Contact
Biography
I am a glacial geomorphologist and Assistant Professor in the School of Geography with research expertise and interests related to climate-glacier-landscape interactions. My research primarily focuses on (1) the process responses of mountain glaciers and ice caps to climate change and (2) the evolution of emerging glacial landscapes at retreating glacier margins.
I teach a variety of physical geography topics across the undergraduate programmes in the School of Geography, including cold regions geomorphology, glaciology, glaciers and water resource management, 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 across the undergraduate geography programmes and the MSc in Global Environmental Sustainability. Topics that I teach on include cold… read more
Research Summary
My research interests and expertise are related to climate-glacier-landscape interactions, with a particular focus on (1) the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice caps at high latitudes and (2) the… 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 across the undergraduate geography programmes and the MSc in Global Environmental Sustainability. Topics that I teach on include cold regions geomorphology, glaciology, glaciers and water resource management, climate change, AI and sustainability, and atmospheric processes, as well as remote sensing and geophysical methods.
I am currently the Research Tutorial Coordinator for the second-year undergraduate geography programmes, as well as the module convenor for GEOG1037 Planet Earth: Exploring the Physical Environment and GEOG3069 Extreme Environments. I currently contribute teaching to the following modules in the School of Geography:
- GEOG1037 Planet Earth: Exploring the Physical Environment (module convenor)
- GEOG2030 Research Tutorial (module convenor)
- GEOG2079 Techniques in Geography
- GEOG3055 Advances in Remote Sensing
- GEOG3062 Global Climate Change
- GEOG3069 Extreme Environments (module convenor)
- GEOG4110 Global Frontiers in Sustainability
Current Research
My research interests and expertise are related to climate-glacier-landscape interactions, with a particular focus on (1) the dynamics of mountain glaciers and ice caps at high latitudes and (2) the evolution of emerging landscapes at retreating glacier margins. I use a wide range of methods that span glacial geomorphology, glaciology, remote sensing, geophysics, and proogramming/statistical computing 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).