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Professor Natasha Barlow

Professor Natasha Barlow

  • Position: Visiting Professor
  • Areas of expertise: sea-level change; Quaternary; climate change; coasts; offshore environments; environmental change; palaeoenvironmental reconstruction; offshore wind; blue carbon
  • Website: LinkedIn | Googlescholar

Profile

I am a Visiting Professor within the School of Earth and Environment. My academic research focuses on coastal and environmental change, particularly improving understanding of the rates and mechanisms of past and future sea-level change, and the implications for coastal landscapes and communities. I have worked on both passive and active coastal margins on a range of timescales. Recently I had a significant focus on submerged landscapes, conducting research to better understand palaeo-landscapes, 3D-stratigraphy and sediment mobility, in particular, to support the development of a sustainable offshore wind industry. I am also interested in how environmental and climate change drives blue carbon storage in coastal and submarine landscapes. I was awarded the 2019 Quaternary Research Association (QRA) Lewis Penny Medal in recognition of my research. I currently hold the position of Technical Director of Coastal Resilience at Haskoning.

Research interests

I have held academic research grants including as PI of the European Research Council Starting Grant RISeR project and as Co-I of NERC-funded ‘Carbon storage in intertidal environments’ (C-SIDE) project. I have been Co-PI of five USGS National Earthquake Hazard Reduction Programme grants aimed at understanding Alaskan seismology and earthquake hazards. I am currently involved in the Joint Industrial Partnership in geoscience and offshore wind.

Current research students
  • Madeleine Timmins (2020 – present). PhD topic: Keeping above the waves? The response of coastal freshwater peatlands to sea-level rise. University of Exeter. Co-supervisor.
  • Weilun Qin (2021 – present). PhD topic: Solid Earth contributions to sea-level change. TU Delft. Co-supervisor.
  • Patrick Sharrocks (2023 – present). PhD topic: Processes beneath the Great Wave: improved understanding of tsunami geohazards using advances in deep-sea sedimentology. Co-supervisor
  • Lydia Brown (2024 – present). PhD topic: Advanced 3D Modelling Groundflows to support the sustainable development of offshore windfarms. Co-supervisor
Completed research students
  • Denise Becker (2023 – 2024). MSc topic: Developing a tephrochronology for the Eemian in northwest Europe. Fulbright Scholar. Co lead-supervisor.
  • Ed Taylor (2022 – 2024). MRes topic: Postglacial relative sea-level change on the Isle of Skye and implications for early human settlement. University of Leeds. Lead-supervisor
  • Dr Oliver Pollard (2019-2023). PhD thesis: Modelling Ice Sheets and Sea Level During the Penultimate Deglaciation and the Last Interglacial: Uncertainty, Sensitivity, and Calibration. University of Leeds. Lead-supervisor.
  • Khai Ken Leoh (2023-2024). MGeog topic: Understanding late Holocene sea-level at Gress, Isle of Lewis. CN Scholar from NTU Singapore. Lead-supervisor
  • Megan Edwards (2022-2023). MGeol topic: Interrogating the Laschamp geomagnetic reversal: identifying the drivers of vegetation changes ~41.5 ka, NW Greece. Co-supervisor.
  • Dr Lucy Wheeler (2017-2022). PhD topic: Sea level past, present and future: a chronology for marine and estuarine sediments in the Quaternary. University of York. Co-supervisor.
  • Dr Stephen Eaton (2017-2021). PhD thesis: Landscape response to glacial-interglacial cycles: insights from a southern North Sea offshore wind farm dataset. University of Leeds. Co-supervisor.
  • Dr Andrew Emery (2016-2020). PhD thesis: Glacial and postglacial landscape evolution at Dogger Bank since the Last Glacial Maximum. University of Leeds. Co-supervisor.
  • Dr Frances Procter (2018-2019). MSc thesis: Methods in geoforensics: understanding the transfer and persistence of soils and soil palynomorphs to clothing materials. University of Leeds. Co-supervisor
  • Dr Martin Brader (2011-2015). PhD thesis: Postglacial relative sea-level changes and the deglaciation of northwest Iceland. Durham University. Co-supervisor.
  • Dr Christine Hamilton (2013-2014). MSc thesis: Late Glacial to Holocene relative sea-level change in Assynt, north west Scotland. Durham University. Co-supervisor.
Postdoctoral researchers and research fellows
  • Megan Edwards (2023-2024) Research Assistant in Past Environmental Change
  • Dr Fumiko Watanabe Nara (2022-2023) JSPS-ERC exchange fellow
  • Dr Amy McGuire (2021-2025) Research Fellow in Quaternary Palynology
  • Dr Graham Rush (2021-2023) Research Fellow in Quaternary Foraminifera
  • Dr Amir Khorasani (2020) Research Assistant in Offshore Wind Development
  • Dr Víctor Cartelle (2019-2021) Research Fellow in Offshore Geophysics
<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Some research projects I'm currently working on, or have worked on, will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • PhD, Physical Geography, Durham University
  • BSc, Geography, Durham University

Professional memberships

  • Fellow of Higher Education Academy

Research groups and institutes

  • Earth Surface Science Institute
  • Institute of Applied Geoscience
  • Palaeo@Leeds

Current postgraduate researchers

<h4>Postgraduate research opportunities</h4> <p>We welcome enquiries from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. Our <a href="https://phd.leeds.ac.uk">research opportunities</a> allow you to search for projects and scholarships.</p>