Organisation profile

At the School of Adventure Studies, the Centre Recreation and Tourism Research provides research and consultancy services in the following areas:

• Nature-based and adventure tourism
• Quantitative visitor surveys
• Qualitative interviews and ethnography research
• Tourism destination development
• Marketing tourism products and services
• European and national funding applications
• Product development

In the Hebrides our research themes range across the following areas;

• Archaeology
• Gaelic
• Hebridean Marine Energy Futures
• Local research themes
• Networked Education Research and Development
• Renewables
• Socio-Economic Analysis and Research on Communities and Health
• Sustainability

The Environmental Research Institute (ERI) is ideally located in Caithness. The team at ERI are renowned for their excellence in driving forward research and offering educational opportunities that help us to understand environmental issues now and for the future.

Research at the ERI currently focuses on three primary themes:

Environmental Contamination and Ecological Health

Ecosystems and the species that reside within them are susceptible to stressors. Globally, a myriad and ever increasing range of chemical contaminants are now present in our environment; and, natural stressors (such as rapid climate change) can also pose a major threat to biodiversity.

Carbon Water and Climate

The Highlands and Islands of Scotland are home to a range of diverse wild habitats with unique biodiversity attributes, many of which represent the last remnants of pristine environments left within the UK. In their natural state, they play critical roles in the regulation of water and in the local, regional and global regulation of climate, through sequestration and storage of carbon.

Renewable Energy and the Environment

A major issue in the development of all renewable energy industries are environmental uncertainties and concerns varying from “reliability of supply” linked to climate variability and vulnerability of the resource to fears of damage to the environment, fishing and tourism. In parallel with the economic redevelopment of the region, ERI will apply its environmental knowledge to assist in establishing sustainable industries sympathetic to the local environment and communities.

To find out more about their highly applied research and educational programmes please visit www.eri.ac.uk

UHI Centre for History offers a number of courses and research projects centred on the history of the Highlands and Islands and you can study these from any college or learning centre in the region thanks to our partnership with UHI.

While maintaining our commitment to the history of the region, lecturers at the Centre have research specialisms in the following areas:

• Irish, Scottish and British Diasporas
• Maritime History in the North Sea and the Baltic
• Sport in Highland History
• Religiosity
• Women, Gender and the Family
• Warfare and Ethnic Conflict

See our website for details of our research and our undergraduate programme - Research - UHI North West Hebrides