Opening of the John B Thornes Laboratory
Print version
A new state-of-the-art laboratory will be opened in the Department of Geography on Friday 25 February. The John B Thornes Laboratory is named in honour of the late Professor John Thornes, former Research Professor and Head of Department. The laboratory will be officially opened by Professor Keith Hoggart, Vice Principal (Arts & Sciences), with a commemoration from Professor Ken Gregory (former Warden of Goldsmith’s, University of London) and a lecture by Dr Nick Drake (King's College London) entitled 'How fish swam across the Sahara and its implications for the peopling of the desert and the “out of Africa” hypothesis.’
The new laboratory consists of a main teaching laboratory, with space for up to 30 students in any one class, in addition to a number of specialized auxiliary laboratories for analytical chemistry, sediment analysis, microscopy, spectroscopy and instrument calibration. The laboratory is well-equipped with deionised water supplies, fume cupboards, specialized glassware washing, a range of weighing balances, research-grade light microscopes, a state-of-the-art laser particle sizing instrument and analytical chemistry instrumentation. This new facility will allow staff and students to engage in research and teaching activities relating to environmental science in a purpose designed space.
John Thornes was one of the most eminent and influential physical geographers of his generation, a highly original researcher and a passionate exponent and exemplar of geographical field work. He was awarded a first-class degree from London University, before taking his MSc at McGill University and subsequently a PhD at King’s College London, on erosion and sedimentation in the Alto Duero in Spain. In 1981 he was appointed to a chair in physical geography and became head of the geography department at Bedford College London, where he became Dean of Science and deputy principal before moving to Bristol in 1985, initially as chair and head of department, and later as Dean of Graduate Studies in the science faculty. Finally, King’s reclaimed him and in 1992 he moved back to London to lead its geography department, and became a member of its council. In parallel with the university appointments, John was strongly involved with the RGS (receiving its Patron’s Medal in 1996), the British Geomorphological Research Group, of which he was chair in 1987, and the Institute for British Geographers, becoming its president in 1992
The new laboratory consists of a main teaching laboratory, with space for up to 30 students in any one class, in addition to a number of specialized auxiliary laboratories for analytical chemistry, sediment analysis, microscopy, spectroscopy and instrument calibration. The laboratory is well-equipped with deionised water supplies, fume cupboards, specialized glassware washing, a range of weighing balances, research-grade light microscopes, a state-of-the-art laser particle sizing instrument and analytical chemistry instrumentation. This new facility will allow staff and students to engage in research and teaching activities relating to environmental science in a purpose designed space.
John Thornes was one of the most eminent and influential physical geographers of his generation, a highly original researcher and a passionate exponent and exemplar of geographical field work. He was awarded a first-class degree from London University, before taking his MSc at McGill University and subsequently a PhD at King’s College London, on erosion and sedimentation in the Alto Duero in Spain. In 1981 he was appointed to a chair in physical geography and became head of the geography department at Bedford College London, where he became Dean of Science and deputy principal before moving to Bristol in 1985, initially as chair and head of department, and later as Dean of Graduate Studies in the science faculty. Finally, King’s reclaimed him and in 1992 he moved back to London to lead its geography department, and became a member of its council. In parallel with the university appointments, John was strongly involved with the RGS (receiving its Patron’s Medal in 1996), the British Geomorphological Research Group, of which he was chair in 1987, and the Institute for British Geographers, becoming its president in 1992
