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 focused on glaciers and climate change. I teach a range of physical geography topics including geomorphology, glaciers and environmental change, atmospheric processes and climate change, as well as geospatial and geophysical methods.
I studied for an undergraduate degree in Geography at Queen Mary University of London (2010-2013), before completing an MSc (by Research) at Durham University. My MSc research examined the formation and glaciological significance of ice-marginal moraines in Iceland. I then went on to undertake a PhD at Queen Mary University of London (2014-2018), which examined the glacial history of the Gaick in the Central Grampians, Scotland.
Following my PhD, I joined the University of Portsmouth as a Visiting Researcher, before being awarded a Leverhulme Trust grant to undertake overseas postdoctoral research at Stockholm University (2019-2021). During my postdoc, my research focused on the application of near-surface geophysics to glacial environments.
In 2022, I was awarded the Lewis Penny Medal by the Quaternary Research Association (QRA). The medal is awarded in recognition of significant contributions to any area of Quaternary research.
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 change, with my background being in glacial-process geomorphology. During my career, my expertise and skills have expanded to… read more
Recent Publications
KYLANDER, MALIN E., MARTÍNEZ-CORTIZAS, ANTONIO, SJÖSTRÖM, JENNY K., GÅLING, JENNY, GYLLENCREUTZ, RICHARD, BINDLER, RICHARD, ALEXANDERSON, HELENA, SCHENK, FREDERIK, REINARDY, BENEDICT T.I., CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M.P. and GALLAGHER, KERRY, 2023. Storm chasing: Tracking Holocene storminess in southern Sweden using mineral proxies from inland and coastal peat bogs Quaternary Science Reviews. 299, 107854 EVANS, DAVID J. A., EWERTOWSKI, MAREK W., TOMCZYK, ALEKSANDRA and CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M. P., 2023. Active temperate glacial landsystem evolution in association with outwash head/depositional overdeepenings Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 48(8), 1573-1598 BOSTON, CLARE M., CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M. P., LOVELL, HAROLD, WEBER, PAUL and DAVIES, BETHAN J., 2023. The role of topography in landform development at an
active temperate glacier in Arctic Norway Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 48(9), 1783-1803 WATTS, HANNAH, BOOTH, ADAM D., REINARDY, BENEDICT T. I., KILLINGBECK, SIOBHAN F., JANSSON, PETER, CLARK, ROGER A., CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M. P. and NESJE, ATLE, 2022. An assessment of geophysical survey techniques for characterising the subsurface around glacier margins, and recommendations for future applications Frontiers in Earth Science: Cryospheric Sciences. 10, 734682
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 module convenor for two modules: GEOG1037 Planet Earth: Exploring the Physical Environment and GEOG3063 Unearthing the Past. During the 2023-24 academic year, I will contribute teaching to the following modules in the School of Geography.
GEOG1036 Physical Landscapes of Britain: in this optional first-year module, I deliver a block of lectures key geomorphological agents and processes that have shaped the British landscape. The lectures cover the impacts of ice sheets, mountain glaciers, frost and wind action, and wave action on the landscapes of Britain.
GEOG1037 Planet Earth: Exploring the Physical Environment (module convenor): in this compulsory first-year module, I deliver blocks of lectures focused on the 'Atmosphere and climate' and 'The Cryosphere'. In the autumn semester, I give lectures on atmospheric processes, human-atmosphere interactions, and climate change. In the spring semester, I deliver lectures on the cryosphere and climate change, glaciers and ice sheets, glacial geomorphology, 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 a lecture and practical focused on geomorphological change detection using repeat drone-based photogrammetry, and a lecture and practical focused 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.
GEOG3063 Unearthing the Past (module convenor): in this optional third-year module, I deliver a block of teaching focused on reconstructing past glaciations using the glacial geological record. This block consists of a combination of lectures and computer practicals.
Current Research
My research interests and expertise are related to glaciers and climate change, with my background being in glacial-process geomorphology. During my career, my expertise and skills have expanded to span glacial geomorphology, glaciology, remote sensing, and geophysics. My research broadly relates to three main themes: (1) response of glaciers and ice caps to climate change; (2) evolution of active glacial landscapes; and (3) geophysical investigations of subsurface environments.
1. 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).
2. 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.
3. 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).
KYLANDER, MALIN E., MARTÍNEZ-CORTIZAS, ANTONIO, SJÖSTRÖM, JENNY K., GÅLING, JENNY, GYLLENCREUTZ, RICHARD, BINDLER, RICHARD, ALEXANDERSON, HELENA, SCHENK, FREDERIK, REINARDY, BENEDICT T.I., CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M.P. and GALLAGHER, KERRY, 2023. Storm chasing: Tracking Holocene storminess in southern Sweden using mineral proxies from inland and coastal peat bogs Quaternary Science Reviews. 299, 107854 EVANS, DAVID J. A., EWERTOWSKI, MAREK W., TOMCZYK, ALEKSANDRA and CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M. P., 2023. Active temperate glacial landsystem evolution in association with outwash head/depositional overdeepenings Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 48(8), 1573-1598 BOSTON, CLARE M., CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M. P., LOVELL, HAROLD, WEBER, PAUL and DAVIES, BETHAN J., 2023. The role of topography in landform development at an
active temperate glacier in Arctic Norway Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 48(9), 1783-1803 WATTS, HANNAH, BOOTH, ADAM D., REINARDY, BENEDICT T. I., KILLINGBECK, SIOBHAN F., JANSSON, PETER, CLARK, ROGER A., CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M. P. and NESJE, ATLE, 2022. An assessment of geophysical survey techniques for characterising the subsurface around glacier margins, and recommendations for future applications Frontiers in Earth Science: Cryospheric Sciences. 10, 734682 CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M.P., BOSTON, CLARE M., LUKAS, SVEN and LOVELL, HAROLD, 2021. Re-interpretation of ‘hummocky moraine’ in the Gaick, Scotland, as erosional remnants: Implications for palaeoglacier dynamics Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 132(4), 506-524 CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M. P. and EVANS, DAVID J. A., 2021. Glacial Processes and Sediments. In: ALDERTON, DAVID and ELIAS, SCOTT A., eds., Encyclopedia of Geology Second Edition. Elsevier. 830-856 CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M. P., CHANDLER, SAMUEL J. P., EVANS, DAVID J. A., EWERTOWSKI, MAREK W., LOVELL, HAROLD, ROBERTS, DAVID H., SCHAEFER, MARTIN and TOMCZYK, ALEKSANDRA M., 2020. Sub-annual moraine formation at an active temperate Icelandic glacier Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 45(7), 1622-1643 CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M.P., EVANS, DAVID J.A., CHANDLER, SAMUEL J.P., EWERTOWSKI, MAREK W., LOVELL, HAROLD, ROBERTS, DAVID H., SCHAEFER, MARTIN and TOMCZYK, ALEKSANDRA M., 2020. The glacial landsystem of Fjallsjökull, Iceland: Spatial and temporal evolution of process-form regimes at an active temperate glacier Geomorphology. 361, 107192 CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M.P., LUKAS, SVEN, BOSTON, CLARE M. and MERRITT, JON W., 2019. Glacial geomorphology of the Gaick, Central Grampians, Scotland Journal of Maps. 15(2), 60-78 CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M.P., LOVELL, HAROLD, BOSTON, CLARE M., LUKAS, SVEN, BARR, IESTYN D., BENEDIKTSSON, ÍVAR ÖRN, BENN, DOUGLAS I., CLARK, CHRIS D., DARVILL, CHRISTOPHER M., EVANS, DAVID J.A., EWERTOWSKI, MAREK W., LOIBL, DAVID, MARGOLD, MARTIN, OTTO, JAN-CHRISTOPH, ROBERTS, DAVID H., STOKES, CHRIS R., STORRAR, ROBERT D. and STROEVEN, ARJEN P., 2018. Glacial geomorphological mapping: A review of approaches and frameworks for best practice Earth-Science Reviews. 185, 806-846 EVANS, DAVID J. A. and CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M. P., 2018. Geology, physiography and glaciology of SE Iceland. In: EVANS, DAVID J. A., ed., Glacial Landsystems of Southeast Iceland – Quaternary Applications: Field Guide Quaternary Research Association. 1-19
CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M. P., EVANS, DAVID J. A. and ROBERTS, DAVID H., 2018. Glacial landsystem development at Skálafellsjökull and moraine-climate change linkages. In: EVANS, DAVID J. A., ed., Glacial Landsystems of Southeast Iceland – Quaternary Applications: Field Guide Quaternary Research Association. 243-258
CHANDLER, BENJAMIN M. P., EVANS, DAVID J. A., ROBERTS, DAVID H., EWERTOWSKI, MAREK and CLAYTON, ALEXANDER I., 2016. Glacial geomorphology of the Skálafellsjökull foreland, Iceland: A case study of ‘annual’ moraines Journal of Maps. 12(5), 904-916