School students learn about flooding from university experts

Students from local secondary schools visited the University of Southampton yesterday (23 October) to learn about flooding disasters from experts in the field.

Over 70 GCSE students from five Southampton schools attended an afternoon workshop to find out about the research methods that geographers at the university use to study flooding disasters, such as the 2014 flooding of the Somerset Levels and recent floods in Southampton.

The More than Maps project aims to teach secondary school children about the power and importance of multi-disciplinary research to manage our changing environment.

The students, aged 15-16 to years, spent the beginning of the workshop learning about remote sensing - using satellite and aerial data to track changes in waterbodies and soil moisture to map areas affected by flooding.

Researchers use this kind of data to create flood models, assess the extent of flooding, and predict the likelihood of future floods. This helps in early warning systems, emergency response and, ultimately, reducing the impacts of floods on local communities.

Later, the students took part in an interactive session about the human factors behind flooding - from urbanisation, planning and drainage to deforestation and climate change.

“To make the session more relevant to the students, we also looked at flood challenges in the Southampton area,” says Dr Sien Van Der Plank. “Southampton faces flood risks from surface water, rainfall, the river, and the sea. Areas like Woodmill, St Denys and Weston Shore are all familiar with flood events. In this workshop, we explore why and how floods aren’t just driven by environmental factors, but influenced by humans too.”

“We know that flooding events are likely to become more frequent and more severe during these students’ lifetimes due to climate change,” says Professor Jadu Dash.

“In the face of this reality, we wanted to empower the students by giving them some freely available basic mapping and analysis tools that they can use to better understand flooding and what can be done to lessen its impact. This activity also provided an opportunity for the students to learn about the power of geospatial data and tools in decision making.”

Dr Van Der Plank added: “It was a pleasure to welcome so many students and for them to experience our university environment, including our brand-new computer labs. We hope this will help to inspire students to consider higher education and perhaps even careers in geography or social science.”

Erin Burtenshaw, a geography teacher at Oasis Academy, Sholing, said: “It’s really good to come out of school and see the tools that researchers are using in real life to find out more about issues such as flooding. I think it’s also aspirational for our students to come to a university like this and see the great work being done.”

The workshop was part of the University’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Festival of Social Science 2024, and was funded by the ESRC, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).