Geology PhD
Birkbeck, University of London

Current research areas include igneous petrology and geochemistry, sedimentology, environmental geochemistry and mineralogy, stratigraphy and palaeontology, structural geology, geophysics, palaeoclimatology, planetary geology and earthquake studies; the earth sciences cover a broad spectrum of research topics; students may be interested in studying the evolution of life through the millennia, working with the fossil record to chart the development and extinction of species, the study of the dynamics involved in geohazards such as earthquakes and volcanoes, reconstructing ancient environments with an eye to addressing key environmental issues of our time, such as climate change and coastal erosion; examples of other research topics include igneous petrology and geochemistry, petrology and mineralogy of mantle and lower crustal xenoliths, geochemistry of peridotite massifs, palaeontology, echinoderm palaeoecology in middle Jurassic marginal marine settings, the effect of the end Cenomanian extinction event on high marine predator communities, designing tidal creeks for managed coastal defence, ground-penetrating radar applications in sedimentology, palaeoclimate controls on the formation of coastal dunes, sedimentary controls on the distribution of arsenic in the Ganges Brahmaputra Delta, the evolution of coastal dunes in response to Holocene climate change and studies of displacement and strain along active normal fault zones in Italy and Greece.