- A513, Portland Square, Drake Circus, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA
- +44 1752 585570
- matt.telfer@plymouth.ac.uk
Profiles
Dr Matthew Telfer
Associate Professor of Physical Geography
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences (Faculty of Science and 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
2018
'A clarion call for aeolian research to engage with global land degradation and climate change'
Aeolian Research
32,
A1-A3
, DOI
2018
'Using a portable luminescence reader for rapid age assessment of aeolian sediments for reconstructing dunefield landscape evolution in southern Africa'
Quaternary Geochronology
, DOI
2017
'The condensing engine: A heat engine for operating temperatures of 100 ℃ and below'
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part A: Journal of Power and Energy
232,
(4)
437-448
, DOI
2017
'Aeolian sediment fingerprinting using a Bayesian mixing model'
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
, DOI
PEARL
2017
'Editorial Introduction: Fourth Planetary Dunes Workshop Special Issue'
Aeolian Research
26,
1-3
, DOI
PEARL
2017
'Morphodynamics, boundary conditions and pattern evolution within a vegetated linear dunefield'
Geomorphology
290,
85-100
, DOI
PEARL
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
2016
'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
'Rapid mantle-driven uplift along the Angolan margin in the late Quaternary'
Nature Geoscience
, DOI
PEARL
2016
'Our evolving understanding of aeolian bedforms, based on observation of dunes on different worlds'
Aeolian Research
, DOI
PEARL
2015
'Automated mapping of linear dunefield morphometric parameters from remotely-sensed data'
Aeolian Research
19,
215-224
, DOI
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
'Single-grain and multi-grain OSL dating of river terrace sediments in the Tabernas Basin, SE Spain'
Quaternary Geochronology
Publisher Site
, DOI
PEARL
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
'Alluvial fan records from southeast Arabia reveal multiple windows for human dispersal'
GEOLOGY
43,
(4)
295-298
, DOI
2014
'Modelling palaeosol preservation in aeolian dunes'
EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
39,
(15)
2016-2026
, DOI
2014
'Extensive Quaternary aeolian deposits in the Drakensberg foothills, Rooiberge, South Africa'
GEOMORPHOLOGY
219,
161-175
, 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
'Growth by extension, and reworking, of a south-western Kalahari linear dune'
Earth Surf. Process. Landforms
36,
(8)
1125-1135
, 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
2010
'Understanding linear dune chronologies: Insights from a simple accumulation model'
GEOMORPHOLOGY
120,
(3-4)
195-208
, 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
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
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
2008
'A Holocene–late Pleistocene aeolian record from lunette dunes of the western Free State panfield, South Africa'
The 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
'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
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
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