I am a fluvial geomorphologist whose primary research focus is rivers and wetlands. My current research interests include understanding processes that lead to the formation and degradation of wetlands, investigating how climatic variability and climate change impact on geomorphic processes of sediment transport in rivers and wetlands, and also using sedimentology to investigate landscape change. I have worked in a variety of environments including floodplains of the humid sub-tropics in northern KwaZulu-Natal, valleys of South Africa’s semi-arid Karoo, the temperate Welsh coast, and more recently in wetlands around the southern tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas.
My experience is broad, having undertaken post-doctorates at Rhodes University (South Africa) and Swansea University (Wales, UK) and I recently taught at the University of Western Cape. In 2019 I was NRF rated. In collaboration with Rhodes University, I am currently principal investigator on a NRF Global Grand Challenges grant which aims to understand factors that control the rate and volume of sediment trapping in wetlands, which has implications for the ecosystem service provision of wetlands and resulting downstream water quality.
- Processes of sediment transport in rivers and wetlands
- Processes of wetland formation
- Quaternary sedimentology of wetlands
- Impact of climatic variability and climate change on geomorphic processes
- Geomorphology of estuaries and coastal wetlands
- PhD Environmental Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal (Durban), 2008
- BSc Honours (Environmental Science) cum laude, University of Natal (Durban), 2003
- BSc (Environmental Science) summa cum laude, University of Natal (Durban), 2002
