Geographical

Official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

Doug Specht

Dr. Doug Specht is a Chartered Geographer, a Reader in Cultural Geography and Communication, and Head of the School of Media and Communication at the University of Westminster.

His research explores themes related to environmental justice, human rights, and access to education, with a focus on the production and codification of knowledge though cartographic artefacts and in educational settings.

Dr. Specht has authored numerous articles and books, including Mapping Crisis, the Routledge Handbook of Geospatial Technology and Society, and Imagining Apocalyptic Politics in the Anthropocene. He writes regularly on ethics, environmental and human rights, education, and mapping practices in such publications as WonkHE, The Conversation, Geographical, and for Times Higher Education. Dr Specht is a member of the editorial board of the European Journal of Geography and is Chair of the Environmental Network for Central America.

Why aid work is becoming more dangerous than ever

4 minutes

Aid workers face record violence as armed drones, shrinking humanitarian budgets and widespread impunity make delivering vital assistance increasingly dangerous worldwide At the Palais des Nations in Geneva on 19 August, Shawbo Taher-Al-Talabani rose to speak as a survivor of the 2003 bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad, an attack that killed 22 … [Read more...] about Why aid work is becoming more dangerous than ever

A tale of two quakes

4 minutes

Two earthquakes struck neighbouring countries, but geology alone doesn’t explain the vastly different death tolls In Manizales in Colombia, one of the side towers of the neo-Gothic cathedral sheared away and fell into the nave. In Cali, rescuers lowered patients on ropes from the windows of the Hospital Universitario del Valle after its upper floors gave way, and … [Read more...] about A tale of two quakes

A crisis in Ceuta

5 minutes

Doug Specht examines how a border crisis in Ceuta quickly became a political spectacle before anyone checked the facts Over two days at the end of July, news outlets across Europe reported that tens of thousands of people had swam around the harbour breakwater at Tarajal or scaled the fence into Ceuta, a Spanish enclave stranded on the North African coast. It was the … [Read more...] about A crisis in Ceuta

The high cost of disappearing mangroves

4 minutes

As shrimp farming expands, the world's mangroves disappear, leaving coastal communities, wildlife and climate increasingly vulnerable Where the land meets the tropical sea, a strange and vital forest grows with its roots in the tide. Mangroves are nurseries for fish, walls against storms, and some of the most efficient carbon stores on the planet, holding more per … [Read more...] about The high cost of disappearing mangroves