Ian Rotherham discovered York Castle on a childhood trip by steam-train from Sheffield in the 1960s, and has been going back ever since. He is Professor of Environmental Geography and Reader in Tourism & Environmental Change at Sheffield Hallam University; as an ecologist and historian, he is a worldwide authority on landscape history, urban environments, and environmental aspects of conflicts. He has researched and written about York and Yorkshire for many years, campaigning for their conservation, improvement, and wider promotion. Having published over 500 papers, articles, books and book chapters, he has a popular BBC Radio Sheffield 'phone-in and writes for local and regional newspapers, particularly the _Sheffield Sta_r, the _Sheffield Telegraph_, and the Yorkshire Post. His book Yorkshire's Forgotten Fenlands (Wharncliffe, 2010) is one of several he has written on York and Yorkshire. Ian lectures widely to local groups and works with bodies like the Wildlife Trusts, Natural England, Historic England, English Heritage, the National Trust and the RSPB. A Regional Tourism Ambassador for Sheffield and South Yorkshire, he works on major tourism and conservation projects across the county. He is a Fellow of the York-based PLACE (People, Landscape and the Cultural Environment) research centre.
