Emeritus Professor Andrew Goudie is a geographer and geomorphologist at the University of Oxford. Much of his research has involved studying desert geomorphology, dust storms, tropical climate change, and more broadly human/environment interactions. His résumé includes many awards and prominent positions of leadership, including being President of the International Association of Geomorphologists (2005-2009) and President of the British Institute in Eastern Africa (2011-2016). More recently, Goudie has been doing research on the Cotswold Hills in the English County of Dorset.
His research in desertification is interesting because of the relevance to issues we face today. Many places around the world are seeing forests and grasslands turn to deserts at alarming rates due to Climate change and deforestation. This transformation reduces the availability of resources for local human and wildlife as well as affects larger climatic processes, such as precipitation patterns and the movement of elements via dust storms.
Two Papers by Andrew Goudie:
Goudie, A., & Middleton, N. (2001, November 13). Saharan dust storms: Nature and consequences. Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825201000678
Here, Goudie studies the impact Saharan dust storms have on environmental change, such as nutrient/sediment cycles, climate, and soil formation. For example, dust particles can reach upper air currents in the atmosphere and be transported across the planet, where they supply areas with nutrients such as Silicon and Aluminum. Dust in the atmosphere can also affect climate by reflecting incoming solar radiation back into space. Because of the impact dust storms can have, Goudie researched where the main sources were located within the Sahara and how they may be influenced by humans/climate change.
Viles, H., & Goudie, A. (2002, December 12). Interannual, decadal and multidecadal scale climatic variability and geomorphology. Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825202001137
In this paper, Goudie researched how climate change and consequently changes in climate oscillations (teleconnections) have affected geomorphic processes. Because the many climate oscillations occur at varying time scales, the paper observes and compares changes at interannual, decadal, and multidecadal scales.