Papers by Christine McCulloch
Explosion of hydrological science in the UK in the late 1960s and early 1970s
EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, Apr 1, 2018
Ensuring reservoir safety into the future, 2008
SYNOPSIS. Dam removal has excited much interest in the United States in the last decade. Many sma... more SYNOPSIS. Dam removal has excited much interest in the United States in the last decade. Many small dams have been removed and a start on removing two large dams in Oregon is scheduled for autumn 2008. Valuable lessons relevant to England and Wales are drawn from the burgeoning scientific literature. Multi-disciplinary inspections are needed to assess dams for decommissioning and discontinuance based on aesthetic, ecological and recreational values as well as safety and utilitarian economic considerations. A case is made for a national strategy.
Challenging values of dam builders
Reservoirs in a Changing World, 2002
Dramatic growth of hydrological science in the UK in the 1960s and early 1970s
Hydrology Research
The mid-1960s to early 1970s were a formative stage in hydrology in the UK. This was a period of ... more The mid-1960s to early 1970s were a formative stage in hydrology in the UK. This was a period of a major increase in government funding for science. Establishing hydrology as an environmental science to compete for a share in this boost in funding with well-recognised subjects such as geology, ecology and oceanography depended on the work of enthusiastic scientists influencing the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Progress was made by key individuals not only by their own research contributions but also by their influential work within the government, exemplified by the roles of five physicists. In attempting to accelerate hydrological science, mistakes were made but, in this period, a major research institute was founded, large field catchment experiments were set up and research and training within UK universities increased significantly. The research is based on participant observation and examination of contemporary committee papers held in the UK National Archives, K...
Kielder Water and Forest Park
Journal of Global Analysis, 2014
Until the last three decades, the study of water resources has suffered from its treatment as a t... more Until the last three decades, the study of water resources has suffered from its treatment as a technical subject led by engineers and physical scientists. The enormity of humanity's ambition and power to exploit our freshwater environment for irrigation, hydropower and domestic and industrial supplies,while increasing shortages by spreading pollution, has attracted social scientists to analyse the economics of scarcity and the politics of water resource development. Mustafa has brought to bear a synthesis of modern insights from social sciences for which he proposes a neologism 'hydro-hazardscapes', a term which dramatizes the challenges faced by humanity in a future of changing climate.The concept of hazardscape is defined as 'simultaneously, an analytical way of seeing, which asserts power, and a social space where the gaze of power is contested and struggled against to produce the lived reality of hazardous places' (p.22). Study of the responses to extremes of droughts and floods today
Water Alternatives, 2009
An era of technocratic national planning of water resources is examined against the views of a le... more An era of technocratic national planning of water resources is examined against the views of a leading liberal economist and critics, both contemporary and retrospective. Post Second World War Labour Governments in Britain failed to nationalise either land or water. As late as 1965, the idea of public ownership of all water supplies appeared in the Labour Party manifesto and a short-lived Ministry of Land and Natural Resources, 1964-1966, had amongst its duties the development of plans for reorganising the water supply industry under full public ownership. However, instead of pursuing such a politically dangerous takeover of the industry, in July 1964, a Water Resources Board (WRB), a special interest group dominated by engineers, was set up to advise on the development of water resources. In its first Annual Report (1965) WRB claimed its role as "the master planner of the water resources of England and Wales". The WRB had a great deal of influence and justified its nation...
Water Resources Management, 2007
In the hope of speeding translation from research to policy, the EU, and other funding bodies, ad... more In the hope of speeding translation from research to policy, the EU, and other funding bodies, advocate interdisciplinary research whilst underplaying real obstacles to achieving common aims and methodologies for the natural and social sciences. From inside observation of an antagonistic interdisciplinary research project, some suggestions are made on the preconditions necessary for successful collaborations.
The delusions of economics: the misguided certainties of a hazardous science
Space and Polity, 2014
material to make the case for consumption. Chapter 2 is about consumption in Trinidad, chapter 3 ... more material to make the case for consumption. Chapter 2 is about consumption in Trinidad, chapter 3 is on shopping in London, chapter 4 is on denim, and chapter 5 deals with economics and value. These chapters will be familiar to those who are regular readers of Millers work. Yet the book does not simply repackage previously published material. The first and last chapters present a dialogue and debate between three academics from different disciplines and contrasting political positions. Mike is a middle aged professor in environmental studies, Chris is an anthropologist with a ‘socialist bent’, and Grace is an anthropologist working in England, but is originally from the Philippines. In the first chapter the dialogue centres around books that they have been reading on consumption. Through their discussion and debate, and by drawing on published sources, Miller presents contrasting arguments about consumption and its consequences. At the end of this chapter they agree to meet again, this time after having read Miller’s new book. In the last chapter the three protagonists have now read Miller’s book and they discuss what to do about consumption and its relationship to climate change. Miller’s postscript chapter presents the results of their deliberation: if we take consumption seriously, if we understand it as embedded in social relations, then changing consumption practices is not the solution to climate change. I enjoyed reading the dialogue, and I do think it has value as a way of presenting academic debate. And no doubt this is not the last time we will see this form of representing ideas. But I am not entirely certain that it works in this case. This is because despite their disciplinary and ideological differences, the three protagonists are often making the same points (which are predictably Miller’s own arguments about consumption). For example, all three argue that consumption should not be understood as simply an effect of capitalism; that we need to take consumption seriously, as Miller urges us to do throughout the book. In the last chapter, this problem is magnified, as the three contributors end up agreeing on what should be done about the consequences of consumption for climate change. While I am not against happy endings, the way in which the different positions were resolved seems to me to paper over what was initially presented as some very deep differences between people who think very differently about the consequences of consumption. Miller’s new book will be familiar to those who have followed his work — not only in terms of the argument, but also in terms of the empirical material. What is new in the book is the presentation of the debate in the first and last chapters, and his engagement with the relationship between consumption and climate change.
The Geographical Journal, 2012
Michael was a true disciple of the Enlightenment, an international biologist with a lasting belie... more Michael was a true disciple of the Enlightenment, an international biologist with a lasting belief in the value of carefully garnered empirical evidence to support arguments for conservation. Like Darwin and Dawkins, his love of rationality led him to atheism yet he retained a hope that humanity's slide into environmental destruction might be halted by scientific demonstration of ecological change. Whilst Director of the Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS) Programme Activity Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), he travelled to most corners of the globe to inspire monitoring of nature following standardised procedures so that comparable measurements could be analysed rigorously. In this laudable but mammoth task of ensuring data quality and to avoid what he termed 'windy generalisations', he was only partially successful, environmental controversies continue in many 'rationalities' and discourses. Although born in England in 1932, Michael spent his childhood in the United States returning to the austerity of postwar Britain in 1948 and continuing his school and undergraduate education in Edinburgh. With a first class honours degree in botany and zoology, he moved to Oxford for postgraduate study at Oriel and Balliol Colleges. His doctoral studies of the bs_bs_banner
Area, 2006
to be made between behindthe-scenes deliberations and 'open-door' public discussion. The ambition... more to be made between behindthe-scenes deliberations and 'open-door' public discussion. The ambition of progressing from public participation to devolution of environmental decisionmaking and responsibility to the local scale demands more conceptualization of the process of decisionmaking on water resource development.
Dam Decisions and Pipe Dreams
Dam decisions are crucial. Dams are costly and long-standing artefacts which provoke enthusiasm i... more Dam decisions are crucial. Dams are costly and long-standing artefacts which provoke enthusiasm in some for their utilitarian benefits and hostility from others for associated environmental damage, forced human displacement and risk of financial burden. Defenders of valued landscapes become adversaries of the dam builders. Analysis of the politics of disputes over selected dams in North East England brings out issues with global implications. A variety of outcomes resulted from the interplay of motives and values of dam engineers, industrialists demanding water supply, politicians, local government officials, environmentalists and advocates for the rights of the displaced. This vivid account includes testimony from survivors of these prolonged and acrimonious battles. Dam engineers, environmentalists, water resource planners, specialists in science and technology studies, political geographers and local historians will find this book of compelling interest.
Water alternatives, 2009
An era of technocratic national planning of water resources is examined against the views of a le... more An era of technocratic national planning of water resources is examined against the views of a leading liberal economist and critics, both contemporary and retrospective. Post Second World War Labour Governments in Britain failed to nationalise either land or water. As late as 1965, the idea of public ownership of all water supplies appeared in the Labour Party manifesto and a short‐lived Ministry of Land and Natural Resources, 1964‐ 1966, had amongst its duties the development of plans for reorganising the water supply industry under full public ownership. However, instead of pursuing such a politically dangerous takeover of the industry, in July 1964, a Water Resources Board (WRB), a special interest group dominated by engineers, was set up to advise on the development of water resources. In its first Annual Report (1965) WRB claimed its role as "the master planner of the water resources of England and Wales". The WRB had a great deal of influence and justified its natio...
Introduction [Progress in modern hydrology: past, present and future]
This is the introductory chapter of the book which reviews the development of modern hydrology pr... more This is the introductory chapter of the book which reviews the development of modern hydrology primarily, but not exclusively, through the experiences of the scientists and engineers at Wallingford, near Oxford, who have been at the forefront of many of the developments in hydrological research over last 50 years. The United Kingdom shares most of the hydrological problems that affect other nations, excepting those concerned with glaciers, ice and large rivers. The regular passage of Atlantic low-pressure systems ensures that the United Kingdom is one of the wettest countries in Europe. An extension of this study was one on floods for some 33 countries ‘the World Flood Study’. This work ran in parallel with similar initiatives at the global, regional and national levels. The study focused on catchments and estuaries of the UK's east coast, for example the Humber.
The social programme
Dams and Reservoirs, 2017
MICHAEL DOUGLAS GWYNNE: 23 November 1932—9 February 2012
Geographical Journal
Editorial Notes
Water Resources Management
Water Alternatives, Jan 1, 2009
Dam Decisions and Pipe Dreams: The Political Ecology of Reservoir Schemes (Teesdale, Farndale and Kielder Water) in North East England)
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Papers by Christine McCulloch