UCL Winners of National Undergraduate Dissertation Prizes

All undergraduate students in Geography will complete a dissertation in their final year.

Various academic societies and research groups award prizes for the best undergraduate dissertations in their field submitted by university geography and other departments from across the country. Success in these competitions is therefore a mark of the highest quality by national standards. UCL Geography prize winners from recent years include:

2022

• Mannon Davies-Lewis Exploring the ‘peculiarity’ of the Welsh: paupers, punishment, and popular protest in rural west Wales during the 19th century. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Historical Geography Research Group (HGRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Highly Commended
• Hollie Parry Projections of thermally induced coral bleaching across Caribbean reefs, using a marine heatwave algorithm. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Quantitative Methods Research Group (QMRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Joint Winner.
• Samantha (Cheuk Lam) Siu How symbolic capital matters: international student mobilities from Hong Kong to the UK. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Population Geography (PopGRG), Joanna Stillwell Prize. Joint Winner.
• Sally (Chenyuan) Wang Assessing the impacts of climate change using hydrological modelling for the River Dee catchment, Northeast Scotland. British Hydrological Society (BHS), Annual Student Award for the best undergraduate dissertation in hydrology. Winner.
• Natalie (Yuqiao) Deng A tephropalaeoecology study investigating volcanic eruptions and tephra depositions' impacts on a lacustrine ecosystem in Northeast China, using diatoms as environmental indicators. Quaternary Research Association Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Samuel Street Navigating the maelstrom: The conjunctural geographies of Nigerian online freelancers. Development Geographies Research Group. Winner.

2021

• Finbar Aherne Exploring infectious disease distribution in Greater London using quantitative spatial analysis of non-diagnostic proxy data. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Geographies of Health and Wellbeing (GHWRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Joint Winner.
• Adwoa Amankona You have to be excellent. You can't just be or just exist.' Exploring the cultural principles associated with Black Excellence and its placement on black students attending Golden Triangle universities. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Race, Culture and Equality Working Group (RACE), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize.Winner.
• Adwoa Amankona You have to be excellent. You can't just be or just exist.' Exploring the cultural principles associated with Black Excellence and its placement on black students attending Golden Triangle universities. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Race, Culture and Equality Working Group (RACE), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Joe Cappai Tapping into tech: the influence of social media on dancers and the spaces they use to dance in London. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Digital Geographies Research Group (DGRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Jay Chang A detailed assessment of the current and future spatial distribution of Loxodonta cyclotis in Central Africa: An application of ensemble species distribution model. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Quantitative Methods Research Group (QMRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Joint Winner.
• Will Chantry Built from the internet up': examining citizen engagement in Google's first smart city, Quayside Toronto. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Participatory Geographies Research Group (PYGYRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. b.
• Heather Goldring Migration and material culture: the Guyanese living room. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Developing Areas Research Group (DARG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Juliette Masson The sociocultural integration of British immigrants within rural communities of rural Poitou-Charentes, France. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Population Geography Research Group (PGRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Hattie Powell-Cook 'Miles from home': a study of abortion migration from the Republic of Ireland. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Gender and Feminist Geographies Research Group (GFGRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Highly Commended.
• Tang, Bing Yang Exploring the workers’ journey for a better ride: A curiosity-led qualitative study on food delivery drivers experiences in Singapore. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Economic Geography Research Group (EGRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.

2020

• Yusuf Khan-Cheema Noise is subjective? Exploring residents' lived experiences of aircraft noise around London's Heathrow Airport Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Planning and Environment Research Group Dissertation Prize. Winner.

2019

• Bronwyn Butler Bloody injustice: period poverty, power and shame in 21st century Britain. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Gender and Feminist Geographies Research Group (GFGRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Third prize.
• Tallulah Gordon Suffragettes in the City: Exploring gendered memory through analysis of two London exhibitions commemorating the British women’s suffrage centenary. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Historical Geography Research Group (HGRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Runner up.
• Helena Robertson Mapping elections: a quantitative analysis of cartographic visualisation techniques. British Cartographic Society's Ian Mumford Award. Winner.
• Teki Tetteh-Wright Revealing the variations in Eurasian otter (Lutra lutra) diet through dietary analysis in the Stour and Colne catchments, Essex. British Association of Nature Conservationists ECOS Student Article Competition 2019. Winner.
• Nicola Ward The crash of ash: A study into the extent of ash dieback in Norfolk and the associated potential changes in woodland composition. British Association of Nature Conservationists ECOS Student Article Competition 2019. Second prize.

2018

• Fumica Azuma Mangrove recolonization following aquaculture: Case study from Pulau Ubin, Singapore. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Alfred Steers Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Miles Harrison Empowering the poor? The effects of formalising informal settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Developing Areas Research Group (DARG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Charlotte Hudson Impacts of climate change on river flows in Siberia’s Lena River Basin and its implications for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. British Hydrological Society, Annual Student Award for the best undergraduate dissertation in hydrology. Runner up.
• Jack Wharton Reconstructing AMOC over the past 7000 years: was the Industrial Era weakening an unprecedented event? Quaternary Research Association Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.

2017

• Holly Campbell Moments of progress: An exploration of the interaction between female enterprise and patriarchal norms in Selçuk, Turkey. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Economic Geography Research Group (EGRG) Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Wilson Chun Chan Modelling the hydrological impacts of climate change on the Lake Eyre Basin, Australia. British Hydrological Society, Annual Student Award for the best undergraduate dissertation in hydrology. Runner up.
• Lilly Donnelly Interpreting the revitalization of the Los Angeles River through the lens of urban ecological citizenship. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Political Geography Research Group (PolGRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Anna Knowles Smith Refugees and theatre: an exploration of the basis of self-representation. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Social & Cultural Geography Research Group (SCGRG) Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Carole Roberts A multiproxy study investigating ecological response to acidification in Easedale Tarn, English Lake District, since the early 19th century. Quaternary Research Association Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.

2016

• Lucy Taylor The male gaze of colonial cartography: a feminist analysis of maps of Africa from the Royal Geographical Society archive, 1851-­1891. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Historical Geography Research Group, Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Alicia Xin Yi Wong Evaluation of void decks as sites of social (non) interactions, and the nature and impacts of these (non) interactions. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Urban Geography Research Group, Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Joseph Hussey Assessing the Association between Industry of Employment and Divergent Geographies of Wealth in England, 1981- 2011. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Population Geography Research Group (PopGRG), Joanna Stillwell Prize. Winner. Society for Location Analysis. Bronze Prize.
• Matita Afoakwa Self, Status and Survival: The experience of return migration of professionals to Accra, Ghana. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), Developing Areas Research Group, Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Ben Ayre Constructing an Arctic Laboratory: Oil Spill Simulations at the Hydrocarbon Frontier. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Political Geography Group Dissertation Prize. Winner.

2015

• Daphne Lee Ageing-environment relationships: public neighbourhood spaces in Singapore as a site of phenomenological construction. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Developing Areas Research Group (DARG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner; Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Urban Geography Research Group (UGRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Katharine Sherratt Exploring the impact of rural financial insecurity on access to sanitation: a multi-dimensional approach, in Karnataka, India. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Rural Geography Research Group (RGRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Joint second.

2014

• James Brennan: Validation of a spectrally invariant model of canopy radiative transfer with MODIS data and its application to canopy dynamics in Amazon forests. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Quantitative Methods Research Group (QMRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Joint second.
• Joon Ting Ho: Modeling the hydrological impacts of climate change on the Tocantins-Araguaia river basin. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Climate Change Research Group (CCRG), Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner; and British Hydrological Society, Annual Student Award for the best undergraduate dissertation in hydrology. Runner up.
• Hannah Mallinson: Glacial isostatic readjustment of the British Isles: a study of coastal response in Western Scotland and Southern Wales. The British Society for Geomorphology (BSG) - Marjorie Sweeting Dissertation Prize. Winner.

2012

• Emma Colven: A neoliberal political agenda? The debate surrounding outdoor service provision for the homeless in Westminster. Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Urban Geography Research Group, Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Winner.
• Amanda Green: Quantifying uncertainty in projections of river discharge in the Mekong River Basin under climate change. British Hydrological Society, Annual Student Award for the best undergraduate dissertation in hydrology. Winner.

2011

• Christopher Checkley: An evaluation of wave conditions and coastal features around the Isles of Scilly utilising: wave refraction modelling and coastal system mapping. British Society for Geomorphology, Marjorie Sweeting Dissertation Prize. Winner
• Katherine Keogan: Affordable housing and fragile communities: lessons from a proposed development in an English coastal village. RGS-IBG Rural Geography Research Group Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Second Prize.
• Katariina Makela: Modern urban women: a study of Signe Brander's photography in early 20th-century Helsinki. RGS-IBG Historical Geography Research Group undergraduate dissertation prize. Winner
• Ravi Soni: Urban regeneration and the effect on small established businesses: the case of Eastside. RGS-IBG Urban Geography Research Group Undergraduate Dissertation prize.  Winner
• Catherine van de Dries: The Visual Construction of Femininity and Surveillance of the Female Body in Britain During World War Two. RGS-IBG Women in Geography Study Group Undergraduate Dissertation Prize, First prize.

2010

• Kallum Dhillon: Help or hindrance? The effects of philanthropic social housing near St Pancras/King's Cross on the Victorian working classes. RGS-IBG Historical Geography Research Group undergraduate dissertation prize.  Joint winner

2009

• Richard Mallett: ”It's like one leg is in the village, one leg is here”: transition, connection and (uncertain?) aspirations among urban internally displaced people in Kampala, Uganda. RGS-IBG Developing Areas Group. Winner
• Teo Tsu-Lyn: The future of the past: heritage conservation and tourism promotion in Singapore's Chinatown. Geography of Tourism and Leisure Research Group. Winner
• Joe Penny: Skate and Destroy? RGS-IBG Urban Geography Research Group. Winner
• Jeffrey Wilkinson: Modelling the hydrological impacts of climate change on the Mekong River, British Hydrological Society Student Award. Runner up.
• Jane Chia Pei En: Intersections of identity: young Malay Muslim women in Singapore. RGS-IBG Women and Geography Study Group. Second Prize

2008

• Cathy Lucas: Risk society or social risk? NGO constructions of chemical threats’. RGS-IBG Women and Geography Study Group. Winner
• Elizabeth Gardner: Factors influencing the ecology of Petrorhagia nanteuilii: A case study from the shingle habitat of Pagham harbour, West Sussex. RGS-IBG Biogeography Research Group. Winner
• Tom Rutherford: Questioning the country childhood idyll: parenting and children’s safety in three Kentish villages. RGS-IBG Children, Youth and Famlies Working Group. Runner-up
• Kinnari Chhaya: The second generation and transnationalism: a study of second generation Gujaratis in London. RGS-IBG Population Geography Research Group.  2^nd prize
• Emily Haynes: The development of a coastal vulnerability index for north Norfolk. Landscape Research Group Prize for original academic research. Highly commended

2007

• Ruth Judge: Exploring Cambodian national identity: AngKor and Apsaras as ‘Lieux de Memoire. Landscape Research Group. Winner
• Emilia Bobinski: If you picked the heart out of anything it would die’. The effects of the common fisheries policy on fishing identity and community of the island of Whalsay, Shetland. RGS-IBG Rural Geography Research Group. Joint Third place
• Sacha Clark: Modelling internal migration in the UK – can the gravity model help explain ‘white flight’ by comparing white and non-white internal migration in the UK. RGS-IBG Population Geography Research Group. Highly Commended

2006

• Siobhan Luikham: Primary education in Ghana: RGS-IBG Developing Areas Research Group.  Winner

2005

• Rebekah Rochester: Modelling hydrological impacts of climate change on the Lena River, Siberia. British Hydrological Society Student Award. Winner. RGS-IBG Quantitative Methods Research Group Winner
• Charlie Malyon: Landscapes of the mind: the influence of the human life cycle on landscape preferences. Landscape Research Group. Highly commended
• Samantha Jones: Land management at How Hill Fen, Norfolk since 1997 and its impact on vegetation succession over time. Landscape Research Group. Highly commended

2004

• Laura Pitcher: It’s bringing it all back: exploring (re)presentation and epiphany in Gap Year material cultur. RGS-IBG Alfred Steers’ Dissertation Prize. Winner
• Virginia Panizzo: Recent environmental change in Rwenzori Mountains. Quaternary Research Association/RGS Dissertation Prize. Winner
• Lucinda Mileham: An investigation into the rate, causes and extent of glacial retreat on the Speke and Elena Glaciers on the Rwenzori mountains, Western Uganda.’ British Hydrological Society Student Award.  Winner
• Vikki McNair: Elite female rowers’ negotiation of embodied identity in a gendered world. RGS-IBG Women and Geography Study Group. Joint Runner up
• Alistair Gates: Assessing the generality of J.L Stein’s findings for Hampstead: examining the social reception and diffusion of the telephone in Camden Town, 1890-1911. RGS-IBG Historical Geography Research Group & Cambridge University Press Undergraduate Dissertation Prize. Highly commended.

2003

• Cheryl Anne Lim Su Ying: An investigation into the ecological impacts of trampling on tropical plants in Singapore and the implications for future park managemen.’ RGS-IBG Biogeography Research Group.  Winner
• Jason Mitchell: “When gays are spatially scattered they’re invisible” The formation and expression of gay male identities in non-urban communities. RGS-IBG Rural Geography Research Group.  Winner
• Ian Humphrey: A forest for the community? An assessment of Thames Chase Community Forest. Landscape Research Group.  Runner up

Publications based on undergraduate dissertations

• Ho J.T., Thompson J.R. & Brierley C. (2015) Projections of hydrology in the Tocantins-Araguaia Basin, Brazil: uncertainty assessment using the CMIP5 ensemble, Hydrological Sciences Journal, 61, 551-567.DOI: 10.1080/02626667.2015.1057513
• Hudson, C.E. and Thompson, JR. (2019 - in press) Hydrological modelling of climate change impacts on river flows in Siberia's Lena River Basin and implications for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Hydrology Research. doi: 10.2166/nh.2019.151
• Irvine, G., Pauli, N., Varea, R. & Boruff, B. (2020) Chapter 4. A Participatory Approach to Understanding the Impact of Multiple Natural Hazards in Communities along the Ba River, Fiji. In A. Neef & N. Pauli (Eds.), Climate-induced disasters in the Asia-Pacific region: Response, recovery, adaptation (pp. 57–86). Bingley: Emerald Publishing.
• Sayer, C.D., Davidson, T.A., Rawcliffe, R., Langdon, P., Leavitt, P., Cockerton, G. & Rose, N., Croft, T. (2016) Consequences of fish kills for long-term trophic structure in shallow lakes: Implications for theory and restoration. Ecosystems, 19, 1289-1309. doi:10.1007/s10021-016-0005-z
• Studhome J., Hodges K.I. & Brierley C.M. (2015) Objective determination of the extratropical transition of tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere. Tellus A, 67, 24474, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/tellusa.v67.24474
• Tetteh-Wright, T. (2019) What are our otters eating? ECOS 40(4). British Association of Nature Conservationists ECOS Student Article Competition 2019. Undergraduate Winner.
• Thompson, J.R., Crawley, A., Kingston, D.G. (2016). GCM-related uncertainty for river flows and inundation under climate change: The Inner Niger Delta. Hydrological Sciences Journal 61, 2325-2347.
• Thompson, J.R., Green, A.J., Kingston, D.G., Gosling, S.N (2013). Assessment of uncertainty in river flow projections for the Mekong River using multiple GCMs and hydrological models. Journal of Hydrology 486, 1-30.
• Vaughan R., Turner S.D., Rose N.L. (2017) Microplastics in the sediments of a UK urban lake. Environmental Pollution, 229, 10-18. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2017.05.057
• Ward, N. (2019) The crash of ash ECOS 40(4). British Association of Nature Conservationists ECOS Student Article Competition 2019. Undergraduate Runner up.