Leadership Team
Professor Nicola Thomas
Head of Department
Nicola is a Professor of Historical and Cultural Geography, focusing on craft geographies. Nicola explores the intersection of material, historical, cultural, social, political and economic contexts of craft makers livelihoods and that of their labour.
Maria Pearce
Dr Matt Finn
Co-Director of Education and Student Experience
Matt is a senior lecturer and human geographer, exploring changes in the contemporary conditions of education, and works to understand how childhood and young people's lives vary globally. In this he brings the scholarship of geographical learning and education which is informed by a participatory action research ethos.
Prof Alasdair Jones
Director of Postgraduate Taught
Alasdair is an interdisciplinary social scientist with expertise in urban studies and programme evaluation. His research is committed to developing empirical approaches that insights the critical questions concerning urban planning, public spaces, and policy programmes.
Professor Damien Mansell
Co-Director of Education and Student Experience
Damien is an Associate Professor of GIS. As a glaciologist, his research in Greenland, Svalbard, and in Iceland, involves the calving processes of tidewater-terminating glaciers, glacier surges, cryosphere instabilities, and remote sensing for glaciological applications.
Professor Saffron O’Neill
Co-Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Saffron is a human geographer exploring the social science dimensions of climate variability and change, particularly focusing on communication and public engagement. Her research looks at the perception risk, and its implication on public policies.
Professor Rolf Aalto
Director of Global Engagement
Rolf research rivers and erosion in Australasia, Europe, Asia, South and North America. He leads the Radiometry Lab, which features analytical facilities for tracing particle movement throughout a wide range of fluvial dispersal systems.
Professor Ted Feldpausch
Co-Director of Postgraduate Research
Ted is a physical geographer researching global forests and savannas, with a focus on Latin America tropics. He aims to understand the drivers of vegetation dynamics and the effects of changing climate on nutrients cycle.
Dr Cordelia Freeman
Co-Director of Postgraduate Research
Cordelia is a political geographer researching borders, mobility and violence, specifically in Latin America. Her work focuses on abortion mobilities in Latin America, the politics of representation, and borders and geopolitics.