Professor Giles Wiggs

Positions

Tutorial Fellow in Geography, Brasenose College
Professor of Aeolian Geomorphology

Subject

Geography

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Geography (Lond.), PhD Sand Dune Dynamics (Lond.)

Academic Background

Undergraduate degree in geography at University College London followed by a PhD investigating the dynamics of barchan sand dunes in Oman. This was followed by postdoctoral research in southern Africa investigating the geomorphological role of vegetation in the dynamics of aeolian processes and linear sand dunes. Employed as a Lecturer in the Geography Department at Sheffield University in 1993, becoming a Senior Lecturer in 2001 and Reader in 2004. Joined Brasenose as Fellow and Tutor in Geography in 2005.

Undergraduate Teaching

1^st Year (Preliminary Examination): Convenor of ‘Geographical Techniques',Lecturer in Geomorphology for ‘Earth System Processes'

2^nd & 3^rd Year (Final Honours School)
Convenor of ‘Dryland Environments' option

Lecturer in Desertification for ‘Geographical Environment: Physical' core course

Research Interests

Central research theme is the computational analysis of the physical processes controlling aeolian sediment transport in arid and semi-arid areas. Research projects use an understanding of aeolian sediment dynamics to investigate sand dune dynamics, aeolian wind erosion and dust generation and the impact of these processes on contemporary and future environmental and climatic change. Using data collected at a range of temporal and spatial scales from fieldwork and laboratory testing a current goal is to develop models of desert response to global warming.

Publications include

Thomas, D.S.G. & Wiggs, G.F.S. Aeolian system responses to global change: challenges of scale, process and temporal integration. Earth Surface Processes & Landforms (in press).
Livingstone, I, Wiggs, G.F.S. & Weaver, C.M. 2007. Quantifying controls on aeolian dune processes and dynamics: a review of current understanding. Earth Science Reviews, 80: 239-257
Thomas, D.S.G., Knight, M. & Wiggs, G.F.S. 2005. Remobilization of southern African desert dune systems by twenty first century global warming. Nature, 435: 1218-1221
Wiggs, G.F.S., Baird, A.J. & Atherton, R.A. 2004. Thresholds of aeolian sand transport: establishing suitable values. Sedimentology, 51 (1): 95-108.
Wiggs, G.F.S., Atherton, R.A. & Baird, A.J. 2004. The dynamic effects of moisture on the entrainment and transport of sand by wind. Geomorphology, 59 (1-4): 13-30

Email address

giles.wiggs@ouce.ox.ac.uk

Links

Academic web-page: http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/staff/gwiggs.html