Benjamin Newsome-Chandler
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences
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Biography
I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Geography with research expertise and interests related to glaciers and climate. My research primarily focuses on the responses of mountain glaciers and ice caps to climate change, and I use a wide range of methods that span glacial geomorphology, glaciology, remote sensing, and near-surface geophysics.
I teach a variety of physical geography topics across the undergraduate programmes in the School of Geography, including geomorphology, glaciers and environmental change, atmospheric processes and climate change, as well as remote sensing and geophysical methods.
In 2022, I was awarded the Lewis Penny Medal by the Quaternary Research Association, recognising my significant contributions to Quaternary research as an early career researcher.
Teaching Summary
I deliver teaching on a range of physical geography topics including geomorphology, glaciers and environmental change, atmospheric processes and climate change, as well as remote sensing and… read more
Research Summary
My research interests and expertise are related to glaciers and climate, primarily focusing on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice caps at high latitudes. I use a wide range of methods that… read more
I currently supervise the following postgraduate research students:
- Libby Pattison (2022-2025). Ice-marginal dynamics of plateau icefields in response to climate change. School of Geography studentship.
I deliver teaching on a range of physical geography topics including geomorphology, glaciers and environmental change, atmospheric processes and climate change, as well as remote sensing and geophysical methods. I am currently module convenor for the core first-year module, GEOG1037 Planet Earth: Exploring the Physical Environment. During the 2024-25 academic year, I will contribute teaching to the following modules in the School of Geography.
GEOG1037 Planet Earth (module convenor): in this compulsory first-year module, I deliver two thematic blocks of lectures. In the first of these blocks, on 'The Atmosphere', I give lectures on atmospheric processes, human-atmosphere interactions, and climate change. In another thematic block, on 'Cold Environments', I deliver lectures on the cryosphere and climate change, glaciers and ice sheets, glacial processes, permafrost, and periglacial processes.
GEOG2003 Techniques in Physical Geography: in this compulsory second-year module, I am responsible for teaching a project on geomorphological mapping methods. I deliver this through a combination of lecture- and practical-based teaching.
GEOG3055 Advances in Remote Sensing: in this optional third-year module, I deliver teaching on geospatial and geophysical methods. I give lectures and practicals focused on geomorphological change detection using repeat imagery and on ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveying.
GEOG3062 Global Climate Change: in this optional third-year module, I deliver lecture-based teaching on the impacts of climate change on glaciers and ice sheets, covering observed changes to glaciers and ice sheets and predicted changes during the 21st Century.
Current Research
My research interests and expertise are related to glaciers and climate, primarily focusing on the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice caps at high latitudes. I use a wide range of methods that span glacial geomorphology, glaciology, remote sensing, and geophysics to understand and quantify changes to processes operating at sub-Arctic and Arctic glaciers and ice caps, as well as in their ice-marginal landscapes. I have also undertaken research on ancient mountain glaciers and ice caps that occupied mid-latitudes during the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (~16-8 ka). Beyond my research on glaciers and ice caps, I have broad interests in the application of geophysical methods to investigate subsurface environments, including their use in non-glacial environments (e.g. peatlands).
Response of glaciers and ice caps to climate change
A key focus of my research is on the responses of mountain glaciers and ice caps to rapid climate change, both past and present. One aspect of my research focuses on process-form responses of glaciers and ice caps to climate change, ranging in timescales from seasons/years (e.g. in Iceland; Chandler et al., 2016, 2020) to decades (e.g. in Norway and Iceland; Boston et al., 2023; Evans et al., 2023) and to centuries/millennia (e.g. in Scotland; Chandler et al., 2020, 2021). A second aspect of my research on this theme has focused on the responses of former glaciers and ice caps to rapid climate change during the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (~16-8 ka), ranging across spatial scales from small cirque glaciers (e.g. Chandler and Lukas, 2017) to icefields and ice caps (e.g. Chandler et al., 2019).
Evolution of active glacial landscapes
A second theme of my research focuses on monitoring the evolution of active (modern) glacial landscapes, with an emphasis on (emerging) ice-marginal environments. My work involves a combination of geomorphological mapping and image analysis to examine planimetric changes to glacial landscapes on annual to decadal timescales, as well as change detection analysis using time series of DEMs to quantify rates of landscape change on seasonal to annual timescales (e.g. in Iceland; Chandler et al., 2020; Evans et al., 2023). Much of my research has used repeat drone-based photogrammetry for change detection analysis and the quantification of glacial landscape change.
Geophysical investigations of subsurface environments
My third area of research interest focuses on using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to investigate subsurface environments, particularly the subsurface around glacier margins. I have contributed to methodological research aimed at developing workflows and frameworks for best practice when using geophysical surveying methods in glacial environments (Watts et al., 2022). Additionally, I have used GPR as part of collaborative research to examine the evolution of peatlands in southern Sweden (Kylander et al., 2023), and to investigate the internal structure and formation of glacial landforms in northern Sweden (in progress).