- A513, Portland Square, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA
- +44 1752 585570
- matt.telfer@plymouth.ac.uk
Profiles
Dr Matthew Telfer
Lecturer in Physical Geography
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (Faculty of Science & Engineering)
Role
As a Lecturer in Physical Geography in the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, I teach on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and I am currently also departmental Admissions Tutor. My research interests lie in geomorphology, geochronology and environmental change, especially in drylands.
Qualifications
I have a BSc (Joint Hons.) from the University of Bristol in Geography and Geology, and after narrowly avoiding a career in petroleum geology, I worked for the University of Southampton's palaeoecology laboratory for 3 years. Following this, I started a part-time PhD at the University of Sheffield with Prof David Thomas, studying the late Quaternary development of the southwestern Kalahari desert. I earned my keep at the time with various technical and RA projects, including the development of a GIS database to support a co-IGCP (International Geological Correlation Programme) initiative, and support for the luminescence dating labs in Sheffield. I moved to Oxford University in 2005, working initially as a Technician whilst I finished my PhD (awarded 2007), and then as Research Associate to the Oxford Luminescence Dating laboratory.
I joined the University of Plymouth as a Lecturer in 2010.
Professional membership
Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society
Quaternary Research Association (member)
Britsh Society for Geomorphology (member)
Teaching interests
I am currently module leader for GGP2205 (Desert Environments), and also teach on GGP1200/GGP1202/GGX1201 (Practising Geography), GGX2201 and GGX2202 (Principles and Applications of Geography)and GGP3201 (Advanced Fieldwork in Geography). I also teach on the Masters courses GEES503 (Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems).
Research interests
Quaternary environmental change
Geomorphology, particularly in drylands
Geochronology, particularly luminescence dating
Grants & contracts
2010 - "Establishing a multiproxy Quaternary palaeoenvironmental record for low altitude, arid mainland Spain" £2350 (UoP PUP fund)
2010 - Royal Society Conference/Travel fund £1550 (XVIII INQUA Congress, Bern, Switzerland)
2008 - “Determining the extent, timing, and cause of Quaternary uplift along the Atlantic coast of Africa and Iberia”. Collaborator on Royal Society Research grant £50k (fieldwork and OSL dating marine terraces in Portugal, Morocco and Angola with Dr Richard Walker, University of Oxford)
2008 - "Extension of linear dunes", QRA Quaternary Research Fund £475 (fieldwork in Northern Cape, South Africa)
2008 - Nominated for HEFCE Teaching Excellence Award
2007 - Royal Society Conference Fund £1100 (XVII INQUA Congress, Cairns, Australia)
2005 - QRA Conference Fund £205 (2nd Southern Deserts meeting, Arica, Chile)
2005 - BGRG Postgraduate Research grant £250 (ICP analyses for OSL dosimetry)
2004 - NERC ICP Facility £525 (ICP analyses for OSL dosimetry)
2004 - SBS Daresbury Prize joint first for best Student Poster, St Andrews, UKLum meeting.
Key publications are highlighted
Journals
Articles
2017
'Complexity confers stability: Climate variability, vegetation response and sand transport on longitudinal sand dunes in Australia’s deserts'
Aeolian Research
25,
45-61
, DOI
PEARL
2017
'Morphodynamics, boundary conditions and pattern evolution within a vegetated linear dunefield'
Geomorphology
290,
85-100
, DOI
PEARL
2017
'The cold climate geomorphology of the Eastern Cape Drakensberg: A reevaluation of past climatic conditions during the last glacial cycle in Southern Africa'
Geomorphology
278,
184-194
, DOI
PEARL
2016
'Our evolving understanding of aeolian bedforms, based on observation of dunes on different worlds'
Aeolian Research
, DOI
PEARL
2016
'Rapid mantle-driven uplift along the Angolan margin in the late Quaternary'
Nature Geoscience
, DOI
PEARL
2015
'A Marine Isotope Stage 4 age for Pleistocene raised beach deposits near Fethard, southern Ireland'
Journal of Quaternary Science
30,
(8)
754-763
, DOI
2015
'Alluvial fan records from southeast Arabia reveal multiple windows for human dispersal'
GEOLOGY
43,
(4)
295-298
, DOI
2015
'An integrated field and numerical modelling study of controls on Late Quaternary fluvial landscape development (Tabernas, SE Spain)'
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Publisher Site
, DOI
2015
'Automated mapping of linear dunefield morphometric parameters from remotely-sensed data'
Aeolian Research
19,
215-224
, DOI
2015
'Single-grain and multi-grain OSL dating of river terrace sediments in the Tabernas Basin, SE Spain'
Quaternary Geochronology
Publisher Site
, DOI
PEARL
2014
'Extensive Quaternary aeolian deposits in the Drakensberg foothills, Rooiberge, South Africa'
GEOMORPHOLOGY
219,
161-175
, DOI
2014
'Modelling palaeosol preservation in aeolian dunes'
EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
39,
(15)
2016-2026
, DOI
2014
'The application of geospatial interpolation methods in the reconstruction of Quaternary landform records'
Geomorphology
216,
234-246
, DOI
2013
'Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions from linear dunefields: recent progress, current challenges and future directions'
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
78,
1-21
, DOI
2012
'Late Pleistocene chronostratigraphy and ice sheet limits, southern Ireland'
Quaternary Science Reviews
44,
160-179
, DOI
2012
'Sand ramps in the Golden Gate Highlands National Park, South Africa: Evidence of periglacial aeolian activity during the last glacial'
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
313,
59-69
, DOI
2011
'Early Holocene loessic colluviation in northwest England: new evidence for the 8.2 ka event in the terrestrial record?'
BOREAS
40,
(1)
105-115
, DOI
2011
'Growth by extension, and reworking, of a south-western Kalahari linear dune'
Earth Surf. Process. Landforms
36,
(8)
1125-1135
, DOI
2010
'Preliminary estimate of Holocene slip rate on active normal faults bounding the southern coast of the Gulf of Evia, central Greece'
Geosphere
6,
(5)
583-593
, DOI
2010
'Understanding linear dune chronologies: Insights from a simple accumulation model'
GEOMORPHOLOGY
120,
(3-4)
195-208
, DOI
2009
'Fire and climate change impacts on lowland forest composition in northern Congo during the last 2580 years from palaeoecological analyses of a seasonally flooded swamp'
HOLOCENE
19,
(1)
79-89
, DOI
2009
'New constraints on the age of the last ice sheet glaciation in NW England using optically stimulated luminescence dating'
JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE
24,
(8)
906-915
, DOI
2009
'Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating and palaeoenvironmental studies of pan (playa) sediment from Witpan, South Africa'
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY
273,
(1-2)
50-60
, DOI
2008
'A Holocene-late Pleistocene aeolian record from lunette dunes of the western Free State panfield, South Africa'
HOLOCENE
18,
(8)
1193-1205
, DOI
2008
'Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of loessic sediments and cemented scree in northwest England'
HOLOCENE
18,
(7)
1101-1112
, DOI
2008
'SEDIMENTARY HISTORY AND THE INTERPRETATION OF LATE QUATERNARY DUNE RECORDS: EXAMPLES FROM THE TIRARI DESERT, AUSTRALIA AND THE KALAHARI, SOUTH AFRICA'
CHUNGARA-REVISTA DE ANTROPOLOGIA CHILENA
40,
295-308
2008
'Testing the applicability of a standardized growth curve (SGC) for quartz OSL dating: Kalahari dunes, South African coastal dunes and Florida dune cordons'
QUATERNARY GEOCHRONOLOGY
3,
(1-2)
137-142
, DOI
2007
'Late Quaternary linear dune accumulation and chronostratigraphy of the southwestern Kalahari: implications for aeolian palaeoclimatic reconstructions and predictions of future dynamics'
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
26,
(19-21)
2617-2630
, DOI
2006
'Complex Holocene lunette dune development, South Africa: Implications for paleoclimate and models of pan development in arid regions'
GEOLOGY
34,
(10)
853-856
, DOI
Chapters
Conference Papers