It is a good idea, at the close of one year, to review the past 12 months and to reflect on accomplishments, skills developed and lessons learned. Inspired by similar posts by Jon Tennant and Martin Eve, I thought that I would also write a summary of my activities and achievements in 2013, just for my own benefit. Hopefully others will follow suit and we can all congratulate each other!
I continued to be employed at Aberystwyth University as a PDRA in the Centre for Glaciology, studying the glacial history of the Antarctic Peninsula. 2013 was also the year during which I spent 6 months in New Zealand as a SCAR Fellow, visiting Victoria University of Wellington and working primarily with Nicholas Golledge.
It was a productive year, mostly involving learning how to numerically model glaciers. I also wrote a number of articles for this website, had a wonderful holiday in a campervan in New Zealand, and prepared a few articles for publication. In 2014 I hope to complete a number of these in-progress articles, and to further develop my numerical modelling skills!
Research
- Spent six months using numerical models to reconstruct climate and glacier interactions on James Ross Island, NE Antarctic Peninsula (with Nicholas Golledge and colleagues);
- Compiled a major review of the Last Glacial Maximum of the Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet (with Colm O Cofaigh, Stephen Livingstone and many others);
- Geomorphological mapping and cosmogenic nuclide dating of ice streams in NE England (with Stephen Livingstone, David Roberts and others);
- Analysed geomorphology and processed cosmogenic nuclide samples from Alexander Island, Antarctic Peninsula (with Mike Hambrey and colleagues), after finishing fieldwork in late December 2012.
Publications
Peer-reviewed papers
Glasser, N.F., Davies, B.J., Carrivick, J.L., Rodés, A., Hambrey, M.J., Smellie, J.L., and Domack, E., 2014. Deglacial ice sheet thinning and ice-stream initiation on James Ross Island, northern Antarctic Peninsula. Quaternary Science Reviews.
Edited Volumes
Antarctic Palaeoenvironments and Earth Surface Processes. Editors: Hambrey, M.H., Barker, P.F., Barrett, P.J., Bowman, V.C., Davies, B.J., Smellie, J.L. & Tranter, M., 2013. Geological Society of London Special Publication, Volume 381.
Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. QRA Field Guide (September 2013). Editors: Davies, B.J, Bridgland, D.R., Yorke, L., and Roberts, D.H., 2013. 208 pp.
Book chapters
Yorke, L., and Davies, B.J., 2013. Context and Overview. In: Davies, B.J., Yorke, L., Bridgland D.R. and Roberts, D.H., QRA Field Guide: The Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Quaternary Research Association, Cambridge
Davies, B.J., and Bridgland, D.H., 2013. Overview: Geology and Landscape. In: Davies, B.J., Yorke, L., Bridgland D.R. and Roberts, D.H., QRA Field Guide: The Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Quaternary Research Association, Cambridge.
Davies, B.J., and Roberts, D.H., 2013. Overview of glacial sediments of Co. Durham. In: Davies, B.J., Yorke, L., Bridgland D.R. and Roberts, D.H., QRA Field Guide: The Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Quaternary Research Association, Cambridge.
Davies, B.J., Roberts, D.H., Bridgland, D.R., and Teasdale, D., 2013. Whitburn Bay. In: Davies, B.J., Yorke, L., Bridgland D.R. and Roberts, D.H., QRA Field Guide: The Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Quaternary Research Association, Cambridge.
Davies, B.J., Bridgland, D.H., and Roberts, D.R., 2013. Easington Raised Beach. In: Davies, B.J., Yorke, L., Bridgland D.R. and Roberts, D.H., QRA Field Guide: The Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Quaternary Research Association, Cambridge.
Davies, B.J., Roberts, D.H., and Bridgland, D.R., 2013. Warren House Gill. In: Davies, B.J., Yorke, L., Bridgland D.R. and Roberts, D.H., QRA Field Guide: The Quaternary of Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire. Quaternary Research Association, Cambridge.
Conferences
Presentations
- December 2013. Holocene glacier dynamics on James Ross Island, NE Antarctic Peninsula. AGU Fall Meeting 2013, San Francisco, USA.
- December 2013. Analysis of AntarcticGlaciers.org: a website used to communicate glaciology by an academic. AGU Fall Meeting 2013, San Francisco, USA. Invited Speaker.
- September 2013. The Quaternary Glaciations of the western North Sea Basin: implications for ice sheet dynamics. Geologists’ Association 2013 Annual Meeting: Onshore and Offshore Geology, the vital link. Invited speaker.
Sessions convened
- AGU Fall Meeting 2013 session convenor: “The role of scientists as communicators: from the classroom to the pub”.
Professional Service
- Led a Quaternary Research Association field trip to NE England with Lynda Yorke, David Bridgland and David Roberts (September 2013).
- Peer reviewer for several journals and grant-funding bodies
- Invited guest lecture to Exeter University
Outreach
- AntarcticGlaciers.org surpassed 50,000 unique visitors and 130,000 page views
- Surpassed 1000 Twitter followers
- AntarcticGlaciers.org was featured by Nature Magazine’s SpotOn #ReachingOutSci campaign; used as a REF Impact case study.
- Mentor for APECS, UKPN and for the EU-funded Science It’s a Girl Thing project (http://science-girl-thing.eu/en).
- Interviewed for the Barometer podcast about the AGU science conference and science communication.
Teaching
- PhD Co-Supervisor to John Balfour
- Team-teach Aberystwyth University’s Palaeoglaciology module with Tom Holt
- Team-taught a 12-day 2nd year field course to New Zealand South Island.
That’s about all I can remember for now! What about you – what are your achievements for 2013?