By a series of accidental turns and a healthy dose of serendipity I’ve ended up investigating the past. The passing hands of nature’s clock are vital for my work. I’m fascinated by what makes our planet tick and have spent my research career exploring what happened when.

I’m a Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Exeter where I’m focussing my efforts on finding lessons from the past.  I’m particularly interested in past climates, how people responded to these changes, and recent human evolution and migration.

To do something about climate change, I’ve recently become involved with a new company called Carbonscape which has developed technology to fix carbon from the atmosphere, helping reduce greenhouse gas levels.

This site gives a taster of what I’ve done and what I am working on now.  I have a new popular science book called Ice, Mud and Blood: Lessons from Climates Past, which looks at what has happened to the world’s climate and what it all means for the future; a podcast of the Introduction can be found by clicking here.  Excitingly, Ice, Mud and Blood has recently been longlisted for the Royal Society Prize for Science Books.  There’s also a short online lecture where I talk about some of the bizarre events and eccentric characters that have helped us understand time today.  Or if you fancy a virtual trip to Indonesia, click on the fieldtrip link to learn about some classic archaeological sites including the discovery of the hobbits (also known as Homo floresiensis).