Professor David Richards
B.Sc., Ph.D.(Bristol)
Current positions
Professor of Physical Geography
School of Geographical Sciences
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
Climate change - Using a wide-range of deposits, especially stalagmites from caves, but also bone, coral and sediments, to obtain high-resolution records of past temperature, sea levels, vegetation change, faunal evolution.
Geochronology -High-precision dating techniques to obtain chronological control on change in the Earth System (principally uranium-series and radiocarbon methods).
Environmental radioactivity - Developing novel protocols to explore source and pathways of radionuclides, particularly caesium, plutonium and uranium.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
Investigating the carbon cycle using caves and corals
Principal Investigator
Role
Principal Investigator
Description
Tracing carbon in the carbon cycle for the past 50,000 years using geological deposits from caves or the deep ocean. Such data provides valuable constraints on the exchanges of…Managing organisational unit
School of Earth SciencesDates
01/03/2016 to 01/09/2017
Ice sheet and climate interaction - Implications for Coastal Engineering
Role
Co-Investigator
Description
A collaborative multidisciplinary workshop, funded by the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), held in June 2012 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, focused on understanding the extent and distribution of future sea-level…Managing organisational unit
Dates
01/12/2011 to 01/12/2012
Sharpening the U-Th chronometer
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Geographical SciencesDates
01/05/2011 to 01/04/2015
Dwarf Elephants in Mediterranean
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Geographical SciencesDates
01/05/2009 to 01/11/2012
Thesis supervisions
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident: An Analysis Over 10 Orders of Magniture
Supervisors
An endemic radiation of deer in the Late Pleistocene of Malta
Supervisors
Evaluating methane emissions in a warming Arctic
Supervisors
Climatic controls on drainage basin hydrology and topographic evolution
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
31/03/2025In memoria
The Geographical Journal
Development of the IntCal database
Radiocarbon
Exploring exogenous controls on short- versus long-term erosion rates globally
Earth Surface Dynamics
Sr isotope-salinity modelling constraints on Quaternary Black Sea connectivity
Quaternary Science Reviews
Uranium isotope variation within vein-type uranium ore deposits
Applied Geochemistry
Related people
Dr Keith Hallam
Commercial Manager
Interface Analysis Centre
Dr Christopher Jones
Senior Research Associate
Interface Analysis Centre
Professor Tom Scott
Professor in Materials
Interface Analysis Centre
Dr Peter Martin
Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow
Interface Analysis Centre
Professor John Wylie
Head of School
School of Geographical Sciences