Professor Sarah Metcalfe

Responsibilities

Sarah Metcalfe is taking over as Interim Provost of the University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM) from 1st August 2021.

Between 2014 and 2016 Sarah was Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange for the Faculty of Social Sciences and from 2017 – 2021 she led the university’s Developing Sustainable Societies Global Research Theme. Since 2013 she has been the Nottingham lead for the NERC funded Envision DTP.

Profile

Sarah read Geography at the University of Cambridge and then completed a D.Phil. at Oxford. She has worked at HEIs across the UK and overseas, as well as at what is now the Research Complex at Harwell.  Prior to joining the University of Nottingham in 2003, she was at the University of Edinburgh, where she was head of the Department of Geography.  At Nottingham, she was head of the School of Geography from 2008-2011. 

Externally, she was chair of the NERC Isotope Geosciences Steering Committee 2005-2008 and has been chair of the NERC Radiocarbon Steering Committee (now NEIF Panel A) from 2019. She is a member of NERC National Environmental Isotope Facilities Steering Group. Since 2008 she has been a Visiting Research Associate at the British Geological Survey.  She has twice served on the Council of the Royal Geographical Society and is currently on their Medals and Awards subcommittee.

Teaching and Research Summary

Sarah is Professor of Earth and Environmental Dynamics in the School of Geography.  Her teaching covers aspects of climatic and environment change, air pollution and techniques in Physical Geography.  She is passionately committed to field teaching, convening a field based 3rd year module in Mexico.

Her research focuses on climate change and human – environment interactions across a range of timescales, focusing on tropical and sub-tropical environments (particularly the tropical Americas and circum-Caribbean) and air pollution (primarily in the UK). 

She has published 3 books and > 100 papers in peer reviewed journals and contributed to a number of government scientific advisory group reports. She is currently working on projects in Mexico and Belize. She has supervised 23 PhD students to successful completion.