One project funded by the Northern Ireland Executive and a UK research council looked at how tourism can be a significant driver of peace in societies emerging from conflict. The centre’s work on the geography of conflict and peace-building focuses on the spatial politics of divided societies as well as how this interfaces with contested environments, migration and mobility. We try to understand how environmental systems work, and how conflict resolution works.” It could help target home retrofitting supports to where they are most needed in the Republic of Ireland, for example. “That type of research could be rolled out almost anywhere in the world. He points to the ready transferability of that research. We have our own research vessel for near shore work which uses advanced mapping technology to understand what’s happening on the seabed.” “We are trying to understand the drivers of climate change how are ice sheets going to react to a warming world? We have a PhD project looking at glaciers in the Arctic. “We are working in glaciated regions, mountain regions, and the oceans, we have a very, very big outreach,” says Dunlop. It will be used to help guide the Rosalind Franklin Mars rover to ensure that it doesn’t get buried under a sand dune or have to drill through metres of sand to get samples.”īack here on Earth, Cesda researchers are working on projects from the Arctic to the equator. “Professor Derek Jackson was able to transfer knowledge of how sand gets moved around here on Earth to Mars. The involvement with the European Space Agency ExoMars mission attracted global attention. “Our researchers are committed to providing answers to some of the most pressing geographical and environmental issues of our time including climate change, sustainably, poverty, conflict, and health.” “Our research is focused within two clusters, one for environmental processes, management and sustainability, and the other researching heritage, conflict and society,” says Cesda research director Professor Paul Dunlop. The new centre will launch shortly following a £1 million (€1.16 million) investment in cutting edge facilities at Ulster University’s Coleraine campus.

Research activities at Ulster University’s Centre for Environmental Spatial Data Analytics (CESDA) span six continents, 31 countries, three oceans, and Mars.

Dunlop drivers golf