David Sear

David is a Professor of Physical Geography at the University of Southampton. He has over 28 years research experience in the areas of sediment transport and siltation in rivers, lakes and floodplains as well as flood risk management and river restoration. He has led projects looking at the impacts of agriculture on river ecology, impacts of sediments on salmon spawning habitats, the effectiveness of river maintenance including dredging, and the impacts of exterme flooding on river channels and infrastructure. David also works in the coastal zone and has led a major survey of the largest lost medieval port in the world at Dunwich (Britains Atlantis, www.dunwich.org.uk) where he has examined long term drivers of cliff eosion and coastal change. Most recently, David has focussed his research on the use of sediment archives in lakes for reconstructing the frequency and magnitude of natural hazards including flood records (e.g. following storm Desmond in 2015), Tropical Cyclones (e.g. Pam in Vanuatu in 2015), coastal storms (from marsh sediments). He leads a research programme in the tropical South Pacific where he uses lake sediments to reconstruct changes in El-Nino (ENSO) and the timing of arrival and ecosystem impacts of the first humans. David advises Defra, Environment Agency, Natural England and RGS among other organisations on River restoration, Natural Flood Managment and channel dynamics. He has worked all over the world and his research has been published in leading Journals. His work has featured in a wide range of media outlets including six TV documentaries.