Dr Nicholas E. Barrand BSc, MSc, PhD

Dr Nicholas E. Barrand

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
Associate Professor of Glaciology
Senior Admissions Tutor

Contact details

Address
School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Nicholas Barrand is a glaciologist focusing on glacier mass balance, sea-level rise, and the role, importance, and future evolution of glaciers as water resources. His research group addresses these issues using a range of interdisciplinary approaches including field observations and measurements, numerical modelling, and optical and microwave remote sensing.

Qualifications

  • P.G. Cert. Academic Practice, University of Birmingham (Distinction)
  • Ph.D. Glaciological Remote Sensing, University of Leeds and Swansea University
  • M.Sc. Geographical Information Science, University of Leeds (Distinction)
  • B.Sc. Physical Geography, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1st Class Honours)

Biography

Nick was educated at the Universities of Newcastle (BSc), Leeds (MSc), and Leeds-Swansea, UK (PhD). His published MSc research concerned spaceborne observation of controls on glacier surging in the Karakoram Himalaya. His PhD research, supervised by Tavi Murray in collaboration with the Norsk Polarinstitutt, continued to employ earth observation and geodetic techniques (digital photogrammetry and airborne laser altimetry), this time in combination with extensive field validation, to investigate mass balance and climate linkages of glaciers in the Norwegian High Arctic (Svalbard).

In 2008 he took up the position of Government of Canada IPY Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada, working with Martin Sharp on the sea-level contribution of glaciers in the Yukon, and satellite remote sensing and field validation of glacier change in the Canadian sub Arctic (Nunatsiavut) and high Arctic (Nunavut). 

In 2010 he joined the NERC British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, UK, to work with Richard Hindmarsh and David Vaughan on Antarctic Peninsula ice flow modelling, observation and modelling of Antarctic surface melt dynamics, and mass balance and dynamics of high-latitude glaciers and ice caps. 

He joined the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in 2013, and was promoted to Associate Professor of Glaciology in 2021. 

Nick leads a research group in Birmingham focusing on the two key glaciology issues of our time: mass balance, dynamics, and sea-level rise from Earth's glaciers and ice sheets; and the role and future evolution of glaciers as water resources. The group uses a wide range of methodological, theory-based and applied approaches to address these two key issues, including field observations and measurements, numerical modelling of ice flow and melt, optical and microwave remote sensing, and interdisciplinary approaches incorporating elements of hydrological earth system science, environmental economics, and even socio-cultural studies. We also have particular interest in innovations in glacio-hydrological modelling, glacio-hydro-groundwater interactions, the climate-glacier-hydrology modelling chain, iceberg calving and fracture, and understanding the changing role of snow and ice in mountain water security.

Teaching

Current Teaching

  • Research Methods and GIS (co-module lead)
  • Environmental Research in High Latitudes (module lead)
  • Swiss Alps Fieldclass
  • Contributions to Fieldwork & Tutorials, Global Environmental Issues, Research Projects

Postgraduate supervision

Dr Barrand is broadly interested in supervision of research projects in the following areas: glacier and ice sheet mass balance, remote sensing of ice flow dynamics, remote sensing of snow and ice melt, ice flow and melt modelling, regional-scale glacier area, volume and velocity change, response of glaciers to climate change, ice shelf processes, and environmental and hydrological applications of remote sensing tools, particularly in the polar regions.

Research

Nick’s research and teaching interests focus on the two great glaciology issues of our time: glacier and ice sheet mass balance, dynamics and contribution to sea-level rise; and the role and future evolution of glaciers as water resources. His research group address these issues using field observations and measurements, numerical modelling, optical and microwave remote sensing and a range of interdisciplinary approaches.

Publications

Highlight publications

Schannwell, C, Cornford, S, Pollard, D & Barrand, N 2018, 'Dynamic response of Antarctic Peninsula Ice Sheet to potential collapse of Larsen C and George VI ice shelves', The Cryosphere, vol. 12, pp. 2307-2326. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2307-2018

Milner, AM, Khamis, K, Battin, TJ, Brittain, JE, Barrand, NE, Füreder, L, Cauvy-Fraunié, S, Gíslason, GM, Jacobsen, D, Hannah, DM, Hodson, AJ, Hood, E, Lencioni, V, Ólafsson, JS, Robinson, CT, Tranter, M & Brown, LE 2017, 'Glacier shrinkage driving global changes in downstream systems', National Academy of Sciences. Proceedings, vol. 114, no. 37, pp. 9770-9778. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1619807114

Schannwell, C, Barrand, N & Radic, V 2016, 'Future sea-level rise from tidewater and ice-shelf tributary glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula', Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 453, pp. 161–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2016.07.054

MacKay, JD, Barrand, N, Hannah, D, Krause, S, Jackson, CR, Everest, J & Aðalgeirsdóttir, G 2018, 'Glacio-hydrological melt and run-off modelling: application of a limits of acceptability framework for model comparison and selection', The Cryosphere, vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 2175-2210. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2175-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2175-2018

Recent publications

Article

Drenkhan, F, Buytaert, W, Mackay, JD, Barrand, NE, Hannah, DM & Huggel, C 2022, 'Looking beyond glaciers to understand mountain water security', Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00996-4

Ashley, K, McKay, R, Etourneau, J, Jimenez-Espejo, F, Condron, A, Albot, A, Crosta, X, Riesselman, C, Seki, O, Massé, G, Golledge, N, Gasson, E, Lowry, D, Barrand, N, Johnson, K, Bertler, N, Escutia, C, Dunbar, R & Bendle, J 2021, 'Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat', Climate of the Past, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-17-1-2021

Irvine-Fynn, TDL, Bunting, P, Cook, JM, Hubbard, A, Barrand, NE, Hanna, E, Hardy, AJ, Hodson, AJ, Holt, TO, Huss, M, McQuaid, JB, Nilsson, J, Naegeli, K, Roberts, O, Ryan, JC, Tedstone, AJ, Tranter, M & Williamson, CJ 2021, 'Temporal variability of surface reflectance supersedes spatial resolution in defining greenland’s bare-ice albedo', Remote Sensing, vol. 14, no. 1, 62. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs14010062

Mackay, JD, Barrand, NE, Hannah, DM, Krause, S, Jackson, CR, Everest, J, MacDonald, AM & Dochartaigh, BÉÓ 2020, 'Proglacial groundwater storage dynamics under climate change and glacier retreat', Hydrological Processes, vol. 34, no. 26, pp. 5456-5473. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.13961

Mackay, JD, Barrand, NE, Hannah, DM, Krause, S, Jackson, CR, Everest, J, Aðalgeirsdóttir, G & Black, AR 2019, 'Future evolution and uncertainty of river flow regime change in a deglaciating river basin', Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 1833-1865. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-23-1833-2019

Costi, J, Arigony-Neto, J, Braun, M, Mavlyudov, B, Barrand, NE, Da Silva, AB, Marques, WC & Simoes, JC 2018, 'Estimating surface melt and runoff on the Antarctic Peninsula using ERA-Interim reanalysis data.', Antarctic Science, vol. 30, no. 6, pp. 379-393. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102018000391

Barrand, N, Way, RG, Bell, T & Sharp, MJ 2017, 'Recent changes in area and thickness of Torngat Mountain glaciers (northern Labrador, Canada)', The Cryosphere, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 157-168. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-157-2017

Meredith, MP, Stammerjohn, SE, Venables, HJ, Ducklow, HW, Martinson, DG, Iannuzzi, RA, Leng, MJ, Van Wessem, JM, Reijmer, CH & Barrand, NE 2016, 'Changing distributions of sea ice melt and meteoric water west of the Antarctic Peninsula', Deep-Sea Research. Part 2: Topical Studies in Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr2.2016.04.019

van Wessem, JM, Ligtenberg, SRM, Reijmer, CH, van de Berg, WJ, van den Broeke, MR, Barrand, NE, Thomas, ER, Turner, J, Wuite, J, Scambos, TA & van Meijgaard, E 2016, 'The modelled surface mass balance of the Antarctic Peninsula at 5.5 km horizontal resolution', Cryosphere, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 271-285. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-271-2016

Way, RG, Bell, TJ & Barrand, NE 2015, 'Glacier change from the little Ice Age to present in the Torngat Mountains, northern Labrador, Canada', Geomorphology, vol. 246, pp. 559-569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.07.006

Schannwell, C, Barrand, NE & Radic, V 2015, 'Modeling ice dynamic contributions to sea level rise from the Antarctic Peninsula.', Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 120, no. 11, pp. 2374-2392. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003667

van Wessem, JM, Ligtenberg, SRM, Reijmer, CH, van de Berg, WJ, van den Broeke, MR, Thomas, ER, Barrand, NE, Turner, J, Wuite, J, Scambos, TA & van Meijgaard, E 2015, 'The modelled surface mass balance of the Antarctic Peninsula at 5.5 km horizontal resolution.', The Cryosphere, vol. 9, pp. 5097-5136. https://doi.org/10.5194/tcd-9-5097-2015

Way, RG, Bell, T & Barrand, NE 2014, 'An inventory and topographic analysis of glaciers in the Torngat Mountains, northern Labrador, Canada', Journal of Glaciology, vol. 60, no. 223, pp. 945-956. https://doi.org/10.3189/2014JoG13J195

Preprint

Barrand, N 2020 'Mid-Holocene Antarctic sea-ice increase driven by marine ice sheet retreat'. https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-2020-3

Barrand, NE, Way, RG, Bell, T & Sharp, MJ 2016 'Recent changes in area and thickness of Torngat Mountain glaciers (northern Labrador, Canada)'. https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2016-171

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