About

We are part of the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences and we carry out research around the globe ranging from the tropics to the polar regions to investigate both modern and ancient environments. Activities are focussed around two interlinked themes: (1) Reconstruction of climate change, vegetation, palaeoseismicity, environmental pollution and sea level at decadal, millennial and million-year timescales using a variety of biological and geochemical proxies, including pollen, diatoms, dinoflagellates, stable isotopes and biomarkers; (2) Response of the contemporary cryosphere (where the world is frozen) to recent and future climate change through geophysical investigations, micrometeorological measurements on mountain glaciers; measurement and modelling of snow properties over land, under trees and on sea ice; analysis of carbon release from Siberian permafrost and modelling of ice sheets and high mountain hydrology. Field data collection involves a range of state-of-the-science techniques including ground-penetrating radar, seismics, eddy covariance systems, and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS).

The CAPE group includes two main research themes:

Ice, Snow and Permafrost                        Past Climate and Environment