated news with the help of the Yahoo Placemaker and Yahoo News…
Crete Field Trip 2010
Group photo taken June 21st, 2010.
Azerbaijan for Eurovision victory?
My probability model of Eurovision Song Contest voting is predicting victory for Azerbaijan in tonight’s contest in Oslo. The model has a high success rate but this year the contest…
my bing map : real time geography
“my bing map 2.0” is a new Web 2.0 application that creates a live feed from sites like flickr, twitter and wikipedia based on the visitor’s chosen location. Unlike my…