Geography needs science, science needs Geography

Abstract

Physical geography continues to have complex relationships both with Geography as a whole and the natural sciences. At a time when the nature and future of physical geography and its sub-disciplines has been questioned, I explore these changing relationships and their impacts on the discipline itself and on our collective ability to understand and address environmental crises. The exploration is through the themes of disciplinary shape and institutional change, physical geography’s content and interactions, and how its practitioners badge themselves in an increasingly inter- even trans-disciplinary world. I conclude that there is now a fluidity between disciplines in which Geography holds an important place in research addressing key environmental challenges. This is evidenced by records of publication, conferences and employment mobility between the silos of academic departments. More than ever, the challenges facing environment and society today require collective, inclusive, efforts to achieve solutions that are beyond the capacity of a single discipline. Geography’s complexity and frequent rewiring position it well to be part of the research into global grand challenges that require disciplinary agility. Fears over Geography’s shape and practice can be more than offset by the need to contribute to holistic endeavours, so long as vital sub-disciplinary building blocks are not lost in desiloing endeavours.