Staff Profile
Professor John Wainwright
Contact Professor John Wainwright (email at john.wainwright@durham.ac.uk)
Biography
My research interests, which focus on past, present and future human interactions with the environment, arise from a varied background. I have a BA in Archaeology and Geology from Bristol University, where I also studied for my PhD on "Erosion of Semi-Arid Archaeological Sites: A Study in Natural Formation Processes", working on sites in Southwest France. Then I moved to Keele University to work as a post-doc on a NERC-funded project on overland-flow dynamics in the context of vegetation change. Following a temporary lectureship at Southampton University, I took up a lectureship in physical geography at King's College London in 1993, where I was subsequently reader (2000) and professor (2002).
In 1999, I received the prestigious Gordon Warwick award of the British Geomorphological Research Group, recognizing my innovative work in the understanding of past and present semi-arid environments. I have also previously been Honorary Secretary and Membership Secretary of the BGRG, which is now the British Society for Geomorphology.
In 2005, I moved to Sheffield as Professor of Physical Geography, and spent three years as a Visiting Professor at Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg. I was appointed as Professor in Physical Geography at Durham in October 2011.
I have carried out extensive field research, especially in drylands, with an emphasis on the Mediterranean, the US Southwest and sub-Saharan Africa. Computer modelling is central to the methods I use to link data with theory, and I have also carried out laboratory experiments on slope and channel processes to make this link.
Research Interests
- Modelling of human-environment interactions using agent-based models and other interdisciplinary approaches
- Geomorphology and geoarchaeology of arid, semi-arid and Mediterranean regions
- Processes of overland flow and soil erosion
- Links between hydrological, geomorphological and ecological processes (ecohydrology and ecogeomorphology)
- Laboratory modelling of hydrological and geomorphic processes
- Computer modelling of hydrological and geomorphic processes
- Theoretical geomorphology
Please contact me if you are interested in discussing possible PhD or MRes research projects on any of these themes.
If you would like copies of any of my publications, please get in touch.
Research Groups
- Catchment, River and Hillslope Science (CRHS)
Selected Publications
Journal papers: academic
- Cooper, J.R., Wainwright, J., Parsons, A.J., Onda, Y., Fukuwara, T., Obana, E., Kitchener, B., Long, E.J. & Hargrave, G.H. A new approach for simulating the redistribution of soil particles by water erosion: A marker-in-cell model. Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface. 2012;117:F04027.
- Michaelides, K., Lister, D., Wainwright, J. & Parsons, A.J. Linking runoff and erosion dynamics to nutrient fluxes in a degrading dryland landscape. Journal of Geophysical Research. 2012;117:G00N15.
- Wainwright, J., Turnbull, L., Ibrahim, T.G., Lexartza-Artza, I., Thornton, S. & Brazier, R.E. Linking environmental régimes, space and time: Interpretations of structural and functional connectivity. Geomorphology. 2011;126:387-404.
- Wainwright, J. & Millington, J.D.A. Mind, the gap in landscape-evolution modelling. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 2010;35:842-855.
- Wainwright, J., Parsons, A.J., Muller, E.N., Brazier, R.E., Powell, D.M. & Fenti, B. A transport-distance approach to scaling erosion rates: 1. Background and model development. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 2008;33:813-826.
- Wainwright, J., Parsons, A.J., Muller, E.N., Brazier, R.E., Powell, D.M. & Fenti, B. A transport-distance approach to scaling erosion rates: 3. Evaluating scaling characteristics of MAHLERAN. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. 2008;33:1113-1128.