Biography | Recent employment | Education | Publications | PhD Thesis | Profiles
AntarcticGlaciers.org was conceived by, developed by, and continues to be run by Professor Bethan Davies (Newcastle University, UK). Bethan regularly writes content for AntarcticGlaciers.org, alongside numerous other contributors. Key website contributors and authors are listed under ‘Authors’.
I am continually seeking funding to keep this project going. If you’d like to contribute, please get in touch.
Contact details
Email: bethan [at] AntarcticGlaciers.org , bethan dot davies [at] newcastle.ac.uk
Address: Dr Bethan Davies, Department of Geography, Newcastle University
Profile
I am a glaciologist specialising in reconstructing glacier dynamics over multiple timescales, from both field and remotely sensed data, particularly in the Antarctic Peninsula, Europe, Britain, Alaska and Patagonia. I am interested in how glaciers across the world are responding to climate change, and how this will affect sea level rise and water resources.
I am also interested in using ice-sheet, hydrology and climate models to constrain the interaction between glaciers, water and climate.
I wrote and developed the AntarcticGlaciers website as part of an ongoing commitment to outreach, education and research impact. I am the lead of this website, and employ various junior colleagues to help produce content. The website is supported by generous donations from scientific and charitable organisations.
I currently serve on the UK Antarctic Placenames Committee as a glaciology expert, and regularly consult with journalists or appear in the news or printed media to discuss glaciers and climate change. Please see contact details below to request an interview. As an expert public speaker, I have discussed glaciers and climate change with multiple and diverse audiences, ranging from young school children to political bodies and national agencies. I am a member of the Board of Directors for Antarctic Science Ltd and am a trustee of the charity.
I am a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (FRGS), the Geological Society of London (FGS) and the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), and am a member of other professional groups such as the Quaternary Research Association, Geologists’ Association and International Glaciological Society. I regularly serve on grant-funding panels (such as Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]) or for other bodies, review grants for national and international funding agencies, and review manuscripts and articles for international journals. I was a member of the NERC Environmental Isotope Analysis steering committee (2018-2021) and served as Publicity Officer of the Quaternary Research Association from 2015-2018. I was External Examiner at Liverpool University (2019-2022).
I regularly give public talks, including recently at COP26, where I gave an invited lecture on glaciers and the impact of their melting on a global perspective. I also frequently give talks to other universities and research institutes, as well as a series of invited talks and presentations at national and international conferences.
Prizes and awards
I have been awarded several prizes for my work, including the Gordon Warwick Medal for excellence in geomorphological research by the British Society for Geomorphology (2021) and the Lewis Penny Medal for excellence in researching British Quaternary Stratigraphy by the Quaternary Research Association (2014). I am the 2022 recipient of the 2022 SCAR Medal for Education and Communication. I was awarded the Halstead Lecture at the British Science Festival by the Geologists’ Association in 2016. I have won two teaching prizes/commendations for my teaching at Royal Holloway University of London.
Some of my public outreach work has also been recognised; for example the Time for Geography Glacier Mass Balance video was awarded a Silver Publishers’ Award by the Geographical Association in 2021. My work on AntarcticGlaciers was awarded a Certificate of Excellence for Geological Education by the Geologists’ Association in 2020. Our Antarctica StoryMap Series was nominated for a 2022 ESRI Community Engagement award.
PhD students
I have several PhD students.
Completed students:
- Julian Martin (completed 2020)
- Thomas Vandyk (completed 2021)
- Emma Cooper (completed 2023),
Current students:
- Jack Mason (University of Ulster)
- Anjali Dhunna (RHUL)
- Alex Clark (RHUL)
- Gunjan Silwal (Newcastle)
- Paulina Mejias-Osorio (University of Vienna)
Please get in touch if you are interested in studying for a PhD with me.
Biography
Following an undergraduate degree in Geography at Nottingham University (2004), and an MSc in Quaternary Science at Royal Holloway, University of London (2005), I undertook a PhD in Glacial Geology at Durham University (2009). My thesis was called: “British and Fennoscandian ice-sheet interactions during the Quaternary”. This involved spending a lot of time logging and analysing glacial tills exposed in coastal cliff sections in County Durham.
After a brief stint as an Assistant Marine Geologist at the British Antarctic Survey, I then moved on to Aberystwyth University, where I worked as a post-doctoral research associated in the Centre for Glaciology. I worked on a project entitled, “Glacial history of the NE Antarctic Peninsula on centennial to millennial timescales”. I then took up a position a PDRA at the Department for Meteorology at the University of Reading, where I analysed ice sheet evolution using coupled climate and ice-sheet models.
From 2014 to 2022 I was a lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography (Quaternary Science) at Royal Holloway, University of London. I was the Director of the MSc Quaternary Science in the Centre for Quaternary Research. I moved to Newcastle University in August 2022 and was promoted to Professor of Glaciology in August 2024.
Research interests
Glacier and ice-sheet modelling
I am interested in using numerical computer models to understand how climate interacts with glaciers and ice sheets. For examples, I am interested in using glacier models to constrain cryospheric response to climate change, and to relate glacier fluctuations, reconstructed from field evidence, to climate. In 2013 I was awarded a SCAR (Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research) Fellowship to spend six months at the Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, where I worked on modelling glacier and climate interactions during the Holocene.
Palaeo ice-sheet reconstruction
I am also interested in using geological data to reconstruct past ice-sheet fluctuations. I use geomorphological mapping and chronological techniques to constrain past ice-sheet dynamics and rates and magnitudes of change. I have particular expertise in cosmogenic nuclide dating. During fieldwork, we take rock samples and analyse their isotopic chemistry to see how long they have been exposed to the surface. This gives us the age of ice sheet retreat in the area.
I have worked extensively in the Antarctic Peninsula, Europe, Patagonia, Britain and Greenland, and have conducted multiple expeditions to these regions.
Remote sensing of glacier change
I use satellite images to understand more recent glacier recession and ice-shelf collapse. I have used satellite data to conduct glacier inventories and am a member of the GLIMS initiative, using satellite data to analyse and quantify glaciers in Alaska, Europe, Patagonia and the Antarctic Peninsula.
Fieldwork
I undertook two field seasons to James Ross Island, Antarctic Peninsula (2011, 2012) and a third to Alexander Island in November 2012. I have undertaken expeditions to Alaska (2022), Iceland (2000, 2003), Greenland (2006), Austria (2019, 2021), Patagonia (2015, 2017, 2022), Chile (2023), Peru (2023, 2024), and Britain (2005-present).
Recent employment
- August 2024 – date: Professor of Glaciology, Newcastle University
- September 2022 – January 2023: Ida Pfeiffer Visiting Professor, University of Vienna
- August 2022 – August 2024: Senior Lecturer, Newcastle University
- September 2014 – August 2022: Lecturer, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London
- April 2014 – July 2014: Research Scientist, NCAS-Climate, Department for Meteorology, University of Reading.
- March 2013 – August 2013: SCAR Fellow, Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
- April 2010 – March 2014: PDRA, IGES, Aberystwyth University, Wales, UK
- July 2009 – Feb 2010: Assistant marine geologist, British Antarctic Survey, UK
- August 2006: Research assistant to David Roberts in Greenland
- August 2004: Laboratory analyst, Royal Holloway, University of London
Education
- Oct 2005 – April 2009: PhD in Quaternary Geology, Durham University
- Sept 2004 – Sept 2005: MSc in Quaternary Science, Royal Holloway, University of London
- Sept 2001 – Sept 2004: BA (Hons) in Geography, Nottingham University
Journal Publications
I have written over 70 publications on these above themes. Citation indices, if you are interested in such things, are available here.
See here for an up-to-date list of publications.
Science communication and outreach
- Wrote www.AntarcticGlaciers.org (launched June 2012), a website that delivers peer-reviewed science to the public, A-Level and undergraduate students. The website underpins and supports my university teaching, increases the visibility and impact of my research, and broadens my professional network.
- Public lectures at venues such as the British Science Festival.
- Production of the FCDO Diversity in Polar Science event, “Polar Environments Day” at RHUL, March 2022.
Invited guest contributions to other science communication outlets:
- Changing glaciers in Antarctica. Climatica.
- Reconstructing past glaciers. To The Poles.
- Why is communicating climate change science hard? Bogology.
- Interview at the Barometer podcast on science communication
- Interview for Geography in the News for the Royal Geographical Society
- Invited contributor to Geography Review, a magazine for school students and Geography teachers
- Sprint 2014: Article for Earth Heritage magazine: http://www.earthheritage.org.uk/ehpdf/EH41_1-14f.pdf
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.
PhD Thesis
You can download my PhD thesis from here.
Citation: Davies, B.J., 2009. British and Fennoscandian Ice-Sheet Interactions during the Quaternary, Unpubl. PhD Thesis. Department of Geography, Durham University, Durham, 502 pp.
Bethan Davies Thesis (Zipped PDFs – 70MB)
Ethesis from the Durham University website (smaller)
Other Profiles
Royal Holloway University of London
Google Scholar
Google+
Linkedin
Dear Dr. Davies,
The ice age temperature/CO2 ups and downs are in range of 10oC/100ppm. Since industrial revolution, the CO2 has increases about 100 ppm from 280 to 406 ppm. But the temperature only increased for about 0.7oC. Please comment on this. Do you have the nearest ice core data? Like from 1900 to ???
Thanks,
Hello,
You could look at the GRIP ice core data from Greenland, or the Vostok ice cores from Antarctica. They are referenced on the ice cores page on this website and by the IPCC pages.
Over the last 420,000 years, CO2 changes generally followed temperature changes, with a lag of 100s to 1000s of years. Greenhouse gas feedbacks contributed to the overall changes. The current rate of change of CO2 vastly outpaces palaeo rates of change, which is why the amount of temperature change is so far relatively low.
Dear Dr. Davis,
I need list of National Ice Core Laboratory and produced data list from ice core and methodology.
Could you help to me where can I find it or if you have document could you sent them to me?
Best Regards
Mesut DEMİRCAN
MSc. in Physical Geography
Geodesy & Photogrametry Engineer
How do you debate climate deniers who say that all research is funded by government grants and looking for results that agree with their positions? Have you ever been pressured?
Hi John,
Firstly, anyone who thinks we’re in it for the money has not closely investigated university pay scales!
Secondly, government grant success rates are actually very low. They are also increasingly hard to win. Writing a grant takes months and months of work, pulling together numerous strings and different researchers. Several independent reviewers scrutinise the grants very carefully and you have to identify a specific problem that your research will solve. It’s very very difficult to win a grant, and research that simply supports the status quo and doesn’t challenge an established idea or identify a gap in knowledge will be ranked very low and is unlikely to be funded. Finally, the grants are reviewed by a panel who rank them and decide which to fund.
You are much more likely to be funded if you have a very original idea that challenges established theories and can present a good methodology to test your new hypothesis than if you write a grant that looks for results that already agree with the established literature!
Best wishes,
Bethan
I dont understand – based on this information if all known ice melts it doesnt equal 394.67 km3 ice. And if it did it still would only equal 1 mm rise in sea levels? Please help explain.
Fretwell et al. 2013 estimated that the Antarctic Ice Sheet comprised 27 million km3 of ice, with a sea level equivalent of ~58 m
Then this means 1 mm rise if …
So, 361.8 Gt of ice will raise global sea levels by 1 mm. 361.8 Gt of ice is equivalent to 394.67 km3 ice.
From https://www.antarcticglaciers.org/glaciers-and-climate/estimating-glacier-contribution-to-sea-level-rise/
Thanks
Greetings
With the over 80 % of the Earths’ fresh water, in the form of Ice
The question’s has to be asked
1. Where did all the Extra Fresh Water come from, for Glaciers to form across the Globe in the Last Ice Age
2. If there was some available source, What is its current Location
3. Why is it not documented, to help explain the History, of that Event
4. Given that Snow/Ice, can be only formed by the Earth Water Cycle, Sea water can not be included
5. The Famous event of Buried U S Planes in Greenland for 46 years, to a depth of 250 ft
6 Gives an average Yearly Dump of 5.5 ft
7 Which would be 3000 metres of Greenland Ice, would be total of 1790 years, at the average Rate
8 That of course is, not in the same Ball Park, by the Experts of 2.6 millions years
9. If a core sample of the Greenland Ice, was Taken, by the Experts to 250 ft, They would be claiming,
hundreds of thousand of Years old, at the same depth of the Famous buried Planes
If I have missed some Logic, in this letter
Please send some details to educate me,
Best Regards
David
1. Where did all the Extra Fresh Water come from, for Glaciers to form across the Globe in the Last Ice Age
Global sea levels were ~125 m lower during the last ice age. Corals from far-field sites such as Barbados provide a good record of sea level through the last ice age. See here: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth107/node/1496
2. If there was some available source, What is its current Location
??
3. Why is it not documented, to help explain the History, of that Event
?? I do not understand this question.
4. Given that Snow/Ice, can be only formed by the Earth Water Cycle, Sea water can not be included
Incorrect – cooler temperatures results in more precipitation falling as snow and remaining locked up in ice. Coastal areas receive more precipitation as winds blowing over the ocean pick up water.
5. The Famous event of Buried U S Planes in Greenland for 46 years, to a depth of 250 ft
These planes were buried in the accumulation area of the ice sheet, so would expect to be buried. Most melt occurs in the ablation area of the ice sheet. See here: https://www.antarcticglaciers.org/glacier-processes/introduction-glacier-mass-balance/
Also see here: https://nsidc.org/cryosphere/quickfacts/icesheets.html
6 Gives an average Yearly Dump of 5.5 ft
7 Which would be 3000 metres of Greenland Ice, would be total of 1790 years, at the average Rate
Snow is compressed to ice as it falls. The ice flows away from the centre of the ice sheet.
8 That of course is, not in the same Ball Park, by the Experts of 2.6 millions years
9. If a core sample of the Greenland Ice, was Taken, by the Experts to 250 ft, They would be claiming, hundreds of thousand of Years old, at the same depth of the Famous buried Planes
Howdy from Texas Dr. Davis.
As a novice I actually understand the gist of all of this. I’ve been reading some of the studies on your website, as well as others, to educate myself on how the changing climate is affecting the ice sheets and glaciers on our planet. Having said that, I’m hoping that you can answer a couple questions that I haven’t quite found an answer to.
I know climate change is a natural part of this living planet we live on. You know the constant debate of climate change in today’s world, so my question would be…Is our planet in a natural warming period, but it’s accelerated by humans? Essentially, are humans exacerbating an already normal warming cycle? Or this warming trend is solely caused by humans after the industrial period?
And to follow that question, what would be the biggest culprit? Deforestation, pollution, population etc…
Thanks in advance for your time.
Cheers!
Dear Dr. Davis
I have a question whether the Parallel ice sheet model can be used to restore small scale (a mountain top) ancient glaciers, similar to 2D model (Plummer and Phillips).
Thanks
Dear Hongjie,
PISM can be used on small mountain glaciers, but it’s probably not the best choice. Other models, such as OGGM or Elmer/Ice may be more appropriate, depending on the experiment and what you are trying to achieve. Best wishes, Bethan
Dear Dr. Davis
Thank you for your answer. I mainly use it to invert the climate of LGM of a mountain peak and get the shape range and volume of this glacier. So far, I have not found a suitable model, except the 2D model developed by Plummer and Phillips
thanks
Dear Dr. Davis,
Something completely different from the intellectual discussions above, but as a teenager I regularly climbed around those Co Durham cliffs you studied in your PhD, particularly just south of Sunderland. We called these cliffs near Sunderland the ‘sandies’ because of the large amount of irregular sands overlying the boulder clay and lastly the magnesian limestone at the base of the cliffs. I was told during a GCSE geology field trip (in 1987 !!) that the sands were probably deposited as wash out from glacial melt, it is also soft enough to make your own hand holes for climbing, and Sand Martins are very fond of it for making nests too.
One thing that always puzzled me about those cliffs is that there are very thin layers among the sands that appear to consist of tiny pieces of coal, and these layers seem completely out of place. You can only really notice them when you face is right up against the cliffs when climbing, they are not obvious from the beach. The layers might have been something other than coal, but it certainly looked shiny and black. I could not dream of climbing those cliffs to check this out today!
Thank you for such and accessible and entertaining website, and funny that I got here because of a layman’s interest in glaciation, and happened upon an influential part of my youth!
thanks and regards
John Carney
Hello John,
You are right! These sands were deposited meltwater from the last British Ice Sheet. They do contain coal, which was eroded from the bedrock by ice moving over the Pennines. Coal is quite fragile, so doesn’t last long in this glaciofluvial environment, so these sands were deposited close to the ice margin.
All the best
Bethan
Dear Dr Davis,
Thank you so much for your reply, this has cleared up a very long held mystery to me. I always wondered how carboniferous coal had ended up so high in the strata and your answer has made my day!
After school I went on to study engineering but still have a strong amateur interest in rocks and land forms, and in particular ‘ice ages’. We were taught in school that humans had only flourished in this latest interglacial period and that concept still fascinates me now.
Again thanks and regards
John
Dear Dr Davies
We have a number of gravel capped plateaus in our area (western Canada). The gravel has been established as tertiary, and thus preglacial. I was curious as to why these gravel tops were not scraped off by the advancing and receding glaciers. My guess is that as water forms at the glacier base , it immediately drains away. Thus no water, no movement. The flat tops of these structures means there is little or no gravitational force working to move the ice laterally.
I’m also thinking that this situation leads to the creation of a (perhaps) very tall cap of ice remaining on these plateaus after the surrounding ice has melted and receded. Because surface melting is slow, these might persist for many hundreds of years. Furthermore, these represent huge volumes of water. When they eventually melt, there should be deep erosional channels, postdating glacial effects. I believe that I see these, although this is just empirical of course.
Your comments?