The geomorphological processes that erode, transport and deposit Earth surface materials are a key part of a dynamic, integrated system that shapes the function of ecosystems, water resources, natural hazards, biogeochemical cycling and climate. Our primary interests are in understanding these processes, modelling them, explaining their impacts on past and present landscapes and investigating their role in surface hydrology, terrestrial and aquatic ecology.

Ian Reid is passionate about understanding the complexities of river sediment transport as part of an overall quest to improve our ability to predict both sediment yields and flood-induced changes in the nature and dimensions of river channels. The practical aims of his research are to protect water resources where these are threatened by reservoir sedimentation and mitigate erosion, for example at rail and road bridges. His present foci are: semi-deserts, where flash floods are both a life-threatening hazard and a vital water resource; temperate humid perennial rivers, where the mechanics of coarse-grained sediment transport; and flood survival strategies of benthic invertebrates and their impact on river bed stability.

Helen Rendell is a geomorphologist with interests in both contemporary processes and environmental change during the Late Quaternary. Her recent work has focused on a number of different themes including: the impact of extreme rainfall events on landscapes in the Mediterranean; the short and long-term evolution of badlands; the use of episodic sand dune-building to reconstruct changes in Atlantic storminess along European coasts; and the impact of both storminess and human activity on processes of sand drift. Some of this work is underpinned by luminescence dating of sediments and includes an AHRC-funded project examining the evolution of part of the coastline of the Tiber Delta and the interplay between human activity and geomorphology.

Steve Rice is a fluvial geomorphologist interested in the sedimentology and ecology of gravel-bed rivers. There are two primary themes: (1) the physical processes at work in gravel-bed rivers and the sedimentary deposits that they produce; and (2) the dynamic interaction of fluvial and ecological processes in rivers. Both threads are underpinned by a fundamental interest in bed load transport and the relations between bed material transport, near-bed hydraulics and bed sediment characteristics. Work on the interface with ecology has focused on in-stream habitat provision by river processes and the impact of biota on the sediment cascade and morphological change. He is particularly keen to develop research which investigates the dynamic feedbacks between physical and biological elements in river science. This work is conducted with ecologists, recognising the need to develop interdisciplinary science from mutually valued questions and complementary expertise. Key contributions include work on the bar-scale sedimentology of wandering gravel-bed rivers, the sedimentary link concept, hydrodynamics of the benthiscape, river-confluence ecology and the impact of invertebrate fauna on sediment transport.

Joanna Bullard is an aeolian geomorphologist whose research focuses on the processes, landforms and sedimentology of dryland and coastal environments. Her work contributes to debates about the response of aeolian systems (in both sub-tropical and polar regions) to climate fluctuations, as well as concerning the significance of aeolian processes to global biogeochemical cycles. Her field research has been conducted in southern Africa and Australia, Greenland, Iceland and Chile.

Dave Graham is a sedimentologist, geomorphologist and glacial geologist who works mainly in arctic and alpine glacial environments. His research has two main strands: the links between glacier structure and depositional landforms; and innovative data collection and analysis methods in the geosciences. The former explores the nature of debris-bearing structures within glaciers, the conditions under which they form, and their ultimate expression in the sediment-landform associations left on glacier recession. The later led to the development of automated methods for in situ measurement of river-bed sediment based on digital-image analysis of photographs (with Rice and Reid).

John Hillier is interested in better understanding active processes in the Earth system, both through observing shapes in the landscape and in order to quantify the cost of catastrophes more accurately. His geomorphological work is based around using computers in novel ways to robustly and objectively quantify shapes in the landscape: Processes of interest include glacier dynamics and submarine volcano formation. His catastrophe modelling work is based upon working with the insurance industry: Processes of interest are those that link the perils (e.g. floods, windstorms, earthquakes).