Aberystwyth Geographer Gives Key Lecture at Eisteddfod

Dr Hywel Griffiths

A senior lecturer at Aberystwyth University will deliver this year’s annual Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol science lecture at the Monmouthshire and District 2016 National Eisteddfod in Abergavenny.

In the Societies’ Tent at 1pm on Monday 1 August, Dr Hywel Griffiths from the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences will give a talk on geomorphology - the scientific study of the origin and development of landforms and landscapes.

Dr Griffiths will list ten reasons why geomorphology is important in terms of understanding how our landscapes have been formed in the past and the impact of global climate changes on today’s landscapes.

“It’s a privilege to be able to deliver the annual science lecture on behalf of the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol this year. The Coleg Cymraeg has supported a lot of my work on geomorphology in Wales throughout my career and I am very grateful to them for this opportunity to share some of the fruits of that research in Abergavenny,” said Dr Griffiths.

“The landforms and landscapes of Wales are an integral part of our identity as a nation, and attract visitors from all over the word. The processes which create landscapes are varied, interesting and important to us as a society but they don’t always get the attention they deserve.

“I am also grateful to the British Society for Geomorphology for sponsoring a Welsh-language version of their pamphlet ’10 Reasons Why Geomorphology is Important’. It’s the first time the Society has published a Welsh language text and I hope more will follow in future.”

As well as the lecture, Dr Griffiths will be busy in a range of different places on the Eisteddfod field during the week – not only because of his work as a geographer but also because he’s a chaired bard.

At 11am on Thursday 4 August, he will hold a joint event on the Aberystwyth University stand with fellow lecturer and chaired bard Eurig Salisbury from the Department of Welsh and Celtic Studies.

Fifteen years after the two arrived as Freshers in Aberystwyth, they’ll be looking back over some of the poems they’ve penned since 2001 and sharing some of their antics.

Dr Griffiths will also be spending a lot of time in the Science and Technology Pavilion where Aberystwyth University is main sponsor this year.

The University has a wide variety of exhibits in the Pavilion including the ‘Afon Fach’ river demonstration; a plant potting shed; 3D imaging of Mars; building synthetic diamonds and mini robots.

For a full list of events, lectures and activities organised by Aberystwyth University at this year’s National Eisteddfod, see the programme on our website visit: http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/eisteddfod/ or call by our stand to find out more. 

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