Dr Matt Westoby

Associate Professor

Department: Geography and Environmental Sciences

I am a geomorphologist who speciailises in quantifying landscape evolution in glacial and ice-marginal systems over a range of timescales. My research interests include the reconstruction of extreme glacial lake outburst floods (or 'GLOFs') using dam-breach and hydrodynamic models and informed through geomorphological analysis, as well as the geomorphological dynamics of debris-covered glaciers. Much of my work to date has employed high-resolution topographic surveying tools and methods (e.g. 'structure from motion' photogrammetry, unpiloted aerial vehicles, terrestrial laser scanning, change detection, etc). I have undertaken fieldwork primarily in the European Alps (Norway, Switzerland, Italy) and the Himalaya (Nepal, Tibet).

I joined the Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences as a PDRA on NERC-funded research in 2014, and thereafter held positions as a Lecturer (Fixed Term) and, most recently, Vice Chancellor's Research Fellow in Extreme Environments. I was appointed as a Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography in September 2020. I teach on a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules, and am currently the Programme Lead for the Department's BSc Geography and BSc Physical Geography degree pathways.

Google Scholar

Cold and Palaeo-Environment Research Group (CAPE)

Campus Address

Room A217a
Ellison Building
City Campus

Email Matt

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Using climate reanalysis data in conjunction with multi-temporal satellite thermal imagery to derive supraglacial debris thickness changes from energy balance modelling, Stewart, R., Westoby, M., Pellicciotti, F., Rowan, A., Swift, D., Brock, B., Woodward, J. 1 Apr 2021, In: Journal of Glaciology
Reconstructing the Chongbaxia Tsho glacial lake outburst flood in the Eastern Himalaya: Evolution, process and impacts, Nie, Y., Liu, W., Liu, Q., Hu, X., Westoby, M. 1 Dec 2020, In: Geomorphology
Geomorphological evolution of a debris‐covered glacier surface, Westoby, M., Rounce, D., Shaw, T., Fyffe, C., Moore, P., Stewart, R., Brock, B. 1 Nov 2020, In: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Processes at the margins of supraglacial debris cover: quantifying dirty ice ablation and debris redistribution, Fyffe, C., Woodget, A., Kirkbride, M., Deline, P., Westoby, M., Brock, B. 1 Aug 2020, In: Earth Surface Processes and Landforms

PGR Supervision

Rebecca Stewart Quantifying debris supply and debris flux in deglaciating mountain glacier catchments Start Date: 01/10/2018 End Date: 19/11/2022
James Linighan How are large permafrost rock faces responding to climate change? Monitoring rock fall activity with an in-situ, high resolution, low-cost gigapixel and thermal imaging sensor network. Start Date: 12/11/2019 End Date: 14/06/2022

Qualifications

PhD June 30 2013
MSc September 30 2009
BSc (Hons) July 01 2007
Full Member British Society for Geomorphology (BSG) 2014
Full Member European Geoscience Union (EGU) 2014

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