Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography
My principal research interests are glacial geomorphology and Quaternary environments. My post-graduate research concerned post-glacial vegetation on the Llŷn peninsula, North Wales, but over the last fifteen years I have fulfilled a lifetime’s ambition to study in Iceland by collaborating with a number of researchers both in the UK and overseas, notably Dr. Andrew Russell (University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne), Professor Fiona Tweed (Staffordshire University) and Dr. Matthew Roberts (Icelandic Meteorological Office, Reykjavík). Most of the field research connected with this work has been conducted in Iceland and has focused on glacier outburst floods, the processes of glacial sediment entrainment and environmental reconstruction. Research in these areas has been primarily funded by the Earthwatch Institute and the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC). I have also been engaged in a smaller project looking at pronival rampart development in Iceland and the UK, funded by Staffordshire University. My research has always informed my teaching but I have been keen to involve undergraduates in research and this has led to my taking a lead in embedding research informed learning and teaching in the Geography curriculum at Staffordshire University. I have also led and promoted our degrees that incorporate ‘Mountain Leadership’.
Professional Memberships
- Staffordshire University Teaching Fellow
- Member of the Quaternary Research Association
- Member of Staffordshire Regionally Important Geology and Geomorphology group
Publications
Classic landforms of Deglaciation
Harris, T.D. and Tweed, F.S. (2010) A research-led, inquiry-based learning experiment: classic landforms of deglaciation, Glen Etive, Scottish Highlands. Journal of Geography in Higher Education. 34 (4) 511-528
Unusual jökulhlaup resulting from Subglacial Volcanism
Russell, A.J., Tweed, F.S., Roberts, M.J., Harris, T.D., Gudmundsson, M.T., Knudsen, Ó. & Marren, P.M. (2010) An unusual jökulhlaup resulting from subglacial volcanism, Sólheimajökull, Iceland. Quaternary Science Reviews 29, 1363-1381.
Tunnel Channel Formation
Russell, A.J, Gregory, A.R., Large, A.R.G., Fleisher, P.J. and Harris, T.D. (2007) Tunnel channel formation during the November 1996 jökulhlaup, Skeiðararjokull, Iceland. Annals of Glaciology (45) pp 95 – 103.
Icelandic jökulhlaup Impacts
Russell, A.J.; Roberts, M.J.; Fay, H.; Marren, P.M.; Cassidy, N.J.; Tweed, F.S.; & Harris, T. (2005) Icelandic jökulhlaup impacts: implications for ice-sheet hydrology, sediment transfer and geomorphology. Geomorphology 75, 33-64.
Polygenetic landforms
Harris, T.D.; Tweed, F.S.; & Knudsen, Ó. (2004) A polygenetic landform at Stigá, Öræfajökull, southern Iceland. Geografiska Annaler 86A, 143-154.
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